Have you always admired the Zhostovo style, but never dared attempt it yourself? Well, here's the book you've been waiting for! This complete, step-by-step guide will help you master the traditional Russian style of decorative painting ... its graceful brushstrokes, brightly colored flowers, luminous dark backgrounds and those gorgeous, ornate gold borders. Your teacher is Heather Redick, one of North America's premier painters of the Zhostovo style, who was inspired by Russian master Larisa Dyatlova. Clear photos lead you through each step, from loading the brush to building each flower petal by petal. You'll learn how to paint leaves with layered colors, how to build intricate gold borders, even how to create your own floral designs--all in easy-to-use acrylics! Ten magnificent projects feature floral, fruit and bird motifs--including two basic projects to get you started and two advanced projects to inspire you to develop your Zhostovo skills.

Priscilla Hauser, the queen of decorative painting, and Boris Grafov, a Russian-born painter whose native village is world-renowned for its art, have produced a luminous follow-up to their Russian Folk Art Painting. This radiant new volume features bright arrangements of flowers, fruits, and leaves, bordered in gold or silver filigree, and set off by a black lacquered surface. It’s a style with a timeless appeal, and Hauser and Grafov provide comprehensive instructions for creating ten beautiful patterns on furniture and other objects. All the necessary skills are explained, with plenty of advice on preparing the surface, wielding the brush, and mixing colors. Start by painting the intricate borders of wreath and linked motifs, then, make the designs more luscious with every colorful layer.

A comprehensive guide to decorative painting with tips on choosing supplies, preparing paint surfaces, mastering brush strokes and control, and developing individual style.

The famous Priscilla Hauser helps you choose appropriate supplies and shows the basic painting techniques and strokes. “Beautiful photography and step-by-step color worksheets will make it easy to paint beautiful floral designs on trays, furniture, plates and bowls.”—Craft & Needlework Age. “Excellent... belongs in public library or academic arts and crafts collections.”—Library Journal.

Anyone who has ever fantasized about having the skills to paint beautiful decorative home projects, can now make those dreams come true. Priscilla Hauser has successfully developed a technique that allows novices to learn her charming style, effortlessly. Hauser begins by teaching the most basic brush strokes, and how to use them to build a basecoat to shade and highlight until a lusciously executed design emerges. Nothing could be simpler, or less intimidating. She discusses preparing the surface, brush loading and double-loading, undercoating, stripping, washes, and other effects, and provides plenty of helpful worksheets plus quick tricks for creating intriguing background finishes. Beginners will quickly and confidently master such projects as bright sunflowers and daisies on a watering can, lemons on tableware, a bird-embellished frame, and a butterfly-covered candle lantern.

The only difficult thing about decorative painting is really believing in one's ability to do it. with this book and some practice, readers can become competent decorative painters--even if they have never picked up a brush before. By taking a structured approach to brushwork, designs can be mastered and embellished as skills are acquired. Readers will learn how to master a variety of techniques, including masking, sideloading, mopped shading, smoking, stenciling, tinting, crackling and decoupage. Over 50 step-by-step techniques, suitable for novice and advanced painters alike, ensure that any project can be tackled with success. Di Singleton became hooked on painting as a hobby and years later decided to turn it into a business. She runs a decorative painting studio in South Somerset, England where she also teaches classes for beginners and intermediate painters. She also runs an Internet magazine for decorative painters and travels to the U.S. once a year to take classes, improve her abilities and get new ideas.