Beginner Watercolor Hydrangea Tutorial!

Relax and paint this vase of beautiful Hydrangea flowers.

This tutorial is great for beginners or more seasoned painters who want a relaxing way to get out their paints and play! Please paint along with this real-time tutorial!

For this project you will need (Affiliate links used)

• Watercolors (JoiArt) The set I used contains 24 paints and the small brushes I used in the tutorial.
• Brushes 1/2″ or #7 flat, #6 round (included in JoiArt watercolor set)
• Watercolor Paper (6″x9″ Bee)
• Reference photo

Do you like these beginner watercolor tutorials? If so let me know in the comments below. If you would like more step by step flower tutorials please check out my online class: Watercolor Flower Workshop and learn to paint a variety of flowers in different arrangements!

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Advertisements

Sketchbook Sunday! Indigo Buntings

Hi friends!  I had so much fun painting these birds in my sketchbook!

Watch the video to see the time-lapse!

Supplies:

• Renesans Watercolors: Colors used: Pthalo Blue, raw sienna, pthalo green, Sepia and stil De Grain Brown (not Van Dyke Brown, I misspoke)
• Watercolor sketchbook: This is the brand but the book I have is larger than this, about 9″x12″
• Brushes: #8 & #2 round, Filbert wash
• Cut up credit card, paper towel, 2 waterbruckets
• Swatching stamps
• Prismacolor Pencils
• This is the reference book I used for my reference photos currently around $11 used! You can see other books in the series here Used copies are always popping up so I keep an eye out for them at a good price:)

If you would like real-time step by step lessons on painting birds please check out my course Texture Toolbox Feathers & Fowl where I go in-depth into painting birds and feather.

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Colorful Mountain Landscape Beginner Watercolor Tutorial!

Hi friends! Here is a fun and easy watercolor anyone can do!

It will only take 30 minutes and it is a great way to unwind after a long day. Watch the video and paint along!

Supplies (affiliate links used)

• a pencil
• Watercolors: I used the 36 half pan set from Arteza (Use coupon PROMO10 for 10% off on the Arteza website)  Also on Amazon
  I will list the Atreza colors as well as common names so you can use the paint you already have:) * next to Arteza name
  *Oxford Blue or Ultramarine
  *Cerulean Blue
  *Naples Yellow or Yellow Ochre or Raw Sienna
  *Mahogany or Burnt Sienna or English Red
  *Olive Green or Sap Green
  *Scarlet red or Crimson
• Brushes: Creative Mark Mimik, #8 and #12 round, 1″ flat, 1/4″ dagger (menta) or Princeton Neptune, 3/8″ scrubber (menta) or maxine’s mop 
• Watercolor paper
• Reference photo, I couldn’t seem to direct link but scroll down, it is on this page.

I hope you enjoyed this beginner tutorial and until next time happy crafting!

 

Sketchbook Sunday {Pumpkin Spice Version}

Hi friends! Yesterday we took the kids apple picking and to a corn maze at a local farm. We saw pumpkins and gourds, goats and horses and beautiful fall flowers. The regional humorist Tim Sample was even performing and we could hear his act as we picked apples (soon to be made into apple crisp!) It is definitely starting to feel like fall here in maine, the weather is cool and crisp and that is what inspired this week’s sketch.

I recorded it in timelapse so it is pretty short but to be honest I wasn’t feeling the joy of the sketch today, I am not sure why, I think I should have done this on real watercolor paper but oh well, here it is anyway.

Supplies:

• Arteza 36 half pan watercolor set (review coming soon!) $34.99 on Arteza website plus free shipping and 10% off with coupon PROMO10 OR on Amazon for $35.99
• Fabrino Venice book sketchbook
• Prismacolor pencils
• reference photo

I wish I had a more inspiring project for you. That’s the way it goes sometimes:) Happy crafting!

 

Painting With My Least Favorite Color!

Hi friends! One sure-fire way to kick-start your creativity is to try something new! It might be using a different kind of brush or paint or simply a color you don’t like. Forcing yourself to look at a pigment that had been a problem in the past can help you create combinations you never considered before. That was the case with Oxide of Chromium Green. It is a dull, overpowering (odd that something can be dull and overpowering at the same time huh?) opaque green that has vexed me for years. Today I decided to see if I could learn to love it.

