Watercoloring a 4 stroke Bird

 This week Brenda is sharing this video from Debbie Walker art on YouTube called paint a 4-stroke watercolor bird. I did watch the whole thing, if you are short on time the painting starts around 10 minutes in. there is discussions of her paints, palettes and papers before that. along with some practice S curve strokes that are used on the bird. As always you can click on these photos to view them larger then hit your browsers back button to continue reading.

So I had my little sketch pad handy and I sketched on a branch. my thought when I was watching the video was she made it harder on her self then it didn't have to be when she started with the bird and did the legs straight down, my brain said. do the branch first it will make the legs do their angles to perch. 

I decided to do the background before the bird thinking I was going to overlap the bird over the very faint background foliage. ( well that was the thought anyways) 

Decided to add a little golden brown to the foliage areas with more water while it was still wet.

 And more water to soften some of the lines.

Then I came back after that was dry, did the bird. ( his head was too hunchback looking) kept going , did some splatters, and blue in the background, some smaller branches.

Decided against the gold shimmer paint and used some ocean instead. 

 

added some ocean leaves to the skinny branches and a black dot for the eye and decided it wasn't that bad for a practice thing. and then thought, do the bird again. 

this time around on a scrap of Arches cotton cold press used the same sap green to do the hint of where the branch should be on the panel. 

After the foliage in the background dried, I added in the branch, bird, skinny branches and leaves. splattered it a little with the ocean shimmer paint. I thought my bird has a quail look to it. ( the way the head is shaped and I am OK with that, its better than the hunchback look ha ha. )

I used some Mellow Moss card stock for the A2 base here and the sentiment is also something SU as well. ( from one of the not too old Chicken sets I am guessing) and that's about it from me. If you'd like to play along with us you can find this challenge here at SCS. thanks for stopping by.
 

Mr. Dapper Bunny

 Angie is hosting the Free for all this week at Splitcoaststampers and when I was working on uploading my Snowman Friends card I seen that she was asking for Bunnies, Chicks and maybe one other spring critter you could do and I thought I have not colored this bunny in a long time. So I dug him out. This is Mr. Dapper Bunny from Stampassions Designed by Dianna Marcum. I do have the clear sets that came out from Adornit not too long ago but, When I have a stamp on a wood block that I love the art of I tend to use those and then glance at the colors ideas on the index sticker. (less stress I think) 

I started with stamping him on some Arches cold press cotton watercolor paper with Morning mist versafine ink and adding pale washes of color to his fur. I did drop in some very watered down coral/salmon colored pinks into the ears and cheeks but, I did not want it to be real obvious so, I did it while the tans were wet. (this is a wet cell phone shot)

When I started adding paints to the clothes is when I looked at the block and Thought OK you can do pink and blue. I did change the tones of the shades and mostly left the Daisy white paper with some grey shadows along the edges and a yellowish center. I did think at this point the shadow under him was too wide and I should have stopped it before the edge of the paper and then just decided to trim the panel down.

 When the 2 house mouse stamp sets came in the mail this week this pretty paper from Simple Stories was also in the envelope. (it's called Simple Vintage Flower shoppe) and since it's new my guess is you could still find it out there somewhere. I had found it at Simon Says Stamp. The papers are double sided and as much as I love the colors in that floral its a little busy for my actual taste so, I knew I wanted some layers in there to distract from that as well. The pink plaid is the drop piece from cutting the floral ( its the flip side of it) that yellow & white scalloped ribbon is Vintage. The Happy Easter is from Impression Obsession and was stamped and diecut a while back. The mini brad came out of a baggie labeled Joann's CK so it's very old. The white shimmery textured paper came in one of the Hero Arts kits of the month and was diecut with a Waffle flower lacy square die. That pale purple cardstock is something old from Stampin' Up! ( I hardly buy purple so, I am sure they don't make that color anymore) and This one is 5 1/2" square in real life. If you'd like to play along with us you can find this challenge here at SCS. Thanks for stopping by.

