Introduction: Naïve Painting on Wood - Art for Pleasure, Greetings Cards and Gifts
In the 18th and 19th century a group of British portrait painters, often with no formal training and now known as The Naïve School, journeyed from farm to farm painting livestock, poultry and pets, not as they were but as an imaginary ideal.
Many countries have similar schools, sometimes also referred to as Primitive or Folk Art but they are linked by having the same defining spirit in an exuberance of both colour, form and style.
I find this kind of painting very relaxing because there is no pressure to follow a detailed realistic representation, something which I'm not even sure I could achieve anyway! It's also a great way to capture a pet and makes for a very personal gift.
Also included below is preparation of the wood for painting and the creating of a stencil brush and the cutting of stencils in case you want to use this painting technique to create multiples of the same image for greetings cards.
Step 1: Inspiration
In general I like to take my inspiration from nature. I live in deepest rural West Coastal France where most people, including ourselves, keep animals and birds, so it's very easy to find models. However, there are so many images in books and on line, of both suitable subjects and of actual paintings by The Naïve School (such as the one above from the Museum of English Rural Life), that I'm sure you will find plenty to inspire you.
With this style of painting, there is also an opportunity to put a great deal of personality into the portrait. For example, Eglantine the Normandy cow (pictured above in the barn) is a very, laid-back, contented creature, she is always in the top field at the farm gate when visitors arrive to buy milk and cream, so she makes a great first impression, particularly on those who come on open days and are a bit wary of large farm animals.
As for my Cochin hen Millefeuilles who inspired the framed painting on the previous page, I've always seen her as an incredibly stylish creature, so putting her in high heels seemed perfect I went on from there to make a whole set of Christmas cards called 'Chic Chick - Hen in High Heels'.
My neighbours' rabbits and several of my own hens and cockerels inspired the miniature 'Dummy boards' or fireside companions, which I make as gifts and a wild doe and her baby inspired this till divider which is one of several I made as a thank-you for all the free damaged fruit and veg our local organic shop gives us for our hens.
Step 2: Materials & Tools
MATERIALS
WOOD: The wood used in these cards/picture designs is from fruit crates. These come in various woods and qualities but what I'm looking for is pine rather than poplar. This latter tends to be thinner and may have already begun to warp in transit. We get our crates from our local organic shop and we sort and store the quality pine for all kinds of wood-working projects. You can identify the pine by the fact that the wood actually feels better quality and you will also see a reddish tinge to the grain.
Any other wood used in this project is untreated pallet wood, you can obtain that from various shops/building sites and manufacturers. We have several articles on how to source this wood, how to identify it as untreated and how to break it down for carpentry use. I'll put a link at the end to these.
PAINTS: If I'm making cards or pictures I use an initial wash of natural pigments made of earth/clay, these I dilute with a water-based varnish. If you haven't used natural pigments before then I do have an article which I will link to at the end.
For the main body of the animal I use an ecological paint bought from our local natural building store.
For detailed work I use water colours.
BRUSHES: various sizes from a largish 2" decorating to a fine watercolour brush.
FOR CREATING REPEAT IMAGES: If like me you want to use this style of painting to create greetings cards then you will need to invest in:
a stencil brush
oiled stencilling paper - you can use strong card but it does get soggy with repeated use
ADDITIONS & FINISHING: Sometimes I will add all kinds of mixed media to my designs: coloured hand-made papers, découpage , beads, sequins, feathers and ribbons but for my simplest of card designs, I just add a little hanger of jute string.
TOOLS
A tri-square (or CD case) and a cutting block.
A ruler
For cutting fine-grained fruit crate wood - a Japanese draw saw or a tenon saw.
For cutting pallet wood - a fret saw or jig saw.
Fine sandpaper to clear up any burrs.
A glue gun if you intend to add collage and découpage elements to the card
A craft knife for cutting stencils.
Wood drill and bit
For the rest, you will need some PVA glue or similar to attach the paper on which to write your greeting, scissors and most importantly one extra item, which in a sense is a tool or rather a useful contrivance if you are intending to use an image such as a chicken, taken from life - something large and juicy they love to eat.
Step 3: Hack for Easy Drawing From Life
If you're using a live bird subject then to get it to stay still I suggest feeding it something and photographing it. Then you can actually upload your image, reduce it to the size you need and trace around it from the screen. From this basic shape you can then cut your stencil. Cows, pigs, sheep, horses, dog and cats etc., tend to be more restful and easy to draw but chickens are always on the move or when when at rest, are often preening or fidgety. However, eating is a serious business and you can get great poses just with a pear as in this example above of Snowy the Columbian Cochin.
