Paint a Spring Fairy

This is a project I started last week when I found a blank Fairy statuette that was lying in a drawer.
I decided to get three more of those statuettes and to paint a group of Four Season Fairies.
The statuettes are about 6 or 7 cm tall.

Unfortunately I thought about putting the guide on instructables after I finished the first two of them.
So the first guide will actually be of my third Fairy.

Update: I posted a slideshow with the painted fairies at www.instructables.com/id/Four-Seasons-Fairies/

Let us get started!

Step 1: Tools

You will need

- Hobby knife
- Small file
- Brushes, different kind and sizes
- Water pot and paper towel to clean brushes
- White plate to mix colors
- Lots of light!

For the water pot I suggest to use a jar, so you can close it and store with the water instead of throwing the water away everyday (I do not like to waste water).

Step 2: Materials

- A blank fairy statue.
- Acrylic paints.
- India Inks of different colors.
- Spray paints.

I found my statue in a shop in my home town but I can find none on the internet.

I prefer to use opaque colors because you can easily paint over them.
So the most part of my acrylic paints are opaque.

A white spray paint is used to prime the statuette, while the transparent one to protect the finished work.

Step 3: Cleaning the Fairy

Use you hobby knife or some small files to clean the statuette.
It can have some defects due to the molding process.

Step 4: Painting the Wings

I wanted to make her wings green with the middle ones purple.
After putting the prime I changed my mind and I decided to make them green shading off to a yellowish green.

First of all put the prime color, in this case a cold green. Paint all the area with the basic green.
I left the tips because I wanted to have them a lighter yellow.

Then mix it with gradually increasing quantities of yellow and paint from the top to the bottom.
When you get to the bottom you should have an almost pure yellow.
Be quick in this step, if you paint over a fresh paint you can blend it easily.

For the "eyes" of the wings I then put some white to clean the surface. Then I used a bluish purple.
To give some lighting effects on the eyes I used a reddish purple and a pink spot.

I left a small white gap between the colors to emphasize the eyes.

Step 5: Hair

I wanted her with brown hair, so i started with a coat of a dark brown.

I then used a technique that is called dry-brush to lighten the hair.
Put some paint on the brush, then rub the brush on the paper towel to dry it.
With the left paint rub on the statuette. It will color just the highest spots.
Usually I dry-brush with colors that are gradually lighter to increase the effect.

To smoothen colors I used India Ink to wash the hair. I call it washing because that it how I call it in Italian, but I do not know the exact translation in english.
A washing consists of putting the ink abundantly on the area and let it dry (usually it takes a looong time).

Step 6: Leaves on the Hair

I painted them with white to clean the surface.

I then used a green prime and lighted it with yellow.

When I say "lighted" I intend a succession of coatings of a mixing between the two colors, until I get to the pure lighting color.

Step 7: Dress

I used the same technique of the wings but with pink and purple.
I wanted to make some purple shades on the pink dress.
As before, be quick on this step for blending the colors.

I then added a purple border on the dress and decided to leave the bottom pink.

Step 8: Skin

I started with a coat of paint that resembles a light skin (id est Citadel Elf Flesh, for those of you who play Warhammer).
Before of that I cleaned the area with white paint.

Then I mixed the skin color with white and dry brushed her skin.

You can not really tell the difference from the pictures because it was dark and I used a lamp with a not so good light.

Step 9: Eyes and Face

First of all I put a coat of white on the eyes, then added a green iris.
I also put a really small pupil but in the pictures is not easily seen.

While doing that I painted the eyebrows first with a dark brown, then I deleted them and used a lighter brown.

For the lips I used the same pink of the dress.

Step 10: Bracelet

As usual I cleaned with white the bracelet then primed the center with orange to put the gold paint.

Then the leaves were painted with green, lighted with yellow.

Step 11: Roses

Next day!

I forgot to take the pictures of the first steps so the roses are done on the first pictures.
There are also some pictures of the whole work with a better light.

- Red Rose: dark red lighted with primal red and washed with brown India Ink.
- Yellow Rose: Yellow lighted with white.
- Pink Rose: Pink lighted with white.
- Orange Rose: Orange lighted with yellow and some red lines on the top of the petals (drawn with the smallest brush).

Step 12: Grass and Roses

The grass and the roses were painted with green and lighted with yellow.
I wanted to make them really bright.
Then they were washed with a little bit of green India Ink.

Step 13: Stones

I started with a pretty dark grey and dry-brushed with lighter grays until I got to pure white.

Step 14: Finishing

Finished with the painting I covered the statuette with the transparent spray paint to preserve the colors.

Next instructable will be on the Winter Fairy, give me some days to paint it! (I have not started her yet)