Painting Cards Demo: Pear Diamonds

Draw a simple shape of a pear of your choice, or use this printable template. Keep the shape simple and easily identifiable. The colors you'll be painting will transform it dramatically.

Here you can see the lines I've put in establishing the areas of light, mid-tone, and shadow. I've marked the light areas #1, the midtones #2, and shadows #3 to make it easy to remember when I start painting.

Now for marking up the diamond grid. Use a pencil if you don't want the grid to show in your final painting. In my card I incorporated the black lines as part of the design.

Start by laying a straight edge diagonally corner to corner. Then, using the width of the straight edge to space them out, continue drawing lines across the pear to the edge. Do the same in the other directions to make the diamond shapes. (Alternatively, or use this printable template.)

Using your primary colors, paint the shadow areas yellow, the midtones red, and the lights blue within the pear, stem and leaf.

Using the secondary colors (orange, purple, and green), paint the background diamonds in randomly. In the photo you can see that I have six squares of each color, plus I painted in six black squares.

You might want to use paint-tip pens or acrylic paint in a container with a nozzle for adding the detail. (I used fabric paint in a container with a point.) Lay in the color as follows: purple on top of yellow, green on top of red, and orange on top of blue. Use any doodle shape you like within each diamond.

Finish by outlining your pear in white (or another color if you prefer) both on the outside and the internal shapes. If necessary, outline the backgrounds diamonds in black to tidy them up. Add silver and gold randomly to a few of the diamonds and your pear card is finished!