Instructions
1. For your leaf strokes, begin with a vertical hold, putting little to no pressure on the brush. Pivot from your elbow and create a thin stem about 3-4 inches long. From there, add in smaller, thin stems on either side of the main stem where the leaves will go. Your leaves will all grow out of a stem; therefore, make sure they point in the direction of the stem they're connected to.
2. To paint a leaf, hold your brush handle at a slant in the direction that the leaf will be pointing, applying pressure as you drag the brush so that the hair fans out. For the tip of the leaf, gradually release the pressure as you drag your brush so that it comes back to a fine point. Do this twice for each leaf: a bottom and top side!
3. Paint the berry stems with a brown color prior to painting the berries. To paint the berries, use the tip of the brush to outline a circle, then with a slanted hold, fill in the circle. These strokes are fairly simple, but make sure you're changing up the value (depth of color) between each berry so there's some variation!
4. Choose a darker green value than the leaves to paint the overall stem and connect the elements. Use a slanted hold and pull out slightly thicker hash marks that point back to the stem on either side to create a "V". Fill up the entire stem, just leaving a little showing at the bottom where there are no green sprigs.
5. Now add these elements into a wreath or frame shape! The overall idea with this style is to stay loose. Let the shape of your stems guide the general shape of the wreath. For example, if one side is looking a little crooked, steer it back in the right direction by adding a stem pointing in the opposite direction. Make sure there's a variety of colors and greens used to create movement, and have fun with it!