 

Happy Mail {First day of Spring}

 Lucky me, I received this Anna Wight Sweet Miss Daisy Stamps Cozy Snowman set in the mail as a gift from a sweet friend and (it was snowing that day and even yesterday  it was snowing here) (You can find Anna's store here on Etsy)

and I seen that the Ways to use it challenge this week at Splitcoaststampers was to do something in celebrating International Happiness day. ( Thursday was the first day of spring here & it was happiness day everywhere) so, I decided that since I am a collector of snowmen stamps and I do like to color as my makes me happy thing, I would do this guy in Spring tones. 

I started by stamping him with some Versafine Clair morning mist ink on Arches cold press 100% cotton watercolor paper. and adding very pale washed tones of Daniel Smith paints.

 After a few layers went on I went digging in my printed paper pads looking for something with multiple pastels and came across an Lawn Fawn pad ( its old there is no style name on it) from years ago and thought this would work and then I started tweaking the orange-ish Peachy tones to blend better with the paper. 

I wanted to do something "fancy" with him but my snowflake brads were just wrong scale & color wise and then I found these previously diecut snowflakes in shimmery blues and whites and scattered some of those around and added liquid pearls to the centers.

I diecut the snowman panel with a Penny Black die and the Sentiment here is from Inky Antics cut with an waffle flower rectangle die. That ruffled green ribbon is an older one from Stampin' up and the base is also old SU blue cardstock. This one is A6 in real life. If you'd like to play along with this challenge you can find it here at SCS. Thanks for stopping by.
 

Inspired By {K. Van Bourgondien}

 Hi & Welcome, this week Amy has chosen the K. Van Bourgondien site and Pinterest Boards for inspiration and I had some happy mail arrive mid week and I was hopeful I could use some of it and I found an entire board of just Tulip flowers Where I came across these beauties. I love that color combo. So, I used that as a jump start for these. The color I used on the tulips is Coral from Daniel Smith.

 I knew that in the past I have liked live things as no line but, the other things really need that definition so, this time around I first stamped this Spellbinders image with just morning mist ink in the Misti and after a couple rounds of that I used the Nocturn pad in the center of the image and the pieces of the right side of it so the card base and scissors with that black. and I thought OK you can work with this. This is first round of paints on some Arches cold press watercolor paper. 

I know it would probably be better to stamp these highly detailed images on the smooth hot press paper but, I like how the paints pool on the textured so, after a couple more layers of paints I did grab an Fineliner pen and add some details to the edges of the card and the eye of the mouse. 

This sentiment was stamped directly on the Basic Grey printed paper and its also from the same Creative Day set as the image. The base here is some Stampin' Up! Soft seafoam and the finished size is 5 1/2" square. I am finding that the envelopes of that square size are going for just a couple stamps instead of parcel prices like 6" square cards so, there is that. The more I look at this the more I think it needs just a bit more shadow around the mouse and his hands on the stems so, I may tinker with it just a tad more. That's about it from me, if you'd like to play along with us you can find this challenge here at SCS. Thanks for stopping by.

Painting a Rainy Window

 Hi, It's my turn to host the water coloring tutorial prompt at SplitcoastStampers this week and I had chosen this rainy window that has a heart drawn in the condensation with a finger scene. You can find this video here on YouTube by Nianani called Rainy Window Water Droplets with Watercolors. I thought that was really cool. I did use the exact colors that she uses in the video, Payne's Grey Blue and Lamp black my white is Bleed Proof white from Dr. PH Martins. 

This is Arches cold press watercolor paper and I did start out wetting it and then building layers on the edges and this was the first place I stopped but, sometimes seeing the photograph gives my brain more of a oh do this next thing than just looking at the painting does. so, I immediately added more paint to this while it was wet.

 Like so. So this is the end of the first layers of paint while wet.

 I did add more paint to the edges of the clearing and the bottom. 

The next day ( so I know it was completely dry ) I added the finger drawn heart and more color to the edges and the bottom wet on dry this time.

When I first started Drawing the water drops I started with the Payne's grey blue but, then I realized I was supposed to be making them black for some more detail/depth so, I did switch to black and painted over some of them, left some of them more faded.

I did then break out the bleed proof white and start adding that to the bottoms to close the droplets and such. and I walked away from it like this last night.

