Jemima, acrylic on board, (21x18cm). The first painting in the series.

Tim Gustard demonstrates how to bring glazed ceramic figurines to vibrant life in acrylics.

When, a couple of months before a solo show at Beckstones Art Gallery, my wife suggested I paint a Beswick figure of Jemima Puddle-Duck standing on the eponymous book, I said ‘Don’t be silly, that’ll not make a painting’. ‘Trust me’ she said, ‘It’s spring, put some snowdrops in the background, people will love it’ So I did, and I could have sold it 30 times, so popular was it.

A figure such as this is, in essence, the work of several artists. When making a painting of one I think it is important to be authentic in our work in order to be faithful to all that the original artists created.

The surface

I paint these smaller pieces on 100 per cent rag board; it’s extremely stable and at least twice as thick as the paper I use so I don’t need to stretch it. I stick it down on a piece of MDF with gum tape while I’m painting, prime it with one or two coats of acrylic gesso and then sand it lightly with flour paper.

Not Even the Mention of Sage and Onion Made her Suspicious, acrylic on board, (20x18cm). This was the most difficult and the most satisfying painting of the series, the richness of the colour of the fox proved a challenge.

The painting of Jemima and the fox, above, is called Not Even the Mention of Sage and Onion Made her Suspicious. Jemima is a very trusting creature and not quite the brightest candle on the cake; the ‘foxy whiskered gentleman’ has every intention of roasting and eating her but she just thinks he’s a very kind fellow.

Her friends eventually save her but not her eggs, which he’s been ‘guarding’.

I painted this on a modern edition of the book, which provided opportunities for lots of shine on the dust cover. The fox is an older model than Jemima and very rich in colour; it’s difficult to get right but it’s very rewarding when you do.

I’m not sure how many more of these I’ll paint but as an exercise it was quite a steep learning curve, fraught with problems to overcome. As artists, even ones that have been doing it as long as I have, we are learning every day; if we aren’t, then we are not artists.

Top tips:

• Use a black box or curtain as a backdrop for the figurines
• Draw the outlines precisely
• Be selective in the elements you choose to depict
• Use small brushes - sizes 000, 00 and 2
• Use a mirror
• Have a damp tissue handy

Demonstration: Now Lad

Now Lad, acrylic on board, (20x17cm)

The elements

The book is a very tatty early copy, well over 100 years old and has been exposed to the sun and been very well read. The left-hand figure of Benjamin was modelled in the late 1950s, Peter is from the late 1990s. I couldn’t find a contemporary model of Peter that didn’t have him eating carrots and I wanted interplay between the characters. The situation doesn’t appear in the book but I feel the more mature Benjamin has looked at Peter’s bag and assumed he’s on his way back to Mr McGregor’s to steal more carrots – he’s saying ‘Now lad, where are you off to?’

After creating the background I painted the book and the table. Although brown in colour, the book has an almost purple tinge and sheen, so after painting the basic colour I glazed and glazed to get the dusty old-age look of it.

The real fun started when painting the edges of the pages and the lovely tatty edges of the spine. I don’t normally like doing lettering, to my eyes it never looks right and I’m never wholly satisfied but this was much easier. Having painted it to look impressed in the spine I then aged it with black, ultramarine and raw umber, dabbing it off with my finger as I applied it, then catching the light on the impressions with a little off-white.

The models

When drawing the figurines there is no room for error so I began with a centre line – without that it’s easy to give them a lean. I then blocked in the figures – on a dark background this takes up to three coats – making sure the drawing was still tight.

Once you’ve painted too far into the background it’s very difficult to paint over it without it being noticeable, so keep your brush tight to the pencil lines.

Benjamin Bunny

I brought Benjamin to life first. To make him look authentic I picked out the modelling and reproduced the brushstrokes of the artist who painted the figurine, most of which was done with a Winsor & Newton series 7 miniature brush, size 000.

As with painting a portrait, the eye is critical, get that wrong or in slightly the wrong place and it’s ruined. I picked it out early so that if I got it wrong I could paint over it and do it again – and I did.

With the face finished, the light in the eye almost brings it to life. There’s a lot to be said for dabbing off excesses of paint with the middle finger, which I did as I worked on the jacket; I seem to do it automatically, almost applying the paint and dabbing it all off, keeping a tissue in the left hand to wipe it off. The sheen emphasised the richness of the colour.

Peter Rabbit

Peter is modelled quite differently, the ‘grass’ on the base almost growing up his legs with much deeper modelling on the fur.

There was a lot of light catching Peter’s jacket and tail and this helped to bring the tail forward and give shape to the figurine.

Finally, the eye was a problem, it actually looked a bit scary so I changed the colour to that of Benjamin, I also got the position wrong again to start with and changed the shape of his nose.