Step 4: Paint Pretreatment
On a tile or gloss-coated paper plate lay a small drop each of lemon yellow, golden yellow, pale green, and medium green craft paint. Dip a medium to large flat synthetic shader brush in clean water, touch the brush on a paper towel to remove the excess water from the tip.
Mix a small brush full of lemon yellow with a drop of water … you can see the thinness of the mix if you look at the red tulip petal.
SECRET – I said there are no secrets, but I got your attention, didn’t I. Paint should be worked INTO the brush, not picked up on the brush bristles. This lets the entire brush work for you, instead of against you.
Step 5: Starting on the belly of your fish, paint the bottom one half with a coating of the lemon yellow. Where possible work your brush with the wood grain. This first coat is thin enough that you will be able to see the grain lines of the wood.