 This morning I added just a little bit more bleed proof white to the maybe the highlights section of the tops of the drops and the heart trail and a few just white drops in the glass. I know I have a sentiment that reads I miss you Most on Rainy days but, I am trying to decide if I want to take away from any of the painting to add that to a front of a card with this. I may just add that to the inside of the card. We shall see today after work.

What it looked like when the tape came off I could see there was a tiny leak of paint at the top left corner and right corners soo, I am not so sure what I am going to do with this. I have been giving some thought to putting some of these paintings I like that I don't need as a card into a Smash Book or something. 

So, I did press it inside the bigshot all day so it is a little flatter. And this is where I stopped. If you'd like to play along with us you can find this challenge here at SCS. Thanks for stopping by.
 

Inspired by {Ballard Designs}

 This week Denise has chosen the Ballard Designs store as the inspiration site and I have actually ordered from this one. ( that's a rare thing I think) most of our tag lines in the site say no one has bought from some place its just an eye candy thing. But, I have a bench a table and a copper colored boot tray that I bought years ago from them that still look and work just fine. So there is that. At any rate I was curious to see what they had now a days and I started in the mirrors and art section and came across this cute Hare. 

And I thought oh, he doesn't look that complicated for painting one with watercolors. 

 Sometime last week I used this um Reverse Confetti triple stitched square die for the last week's Inspiration card and while I had it out I cut one of the drop pieces of the studio loft watercolor paper with it also and so this had been sitting on the table when I started. So I sketched a kind of triangle face/neck shape and added to loopy ovals out the top for ears. and side eyes near the base of the ears. I had in my head I think I have seen over the years people do these cartoon style bunnies with this kind of a shape and they make me smile so, already changes were going on.

 First round of paint layers ( Daniel Smith here) 

filled in some more color while it was still wet.

 when I came back to it, I decided those original eye lines were more like bug eyes and I erased them and made smaller ones. sketched on a nose/mouth lines. 

This morning before Work I added in some eyes and nose/mouth lines and a few eye lashes and whiskers. which then lead to adding some stray fluffs of hair to be sticking out as I remembered that original art painting as being a fluffy type of a bunny. And so, it is heavy on the inspired by side. I did make him shades of browns. 

This is 5 1/2" square in real life, the base is some Kraft cardstock and that brown printed paper is from the BoBunny Serenity Pad. The kraft gingham ribbon is from May Arts and that's about it from me. If you'd like to play along with us you can find this challenge here. Thanks for stopping by.

 

Sleeping in Crocus

 Who knew but, the day after time change is "national nap day" or something like that so, Jeanette picked sleepy as a theme for the Clean & Simple challenge at SCS earlier in the week, so I decided to go with this sleeping in crocus Stampa Rosa House Mouse image.

 So, I stamped this with some Versafine Clair Nocturn ink on Arches cold press watercolor paper and proceeded to add layers of paint to it off and on all week. I'm not real thrilled with the skin tone on the mice but, I think the rest is "ok" 

I finally decided if it was going to be a card, I needed to stop messing with it. So I trimmed it with one of the rectangle dies in the Waffle flower A7 set and used a texture Bazzill for the base. This is A7 in real life and the inside is lined with some smooth Neenah. I do not have a single clue who I would give this to so, I have left the words off for now. That's about it from me, hope you are doing well. Thanks for stopping by. I have entered this into the House-Mouse & Friends Monday challenge blog found here. If you'd like to play along with that The theme is anything goes or Food. . #housemousechallenge 

A few Bunny Cards

 So, I finished what I started last week and finally got around to shooting the cards. 

This is the Penny Black Bunny friends done with Daniel Smith watercolors on some Studio Loft watercolor paper. That sentiment is from Stampa Rosa and this is A6 in real life. That gold foiled plaid is from a Memory Box pad. 

This is the Whipper Snapper Designs chick magnet also same papers the Sentiment on this one is from the Stampin' Up! set called Well scripted and it was cut with one of those MFT pierced tag dies. the purple lace is vintage. And this one is 5 1/2" square in real life. I am planning to give it to hubs. 

