The ancient Aztecs say that the poinsettia is a symbol of purity and come in various colors from red to white to pink.  The poinsettia is also the birth flower for December and is said to bring good cheer and success.  Casey has an extremely easy technique to create your own poinsettia in any holiday painting.

In the tutorial, she will teach you how to build depth and create natural highlights by using a simple technique.  Usually, we would start on a black canvas, but for the poinsettia, Casey starts on a white background and traces a quick outline of the flower. The center of the flower is a plain black circle that is filled in using a round brush.   As the tutorial shows, a darker burgundy color is mixed and used to create the outline and jagged edges of each petal leaving the centers white.

The magic comes when you add the red to each of the petals where the white underneath creates the bright portions of the petal and the burgundy underneath creates the shadows.  You will be amazed at how simple this is to create a beautiful and unique poinsettia that comes to life and can easily be created by all painters, even if you have never picked up a paint brush.