Sickle mowers are used by farmers to cut large areas of grass.
Sickle mowers have strange-looking serrated blades that look complicated to draw or paint. It is possible to use a ruler to plot precise measurements, but there are simpler ways to accomplish this. These agricultural implements are often seen in country paintings as derelict antiques, nestled in a field of tall grasses. The scenes can be very nostalgic and serene. As a painter, the biggest hurdle would be to depict the intricacy of the sickle mower.
Tracing Paper
Placing transfer paper on a photograph or image of a sickle mower and drawing its outlines is one way of quickly creating the detail. Cover the area on your painting paper or canvas where you want to place the sickle mower with carbon paper (face down). Place the tracing paper, on which you have outlined the sickle mower, on top of the carbon paper. Retrace the lines on the transfer paper to transfer the design onto the canvas or paper in order to create the outline or template. Now you can apply paint using this as a guideline.
Printed Template
Graphics software allows you to take an image of a sickle mower and reduce it to its main components. By adjusting a combination of functions such as brightness, contrast and gray-scale, you can create a sketch-like rendition of a photograph. You can print it in black and white to get an ideal template for your painting. Simply begin adding colors and features to complete the painting.
Photocopier
A photocopier can be adjusted to make very light copies of a photograph or image. It does not need to be a color copier, as you will be adding paint to the template. Make the copy light enough so that only the main shapes of the sickle mower are outlined. You want to get a good outline of the blade on the mower, which is its most complicated feature.
Freehand Sketch
Using a detailed reference image of a sickle mower, you can sketch the mower in sections. Start with the blade, creating the evenly spaced points of each blade, as well as the end piece on the outer edge. There are many curved areas on the housing of the sickle blade, as it is designed to capture and feed the grass into the blades. Shading in these shapes, once the outline is completed, helps to guide you once you are ready to apply paint.
Types of Paint
Once you have a sketch or template, you can easily apply paint without worrying about draw the sickle mower. Watercolor or watered down acrylic paint can fill the painting very quickly. A blue wash can be applied for the sky followed by brown and green for the distant field in the background. Then, the sickle mower can be painted in various shades of rust color, as well as shades of gray and black. Oil paint would require more time and some experience. Whatever the type of paint you use, it is usually best to let each layer of color dry before adding other elements to prevent a washed-out look.
