Hi friends! I have some exciting news, although, to be fair it is really future news… what the heck, I’ll tell you now. I am developing a watercolor brush set that will be released in July. The last step of the project is the artwork for the box so I thought it would be fun to record the creation of it to share with you!
You can also find a real-time version of this lesson in Critique Club. For only $5 a month you can enjoy dozens of advanced, real-time narrated art tutorials in a variety of media with 2 new tutorials posted each month. You get a new creative prompt every month and you can even upload your art for feedback from me. You can learn more and see the full list of lessons included in Critique Club here.
Supplies *Affiliate links used
Dr Ph Martin Hydrus watercolors in Carmine, Pthalo blue, Hansa Yellow Deep, Gamboge, and Sap Green (you can also use pan or tube watercolors you have)
Hi freinds! Today I have a portrait of my daughter Lila in watercolor.
My girls just turned 17, where did the time go? I love that you can capture the essence of a person in watercolor and keep it frozen in time forever. I hope the tips in this time lapse help you with your portraits and if you want a real time version of this lesson you can find it in Critique Club. *Critique club is a subscription with monthly prompts and over 60 long more advanced tutorials. I post 2 new classes and one creative prompt every month and you have access to all past lessons while you are a member all for $5 a month and you can cancel anytime. You can also upload your work for feedback from me. Learn more here.
Supplies (affiliate links used)
Lukas watercolor kit (my favorite for portraits and figures) *contains Mimik faux squirrel brushes and Fabiano or Arches watercolor paper depending on availability.
I also tried out Hahnemulhe “the collection” watercolor paper for the first time on tis painting, I like it!
I did the hair with a 1/2″ Creative mark sword brush *This has long bristles and is floppy so it holds more paint but you have less control. And a 3/8″ dagger *this has golden talkon bristles for more control but less paint holding capacity. Tip: the shorter the bristles the more control you have but the trade off is the brush holds less paint.
I hope you have a lovely day and til next time happy crafting!
Hi friends! I just want to remind you that today is the last day to save 40% on the class of your choice in my Teachable School using the Coupon Code FUN40 so if there was a class you wanted to try but were waiting for a sale now is the time! Today I have a time lapse of a hibiscus flower and lots of tips for painting is oils.
You can find a real-time version of this lesson up in Critique Club along with over 60 other real time tutorials that are longer and more in depth than what I post on YouTube if you are interested in more in-depth lessons.
Supplies:
Oil paints by Paul Rubens in the following colors: Cobalt Blue, Tree Green, Aliz. Crimson, Lemon Yellow, Indian Yellow, Brown Earth and Titanium white. *Note, these are artist grade oil paints and the price reflects the quality, that said the price might be a bit steep for a beginner but a little goes a long way.
A variety of brushes, paper towels and brush cleaner (Gamsol is an odor free mineral spirit for using as a solvent or cleaning brushes that you might prefer over other paint thinners)
Alternatives I mentioned
If you are bothered by solvents (or have kids and pets or paint at home and wish to make cleanup easier) you may prefer water mixable oils. These are paints that have been altered to dissolve in water instead of paint thinner/turpentine. Other than that they work the same as traditional oils and also take just as long to dry, The main benefit is the clean up and you don’t have to wait for your brushes to dry after washing with soap and water to use them again. My favorite is the Lukas Berlin brand and I put a kit together with Jerry’s artarma with everything you need to get started including vegan brushes: Keep in mind the best supplies you can use is what you already have. Oil paint last well if sealed in a tube so if your old tubes of paint are still soft you can use them!
Another alternative is Golden Open acrylics. They stay workable for about an hour and a half and dry overnight. I recommend one of the small starter sets to see if you like them and then adding larger tubes as needed.
Don’t forget, the 40% off class sale ends tomorrow!
You can save 40% on any of my courses in my teachable school with the coupon code FUN40 *My real-time courses, regularly priced from $39-$79, are lifetime access so you can buy now on sale and paint later when you have the time! **Offer ends 9/1/2021. ***Click “Add coupon” on the checkout page and type in FUN40 to get the discount
Hi friends, I had a lot of requests to paint this bee eater bird after I shared a painting I did on one from World Watercolor Month.
