Patti Palmer’s creativity is apparent in all that she does. Growing up in Europe and Canada she is a ham radio operator, a dog breeder who showed her prizewinning Samoyeds and dog musher who placed 1^st and 2^nd in dog races up in Northern BC and the Yukon.  Patti has also been involved in car racing and won “Novice of the Year” Award in 1978. In addition to all of this Patti just loves to construct buildings such as elaborate garden sheds & gazebos, not to mention the installation of new windows in the house! After the passing of her husband 6 years ago Patti picked up a paintbrush and started painting. Two years ago she started working with gourds and does painting and beautiful wood burnings. Following is a tutorial by Patti.

We took the idea for this tutorial from “Gourdeous Gourds” Vol 1 by Julie Grant & Cindy Pray for a couple of reasons. One is that the designs are great and they are simple. The second is that we will be able to demonstrate how to transfer patterns. Gourdgeous Gourds is published by OSC “Art Division" For more info on the Gourdgeous Gourds Series click here.

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Patti’s Flowers are Beautiful on a Gourd

For the Halloween tutorial you will need:

1.)     Gourd of your choosing that will fit your pattern or idea.

2.)     Sealer – Clear or White

3.)     Tracing Paper & Pencil or Stylus

4.)     Carbon Graphite Paper

5.)     Wet Palette Tray (Optional)

6.)     Sea Sponge

7.)     Brushes - #5Round & Liner Brush

8.)     DecoArt Acrylic Paint or whatever brand you prefer to use. Colors: White, Cadmium Yellow, Pumpkin, Tangelo Orange, Primary Red, Black

Tools of the Trade

1.)     Select gourd, wash well and let dry.

2.)     Seal gourd with Gesso or a clear sealer. Apply in long, sweeping strokes; do 2 applications. A hair dryer can be used for fast drying.

3.)     Lay the tracing paper up against your pattern and trace. Don’t use super cheap tracing paper as it can leave a residue on your gourd.

 4.)     Using a wet palette pool out your 2 oranges. (A wet palette is a lidded container that has a thin sponge in the bottom. A special paper is put on top of the sponge and you can keep your wet paint in here. Closed, paint will keep up to 2 weeks in the fridge. Great for those of us that who takes time to complete a painting.)

5.)     Wet sea sponge and squeeze out excess moisture. Dab in paint and dab onto gourd. Each color will have its own sponge - use the 2 oranges randomly. Continue until gourd is covered. Be creative and use 3 – 4 oranges if you like. It will give your gourd a more natural textured look. Let dry.

6.)     Lay the graphite paper against the gourd. Place the tracing paper on top and using a ballpoint pen or stylus trace your pattern onto the gourd.

7.)     Using a #5 round brush fill in the eyes with black. Once dry apply white along the side of the eye.

8.)     Paint in circle cheeks and nose with Primary Red. Once dry use a liner brush and add eyelashes. Outline around the nose. Add white highlights on the cheeks, nose and eyes using a liner brush. Add freckles if you like.

For the back design: Haunted house, Fence, Bats and Cats

1.)     Paint in all items in black. Add the line work for the windows, door, porch and smoke with black. Using a stylus add eyes to bat and cat with Cadmium Yellow.

Finish: Erase any graphite lines. Spray 1 or 2 thin coats of Krylon Gloss or Semi Gloss spray. Tie a ribbon or some raffia around the stem. If you do not have a stem use hot melt.