Narrow boat art is a British style of painting that traditionally depicts roses, daisies and castles. It is mostly used to decorate metal dishes, buckets and bowls, and of course, narrow boats.
Preparation
Clean with vinegar and soapy water to remove grease and dirt. Wipe with mentholated spirits and put is a warm area to dry. Paint on the oil based red oxide metal primer, then apply a flat black undercoat (BBQ Flat Black). This will protect pieces that will be left outside in the elements. The flat black undercoat has "teeth" that form a good base for painting.
Step By Step
1 Prepare the metal using the method described above.2 Draw your design freehand with chalk. 3 Base coat and shade the leaves. Apply the green base coat with a fluid, single "comma" stroke down the left and right sides of the leaf. A stroke down the centre will fill in any gaps. A brown shading across the bottom of the leaf is done before the base coat dries (horizontally). Your strokes should be sweeping so the under colour is occasionally visible. 4 Apply a base coat to the rose bowl and shade the throat of the roses using darkish red (shading over strokes in black), pale but bright pink (shading over strokes in bright red) and bright orange (shading over strokes in brown). Create the bowl by using a broad "C" stroke in a semi-circular motion, stroking around the left edge first, then the other, and working towards the centre. If necessary, fill the centre with a small singular stroke. The throat shadings are done while the base coat is still wet. These are rounded shade lines and only a couple are painted through the middle of the rose. Broaden the strokes to shade the base of the rose bowl. 5 Base coat the daisies. Make blue/grey oval centres using the same technique as the rose bowl. Over stroke the roses using bright red over the dark red rose, white over the pink rose, and yellow over the orange rose. The over strokes are large commas. Apply pressure at the beginning of the stroke to create the head of the comma, easing into a lighter touch to form the tail. The strokes create petals — starting at the top, paint four or five cupped comma strokes below the throat in alternate fashion. 6 Over stroke the daisies using yellow commas. Paint two small interlocking strokes over the blue/grey centre (in the middle). Paint daisy petals using comma strokes, starting outside the blue/grey centre and radiating towards the edge of the yellow centre. 7 Apply the final details. To create stamens on the roses, apply three small comma strokes in the centre. Use white on the red and orange roses, and yellow on the pink. To add veins to the leaves add fine yellow strokes, beginning at the top of the leaf. Graduate either side of the leaf, slightly overlapping the edge and finish towards the centre. 8 The final highlight to the daisies is two small red comma strokes through the middle of the yellow centre and slightly overlapping the centre edge. 9 Paint border around the bottom of your piece using bright red with daisy detail as in the main design. Three coats of red are needed to create a bright band over the black. A fine yellow stripe at the edge of the red adds traditional details. 10 Varnish the project with three coats.
Note: The key to this style of painting is applying pressure and lifting the brush, using a variety of strokes. For more detailed information on the technique see Glynne McGregor's book "decorative Painting of the World".
Diagrams
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