So I got out a sheet of fancy watercolor paper and even fancier paint and thought, this will be a piece of cake. Spoiler alert, it wasn’t. I decided to post this video in it’s entirety because we all have struggles in our art and seeing how other’s deal with them can be helpful. I hope you enjoy it.
Supplies: (Affiliate links used)
The Art Whale Watercolors that I used on the original bird in the sketchbook are back in stock if you wanted to snag them
I used M Graham in the video because these were unavailable. M Graham is a higher quality paint but the granulation in the Art Whale really brought my original to like I think. (yellow ochre, English red, viridian, ultramarine, pthalo blue)
SALE! Looking for stand alone workshops on a specific topic? I have one on painting birds! Check out my other courses and save 40% with coupon code FUN40 through the end of the month. *Stand alone courses priced $39-$79 include lifetime access so you can buy now and watch whenever. **Click add coupon at checkout and type in FUN40 in the coupon box to receive your discount. Offer good through 8/31/21
Hi friends! This week we went to Boothbay Harbor and took a whale watch and puffin cruise and while the fog obscured any whales that might be in the area we did get to see puffins.
I brought my incognito sketching supplies but didn’t get a chance to use them but I though it would be fun to share what I bring when I want to sketch small and quick and demo how I’d go about it. Hopefully this video gives you the inspiration to try it too!
I used a portable painter micro palette (affiliate link) that comes with 6 half pans but you can get extra full and half pans for it if you want to swap colors out or you could use a bit of double-sided tape to stick pans you have in. For that matter you can stick pans in any little tin or container you have like an Altoids container, if you spray paint the inside of the tin’s lid white you will even have a nifty mixing area and it’s practically free! I like the have some ultramarine blue in one end of a full pan so I can create large washes because I live in Maine and it is an essential color in your landscape. The other colors I have in this palette are Burnt Sienna, Quin Rose, Cobalt Turquoise and Hansa Yellow, this is not the perfect mixing palette but it works well for quick Plein air sketches in my neck of the woods. You should pick colors that are best for you. I sketched in a Stillman & Birn 3.5″x5″ Beta series mixed media sketchbook. I also brought a waterproof black pen, mechanical pencil, white gel pen, rag and a waterbrush. The weird looking bottle is a kool-air flavor enhancer bottle I washed out and filled with water and I can use it to refill my brush with it 3-4 times. Below you can see how big the supplies are when laid out:
And here is the palette and sketchbook open (and a travel sketch from a couple years ago LOL!)
So, are you ready to try some travel sketching?
But wait! Before you go I want to let you know that I am having a 40% off sale on all classes!
Use coupon code FUN40 to say 40% on any class in my Teachable school! Click “add coupon” on the checkout page and then type in FUN40 in the coupon spot to receive your discount. My stand alone classes (not Critique Club which is a monthly membership) have lifetime access so you can buy now and paint later if you want to take advantage of the sale but you don’t have time to do the class right now. Offer good through 8/31/21
Thank you for your support and until next time happy crafting!
Hi friends! Last weekend I posted a painting of a section of rusty chain link fence on my Instagram and several people asked for a tutorial.
So that is what I have for you today! Grab your supplies and paint along. You can pause or rewind whenever you need to. This is designed to be a paint with me lesson. Enjoy!
I have another rusty painting here. Want more lessons? I have in-depth classes in my online school.
Supplies (affiliate links used)
Winsor & Newton watercolors *The bijou box I have is no longer available. Colors: Yellow ochre, burnt sienna, ultramarine, Intense (pthalo) green, Intense (pthalo) blue, perm. Rose, Winsor Yellow (lemon) and Scarlet Lake (any warm red is fine)
That’s all for today! I am planning to do a live flip through of all of my 31 world watercolor month paintings tomorrow at noon eastern time on YouTube if you are around. Otherwise there will be a relpay available. Just wanted to give you the heads up. Happy crafting!
Hi friends! I kept seeing these glass globes in antiques shops and import shops I I wondered what they were. I knew they must be nautical but I didn’t know exactly what they were or how they were used.
It turns out that Japanese fishermen used to use them to keep the top edges of their nets afloat in the ocean and then they would cut them free after they pulled in their catch so they would wash up on shore for beach combers to find. You can see me paint this and learn more facts about Japanese fishing floats in today’s video! If you would like a real time narrated tutorial of this project you can find it in Critique Club.
The Frugal Crafter Blog 