Do you have this color? Well, then follow along with this video!

Supplies available at sponsor Jerry’s Artarama! Use coupon code: frugal20FS49 for 20% off $49 + Free Shipping (Excludes: Sale, Super Sale, Egift Cards, Buy It Try It’s and Vendor restricted items. Look for the green coupon eligible icon on the product listing.

• Watercolor: LUKAS 1862 48 half pan set
• Watercolor Paper: Arches Cold Press
• Brushes: Mimik
• Reference photo

***Did you know I have a Craftsy class?***

Craftsy has all classes under $20 this weekend including my Mix it Up Mixed Media Step-by-Step Class! The digital download is on sale for $14.99 and the DVD is only $19.99! Craftsy also offers a streaming service called Bluprint where you can stream thousands of professionally produced classes from cooking, quilting, crafts, painting, gardening and more for $14.99 a month! It’s like Netflix for crafts! You can try it free for 7 days by clicking here!

Thanks so much for joining me for this fun experiment and til next time happy crafting!

Live Show Today & Easy Beginner Landscape!

Hi friends! I got a bit behind blogging this week because I was creating a new section for my Watercolor Flower Workshop class on using the wedge brush and it’s up in the classroom now so if you are enrolled you have access to it! I also wanted to let you know that I have my regularly scheduled live show today at 12:30pm on YouTube and I will be painting with my least favorite color (Oxide of Chromium Green) to see if I can make it useful. I have been really hard on this color so today I will put it through its paces and see if I can make good use of it. Wish me luck and tune in at 12:30pm ET if you want to see what I do with it! I will post a reply with the art I make later today but I wanted to make sure you didn’t miss out on what will either be really educational or hysterical, either way you can’t lose LOL! For now though I have a very easy beginner landscape (not using the aforementioned offensive green) that anyone can do with basic supplies!

Watch the real-time step by step watercolor video below and paint along!

Supplies (affiliate links used)

• Cotman Watercolors (Ultramarine blue, Cerulean blue (or Phthalo), Burnt Sienna, Sap Green ad Lemon Yellow) This is the inexpensive sketcher box I mentioned available for $16.34 on Amazon or $14.69 on Consumer Crafts *This is the larger set I have and this is the set with 45 half pans.  *Outside of the USA try Jackson’s Art, they have great prices and ship worldwide
• Watercolor Paper: I used Arches rough but it is a bit pricey. This 7″x10″ 20 sheet block is $22. For a great budget option try Bee Paper, 25 sheet for $6 100% cotton 140# 6″x9″
• Brushes: I like Creative Mark Mimik
• Reference photo (I took this on Rt 9 somewhere between Beddington and Calais)

I hope you enjoyed that beginner tutorial and I hope to see you at 12:30pm ET on YouTube and help me figure out what to do with the color that has vexed me since I begin watercolor painting all those years ago. Happy crafting!

DIY Watercolor Paint!

Hi friends! A few years ago I made some DIY metal watercolors and acrylics using dollar store pearl eye shadow. It was fun, worked great and was certainly frugal. I recently was sent some pigments from an online handmade watercolor company called Xanadu Art Studio and decided to make some legit handmade watercolors.

This was a fun experiment. Watch the video so see my trials and tribulations and the final outcome!

If I have to be totally honest this is not a project I plan to repeat, it was fun and all but more time-consuming than my paint with eye shadow a few years ago and quite frankly I enjoy painting more than making paint and let’s face it there are many good paints out there already. I thought I’d try it since I had the supplies and it was fun but not something I am going to invest further in.Below I will list some references I mentioned in the video:

• Eve Bolts Handmade watercolor Videos
• Dr. Oto Kano’s Handmade watercolor Videos
• Marty Owens Handmade watercolor Tutorial
• Xanadu Studio’s posted 2 videos going mre indepth on handmade watercolors, youcan see part 1 and part 2 on her channel.

So would you try making your own watercolor paint? Let me know in the comments below! If you happened here today looking for Sketchbook Sunday I’m working on it but I haven’t made it down to my art desk yet, the video will be up on YouTube this evening and I’ll post it on my blog tomorrow (I intended to blog this last night but I zonked out before 10pm!) Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!