Iris Dala Horse

A round brush and a liner are all that are needed for this design. When using the round brush for the larger petals you just press at the outside if the petal then lift and pull to the center. Don't forget to turn a bit as you get close that inside edge to give them more shape or have them go at different angles.

As you can see the warmer weather has allowed me to go back to spraying clear finish over the Dala Horses to build some shine and protection over the paint.

Border patterns on Blue Backgrounds

I'm painting the spindles on my wheelchair ramp so I'm using the opportunity to experiment with different variations on simple designs.

Designs for Red Dala Horses

This design is a simple one made up of dots, lines and coma strokes.

Designs for Yellow Dala Horses

 Here's an easy design that uses simple brushstrokes and only takes 3 colors (yellow, red and blue)

1. Start by painting your horse or other project Yellow.

              2. Place large red dots evenly across your project.

              3. Paint blue lines between the red dots.

              4. Use a smaller brush to pain blue dots in the middle of the red                   ones.

              5. Frame the dots with blue coma strokes.

              6. Fill the space between them with red coma strokes in pairs                       facing opposite directions.

 

Red, Yellow and Blue Dala Horse Design

A few basic colors and easy brush strokes make fast work of this design by Julia Morrill.

I've shot this from several different angles so that you can get a better idea of how the design goes together.

Orange, Purple and Green

Surprising Places to Practice Brushstrokes

One way to pass a boring winter is to remove the spindles on a ramp or deck one at a time and bring them indoors to paint on.

The design on this red one is 4 different variations of a pattern that I was trying to decide on for a Dala Horse. I needed to practice the brushstrokes and this project gave me a lot of that.

The other advantage of this project is that it's a showcase for all of the different ways that I like to paint and provides handy examples when I'm hosting events or giving painting classes.

It also brightens up the winter and entertains my neighbors.