3⁄4-inch (19mm) flat • no. 16 flat
Yellow Citron •Thicket • Wicker White • Magenta
1. Pencil in a variety of scrolling lines on a piece of white paper to establish the placement of the main design. Allow some of the lines to continue off the edges of the design.
2. Add secondary lines curving off of the first ones. Always begin your secondary lines somewhere along the main lines—don’t start them out in space and then try to connect them.
3. Pick out one of your designs and begin to pencil in a diagram of the tulip outlines and the leaves. Here I’ve darkened the main design lines so you can see them more easily. I also added another set of smaller curving lines coming off the left side. Compare this to the same area in step 2. Pencil in some comma strokes as well.
4. The background color for the design is Sunflower. Choose a background color for your design that works well with your tulip and scroll colors. Load a 3⁄4-inch (19mm) flat with Yellow Citron and paint the basic curving shapes using the chisel edge of the brush.
5. Double-load the same brush with Thicket and Yellow Citron and paint the large, scalloped-edge leaves. Paint the scrolls and comma strokes with Yellow Citron and Wicker White. If your design is smaller than mine, switch to a no. 16 flat for the commas and scrolls.
6. Paint the pink parrot tulips with Magenta and Wicker White on a 3⁄4-inch (19mm) flat. (Also see the parrot tulips demonstration.) Paint the base where the tulip attaches to the stem with short, chisel-edge strokes of Thicket and Yellow Citron.