Step 4: Preparing the 'Canvas'
Using a tri-square or CD box, mark out the fruit crate wood plank and then cut with a Japanese or tenon saw. Use sandpaper to take off any roughness from the cut edges. Drill two holes to thread through the string to hang it up - I've found many people I send these cards to keep them from year to year as hanging pictures or to decorate the Christmas Tree.
Your canvas is now ready to add the background wash.
I like to use a broad brush and work with the grain of the wood. I paint one side and the edges and then put the pieces aside to dry, sometimes using the top rail of the wood cooker to speed this up, before painting the other side.
However, because this is thin open-grained wood you can occasionally experience warping, so with the varnish still 'tacky', pile up any problematic pieces and put a weight on them. After a few minutes remove the weight, gently prise apart any pieces that have stuck together and then leave in the air to completely dry. If any slight warping occurs, repeat the process.
For the dummy boards and other more substantial supports like my till dividers, you will need to clamp down a piece of suitable pallet wood planking, draw around your design and then cut it out with a fret or jig saw. Again you will need to smooth any roughness from the edges with sand paper. To make the stands for these, I just cut some square section from a pallet wood plank and sandwiched my shape between two pieces with screws. I then undid the screws so as I could paint whilst the dummy board was flat, it is much easier than having the stand attached but you need to make sure that everything fits together well first before you paint. This avoids the need for any readjustment later.
Step 5: Creating and Using a Stencil Brush
The brush I use for stencilling was probably intended for use in stippling effects on a wall, as this is a limited usage, many end up in thrift shops and can easily be converted for stencilling. If you can't find these, then an ordinary paint brush used for painting and decorating, given a slight trim, can also be used.
All that is needed to obtain a crisp stencil, is to wrap a good strong elastic band (this one from a bunch of watercress) around the brush.
When using the above to create a stencil, you will need to work the paint well into the brush and at the same time get rid of any excess moisture which could spoil the outline of the stencil. I have always found that using the paint tin lid or china saucer and tapping the brush into the paint and then just onto the lid/saucer several times before applying the stencil works really well.
When making a whole flock of cards you can of course leave the stencil to dry and then flip it over and make another set facing the other way.
Step 6: Cutting Your Stencil
Stencil card aka stencil paper or 'oiled manilla' is a strong, thin card that has been treated with linseed oil. This means it will not absorb paint and also the cut edges stay sharp so you get a well-defined image with each consecutive picture you create.
I usually cut just enough card (it is quite pricey) to allow me a sufficient margin around the edge for me to hold it easily and to avoid any chance of me stencilling outside the lines of my image.
Make sure your craft knife or cutter is sharp and go slowly.
Step 7: Naïve Painting Technique
My idea is that to really get as close as possible to the spirit of Naïve painting you need to view your subject with a child's eyes. Concentrate on the character of the subject, its primary colours and the fact that it doesn't need to be anchored in the background. Often the technique is described as 'floating' which is an interesting description because most of the original Naïve animal paintings showed the subject as geometrical and extremely solid, exaggeratedly so and reflecting the contemporary ideal of 'fat stock' and farming practice.
To create a sense of 'ethereal' or 'floating' in my chicken paintings I use Pointillist techniques, with just light touches of watercolour. To further the illusion I often add feathers, découpage and fake jewels that add reflected light.
Geometric farm animals above can be found roaming all over Pinterest:
Edwin M. Fox (1830-1870) British Prize Cow in Landscape
19th Naïve School Sheep in Landscape
Step 8: Finishing
Thread a simple piece of jute string through you canvas and if liked add a bow. Cut out small pieces of good quality paper and write your greeting in old-fashioned ink, then glue the paper on to the back of your painting. if you write it after gluing you may get bumpy writing from the grain in the wood.
My final piece of home-made Naïve art is more paper craft and découpage than painting but I thought with it I could wish you 'Season's Greetings'.
This style of painting can be used for many home decorating projects from boxes to furniture such as dressers, wardrobes and chests. Create your own urban farm or celebrate the creatures you see around you every day. - the important thing is to enjoy and have fun and to rediscover the happy child within all of us.
Links:
Second Prize in the
Paint Challenge
