24 Boxes of Advent - Follow a star - by Kim

Here is the next in my series of 24 Boxes of Advent.

 

Follow a star ... but which one? There are trillions to choose from!

I couldn't get them all on this box, so you'll have to use your imagination. My inspiration was the wonderful photographs taken from the Hubble Space Telescope.

Once I'd glued the box together I base coated the whole thing, inside and out, with Lamp Black.

Because my nebula is small I used an old and worn out brush for the stippling. All colours are stippled on so they blend easily.

The centre of the nebula is Cadmium Yellow. Make the colour more dense at the centre. Next up, and mainly towards the left of the picture, is Tangerine. Start by covering some of the yellow so the colours blend and gradually change from one to the next. Scarlet is next, stippled on as before. Then Calico Red. The red doesn't cover too well, which is good for the blending process, the density can tail off as you stretch in to outer space. You will probably need more than one coat for the denser areas.

To the right I used Primary Blue with tiny dabs of white blended in roughly. As the blue area gets farther from the centre it becomes less dense and eventually fades in to space.

At the centre of the nebula I added some tiny white 'splits' in the yellow layer showing the white heat of the core.

Next, the rest of the universe. I diluted a couple of drops of Titanium White with water to make it a milky consistency, then with an old tooth brush, spattered the stars over the surface. Try out your technique on scrap paper before you aim at your project - it could be messy!

Choose a couple of larger stars to have extra sparkle. With a fine point like a dip pen or cocktail stick paint in six or eight starburst lines. Make them taper away from the centre. Worth practising on a spare surface for this, too.

Once all is dry, mix some diluted black and add shadowy clouds in a couple of areas.

As this is my fourth Advent box I cut a number 4 from spare greyboard, painted it black, then added first Tangerine, then white highlights only to the edges that face the glowing nebula.

Thank you for journeying around the universe with me.

 Products:

Box Storage Large + Drawer (Set x4 off)

DecoArt Colours, Various