Daisy bento box

Recycling again. This time, a bento box - a gift from my friend Emily who asked that I please don't return it to her!

So, I've painted it for a friend I am planning to visit next month, and it will be filled with my sugee (semolina) cake. This friend is someone I've known for almost two years or so now, but we've only ever written to each other, or spoken over the phone. We'll be meeting for the first time next month, and I hope she'll like her present.

The design is not my own - it is Ros Singleton's and you can find it on her blog. It is so simple, really - and because daisies are one of my favourite flowers (and so easy to get all wrong), I have been in love with this design for the longest time.

I don't use a pattern. I just look at her design, and then paint it freehand.

I've only just finished  the box. I'll need to double-coat it with topcoat, and then leave it to cure/dry.

I didn't use any special paint - just ordinary acrylics, which may not prove the best choice, but I've been having problems with painting plastics, so I think I'll just topcoat this and tell my friend not to wash it too often. And, certainly not in a dishwasher. The topcoat will keep it safe: fingers crossed ;)

The bento box is made of shiny, black plastic. Does NOT photograph well :(

 See that little sprig of forget-me-nots on the bottom? That's there because my basket was a little off: tilted to one side. I added the flowers to hide it. Shhhhhhh...!

Two views of the sides of the box:

I painted a small motive all around the four corners.

A lazy susan

... of one-stroke roses, rose-buds, make-believe flowers and forget-me-nots.

Sitting on my kitchen table... it measures about 15 inches/39 cm across - so,
it's one of the larger projects I've painted.

Shot taken in the evening, with the lights on

... and in natural light

above and below: the requisite close-ups

The background is sprayed-on blackboard paint. I've not painted on the topcoat yet - because it has a light gloss, and the light bounces off it and messes up my shots.

More old bottles

From a Johnny Walker, to a small Jack Daniel, to a soy sauce bottle, and an emptied mustard bottle: they're all here :)

... pansies and forget-me-nots

... roses

... another view

... and another

... the biggest bottle: daisies

... drying on the shelf

... drying with the mustard bottle with scrollwork

Yellow and white daisies and forget-me-nots

I have been struggling with daisies for the longest time. You'd think they are a simple flower, and so easy to paint, but they aren't. At least, I am never happy with the way they turn out: always looking stiff and wired and as if they're made of plastic :(

Well, today I tried them again, on an old Nescafe bottle - after watching Rose Stallcup paint them like it was the easiest thing in the world!

I think this is the first time I'm happy with my daisies :)

The daisies are sitting on a bed of green fern - but they don't come out in the pix :(

- a close up -

The other side: I painted the two main faces of the bottle,
leaving the sides clear

Heart of flowers

A dear friend celebrates her wedding anniversary in December, so I painted this for her, and her husband: she is the E and he is the S.

I took my time over this, starting with the background, which I painted in pastel-green and cream. I painted a three-petal design on the green stripes in warm white, and edged it the stripes in old gold.Then, I painted in the vines, plotted in the places for the roses, and put in the leaves and ferns. 

Then, I painted in the roses, the rose-buds and the forget-me-nots.

And since it is no longer with me, I have these pictures to remind me of what I did, and how I would improve it were I to paint something similar again.