I this strip of watercolor paper on the table yesterday and I had seen the color challenge this week is kinda green,purple, blue and I thought this bunny would fit but, he'd need cut out after so, I did that but, my colors are not really even close to the challenge so, I did not link this one up to that. The Sentiment is from the Newton's Nook Cottontail Cuties set and it was heat embossed on that scrap. the shimmery heart stickers are from Hobby Lobby. I did add some stickles glitter glue to the dots on his Feet and ears here. This one is 5" square in real life. That's about it from me, thanks for stopping by.

A Catch Up Post

 Well, Someone put their shoulder to the time wheel and speed-ed it up again it seems like. So, this is last week's projects. The Inspiration Challenge that Kia Hosted goes to a Raixy site and I came across this floral tank top and thought I have papers like this ( I thought) I spent a lot of time looking and found them after the fact. but, I did end up making this little 4 1/4" square card with these printed papers from Maja Designs beautiful day line.

 I had picked up this Reverse confetti triple stitched square die and I have not played with it in a while so, I had assumed it would cut the frame and the drop piece would be the center so I lined it up on the paper to keep that corner of blooms and so I had to laugh at my self and decided to cut a second sheet with one of the reverse patterns in the pad for an accent corner. The sentiment here is from Pink Fresh Studios Here for you set. 

Also happening last week J had his birthday so, I had picked up this beach scene painting that looked like this when I uploaded it to the gallery last June when there was a painting grass blowing in the wind challenge. I did add more paint to the sand and water and a few more grass sprigs an some white to be foam on the shore line. The sentiment here is from the Simon Says Stamp tiny birthday words set. and this one is 6" square in real life.

I did also play along with Linda's paint a vase challenge that went live last night and the gist of it is to draw the vase and paint it in a mostly negative way and then tuck in some branches to the vase using the background splatter pattern for the blooms.

so, I used that Strathmore travel pad I have that is 3" x 9" and this probably should have been done on a bigger piece of paper but, it worked out ok. 

 The blue is mostly myan blue from Daniel Smith. I know that is spelled wrong but, spell check cannot guess what I was trying to tell you so... 

this is second layer of paints and then when I got to the dry stage here I realized I needed to have the inside of the rim painted to poke the stems through so I just added some paint there in between these photos.

 Seems to me the artist had used her white space well as blooms but, mine was more faded and I did consider splattering this with some white gouache or something after this dried but, so far have resisted the urge. The video for this vase can be seen here on YouTube and the challenge thread at SCS is here. 

That's about it from me, thanks for stopping by.

Painting Bunnies

 I had it in the back of my mind to maybe watercolor some bunny images, thinking maybe I would use them for Easter ( or not) but, I used to have a stash of colored images and I really have not added to that in a long time so, either way it was something to do that didn't require thought like when you are trying to fit the perimeters of a challenge prompt. 

I'm pretty sure I have never colored these guys but the chick magnet is from Whipper Snapper designs and that row of bunnies in pots is from Penny Black. so, I stamped them with some Versafine Morning mist on some Studio Loft watercolor paper and started adding some Daniel smith paints to them.

 Another layer, the colors are being inspired by the index sticker art. so that makes it kind of mindless to do. although I am going to have to add some detailing to the little snail on the rim of the center pot, it didn't quite stamp all the way on the texture. 

Then I decided to give the sky a slight blue wash and these are propped up on the edge of the palette to let the water/color flow up into the sky rather then pool along the edges of the images. 

And then I got side tracked because, I seen the Clean and Simple challenge was to do Squares on monday and I like to do square cards but, I decided that the bunnies under construction were too big and too busy to be CAS cards so, I knew I wanted to do some kind of embossed texture square frame so I started by cutting a piece of studio loft watercolor paper with the scalloped edge die in the Waffle Flower lots of squares die set and then I cut that smaller scalloped die out of the center of that piece, and then I used the Stiched circle detailing die in the center of that. ( all these pieces are taped together again on the back side with scotch tape) and the outside frame was run through the big shot in an Stampin' Up! quilt top folder. So, that tiny drop piece in the center I stamped a tiny PSX bunny on that with the morning mist ink and added just a bit of greys to him. The sentiment here is from Lili of the Valley's hex tags set and the tiny brad came from Recollections ( years and years ago) This is 5 1/2" square in real life. And that's about it from me, thanks for stopping by.