Lesson 7

Lesson 7:  SWAG BORDER

Have you seen those fancy swag borders they started using in the romantic art era clear up to now?  They look too complicated to try, right?  Well . . . I hope this system will help untangle the mystery for you. Now you can create beautiful swag borders like the one above for your scrapbook,  personal history, or any document.

Here’s how:

 

1.         You draw  a large “C,” an “F,”a foreward/backward “S,” or any simple vine.

2.       Then, you add a few shorter stems onto the basic vine.

3.        After that, you encase all the lines in a wide border.

4.       Finally, you add lines or veins to the leaves—for that’s just what they are—glorified leaves.

5.       Now, you are ready to put your swags together into a fancy border and voila!

Assignment:  Create a lovely swag border of your own.

As you get proficient at this technique, you may add flowers, celtic knots, shields, or anything else you like. You can darken or paint the leaves, stylize them to your own taste, or add scallops and whimsies to your borders.

There are four patterns in the chart below. (S1-31, S2-31, and S3-31) the swag curls, and (M1-14) the mistletoe.

Notice the chart below.  

             Follow the steps for each piece of border starting from left to right.

 There can be many variations and deviations. Below are a few to consider.

           Add the thick and thin line technique to help finish your border.

          The border below is enhanced by gold paint (It looks dark tan in this picture)

This is an example of the same border at the top of the post, but painted in acrylics.

            Now, enjoy and surprise yourself!