One tumbler design that will absolutely never go out of style is that hand painted tumbler! We know that for some of our artists, hand painting is a scary prospect. But we promise, it doesn’t need to be! Today, Emily Brede of Rustic Passions Studio is showing us how to do floral painting on a tumbler using Pop of Color Paints. The work isn’t as difficult as you’d think, and the results are beautiful!
If you have never hand-painted a tumbler before or if you are new to painting florals on a tumbler, this tutorial is for you! Emily shows us step by step how to turn a couple of simple brushstrokes into beautiful flowers. And it is much simpler than you’d think! Floral painting (especially the more abstract kind) is actually pretty simple.
You will still need some practice, of course. But it isn’t a skill that will take you weeks and months to master. And flowers are very forgiving! You literally start with blobs of paint that don’t look like much. But Emily shows us how to bring them to life and make them beautiful!
Floral Painting on a Tumbler with Pop of Color Paints
When you look at Emily’s beautiful completed tumbler it can be hard to imagine that a non-painter could do something similar. But you absolutely can! All it takes is some simple painting and controlled doodling with a paint marker.
Emily explains that when she first started floral painting on tumblers, she actually started on paper. The brush strokes weren’t hard to master. But the outlining took some finessing. Her advice to us is to start by doodling on paper. Practice with your paint marker so that you get the feel for it.
And try some different outlining techniques until you get the look you want. Then keep practicing that method until you feel more confident. And remember, florals like this are very forgiving! Any mistakes can easily be fixed with a quick wipe or some additional paint!
Floral Painting Tips and Tricks
Along with doodling and paper practice, Emily had a few other tips for us. She tells us that she starts with just a couple of colors for her flowers. And then she blends them in different ways to get a gradient of color. This adds depth and dimension to her flowers. Not to mention layers of beauty!
She also said that, when it comes to outlining, don’t move too slowly. She noticed that if she moves more quickly, she actually makes fewer errors.
That is because her hand doesn’t get a chance to shake as much. And she doesn’t get the chance to hesitate or overthink. Moving more quickly also makes your lines look more fluid and even. When you don’t pick your pen up as often, your lines look more smooth.
Emily also encourages sanding the resin layer between your painted flowers and your outlining. This will give the matte finish that Emily likes. And it also makes it much easier to draw on the flowers once the resin is cured. Emily explains that all you need is a very light sand. You don’t want any deep groves in the epoxy. She uses 220 grit sandpaper and does a wet sanding.
You can still get a shiny finish if that’s what you prefer. To do that, just sand the one layer between the paint and the paint marker. Then add your other layers of resin with no sanding in between.
Watch the Video Tutorial Here! (Starting at minute 28)
Floral Painting on a Tumbler with Pop of Color Paints
Materials
- Stainless Steel Tumbler
- Paint brush
- Blush Shock Paint
- Old Army Green Shock Paint
- Jade Shock Paint
- Cool White Shock Paint
- Ecru Shock Paint
- Black paint marker 1mm fine tip
- Glitter optional
- Quick Coat
- Counter Culture DIY Artist Resin
- Protective gloves
- Filter mask
- Silicone Mixing Cup
- Silicone mat
- Small Silicone Mixing Sticks
- Sand paper
Instructions
- Start by cleaning and prepping your tumbler. Once it is clean and dry, you are ready for your base coat.
- Apply a coat of Ecru Shock Paint to the outside of your tumbler. If you are using glitter, go ahead and apply it directly to the wet paint. Press the glitter down into the paint and allow it to dry. Seal your glitter layer with Quick Coat. Then apply a layer of combined resin to the tumbler and allow it to cure.
- Now you are ready to hand paint your flowers! Pour a little bit of the Blush and Cool White onto a paint tray.
- Start with the white and make wispy circles in several spots of your tumbler. These will be your roses.
- Then use the Blush to make 5 petaled flowers.
- Next, use a combination of the Blush and White to add another few layers of detail to your white flowers. This doesn't need to be intricate, just adding layers of color to build your flowers up.
- Then use the greens to add leaves to your flowers. And use a small brush to add little white 4 petaled flowers in the remaining open space. Then dip the brush end into the Blush and add a center to each of these flowers.
- Allow your paint to dry completely. Then give it a coat of Quick Coat to seal in your paints.
- Next, add a layer of combined Artist Resin to the tumbler and allow it to cure. You can use Fast Set if you are in a hurry or traditional Artist Resin if you can let it cure overnight.
- Emily likes a matte finish on these cups so she lightly sands her cured epoxy before moving on.
- Next, use your paint marker to add outline and details to your flowers.
- For the roses, start by making a small circle towards the center. Then add small half circles around that. You don't want everything to line up perfectly so overlap and alternate as needed. When you get to the end of a half circle, use the pen to come back a bit in the opposite direction to form the petals. Continue working outward in this way towards the edge of your rose.
- Then roughly outline your leaves, adding a little oblong ovals towards their bases.
- For the 5 petaled flowers, make tiny little overlapping circles for the center. Then roughly outline the petals. Add a folded petal line at the edges if you want to. Then add the creases toward the base of the petals.
- For the tiny white flowers, draw a circle around your blush dot and then outline each petal. Nothing too fancy here.
- Once you have finished with your outlines and details, let them dry. Then seal the cup again with Quick Coat. This will keep the paint in place and prevent smudging or repelling.
- When your Quick Coat is dry, add your final layer or two of epoxy and you are all done!
The Finishing Touches
And that’s it! Emily makes it all look so easy. But she also shows how it can be easy for us too! And remember, these are abstract flowers. They don’t have to be perfect to be beautiful! Flowers in nature come in all sorts of nonsymmetrical shapes. And, because these flowers are abstract, your painting and outlining shouldn’t be perfect anyway!
A big thanks to Emily for sharing her time and talents with us! If you loved learning from her and want to see more of what she has going on you can find her under Rustic Passion Studio on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. You can also check out her Etsy shop and all her other online happenings!
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