Edited to add a photo of the final painting. Have a safe Memorial Day weekend!
Hi friends! We are going to have our first hot summer like day today in Maine and I am so excited! My husband suggested that I paint watermelon (see what a good idea it was to put him on the payroll!) and I thought it was a fine idea! I am going to show you how to use plastic wrap to create the crisp and icy texture of watermelon flesh but there is some drying time involved. I will show the entire demo in the live stream today but I have prepared another piece of paper that will be dry by then so after I show the plastic wrap technique I will have the dried version to continue on with. If you want to paint live with me you will also want to prepare your paper to that point. As always the replay will be available so you can follow along later and pause while things dry.
The first thing you want to do is transfer the pattern (or freehand the picture) on to your watercolor paper.
Then wet one of the slices with clear water and add in rose-red.
Then drop in a smidgen of yellow ocher here and there and outline the rind with sap green. You may need to blot out some white between the rind and the red flesh.
Then place a piece of plastic wrap on the wet paint and scrunch it if needed to make a texture like this. Let this try. You can remove it before it’s totally dry if you want a softer texture or let it dry with the plastic on it for a crisper texture. You can also weight it down and leave it overnight if you wanted a super dramatic texture but that is not necessary for this. You want to repeat these steps for every slice of watermelon in the picture, refer to the first photo in this post as a guide.
You can watch the live broadcast or replay in the video player below but if you want to chat live be sure to tune in at 12:30 on the YouTube watch page.
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.
Turner watercolors: Rose Red, Sap Green, Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre
No live show next week as I will be teaching at the Heirloom Paper Art Festival in W. Springfield MA! Will you be there? Join me for a class or say Howdy if you see me on the show floor!
Hi friends! If you joined us live on YouTube today you would have seen this painting unfold, if not you can watch the replay below!
I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun playing with acrylics! Yes, I said acrylics! I used other stuff too but the acrylics were the star!
I hope you enjoy this long real-time tutorial, if it’s too long you can click on the gear icon on the bottom of the video player (after you start it) and choose to speed it up. I know an hour and a half is a long time!
Below are the supplies I ended up using. *Amazon and Consumer Crafts affiliate links used. Consumer crafts has really great prices and they have 20% off this weekend in the paper crafting category so you can snag the stencils and gelatos even cheaper, use the code: SCRAP518 if you end up placing an order. Also I linked to the Studio 71 acrylics because I have used them and they are a great deal and much cheaper than Liquitex but if you prefer the Liquitex brand you can find them here.
Stencils (consumer crafts has the best price on stencils and I purchased the ones I used there) *plus a coupon for 20% off through 5/20/18: SCRAP518 on all papercrafts including papercraft stencils!
I ended up painting the edges of my panel white and then I mixed the violet paint I used in the painting mixed with white to make a lavender and I stamped a flourish design on the edges. I also stamped the corners with that stamp in white. This stamp is an old one from Tattered Angels but you can probably find a similar flourish stamp or stencil it. Foam stamps also work great for this, use what you have!
I hope you enjoyed this mixed media project, I sure did and it was fun to work on a rigid wood panel vs paper. I am going to hang this up in my kitchen! Hubby is repainting the cabinets white and I think this will look charming! So, are you going to give this project a try? I hope so and be sure to let me know how it turns out! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!
Hi friends! I was doing to cleaning and reorganizing in the basement this week as it is finally getting warm enough down there to work more in my basement art area. One of the things I enjoyed about working in my tiny (but heated, yay!) office this winter was that I put a small shelf next to my desk to hold a full set of watercolor pencils, colored pencils, marker and pastels. I found I used these supplies so much simply because they were easy to get to. On the other hand in my larger section on my unfinished basement where I have space and tons of supplies these items rarely got used because I didn’t like to bother getting the tins off the shelf and I didn’t like the real estate the open tins occupied on my table. So I dug around in my “empty storage” storage (yes, since I decluttered most of my storage space is filled with boxes of empty boxes…I wonder if I am a container hoarder now, hmm…) and I found some clear acrylic gift shop displays a friend gave me a few years ago. I also moved my pastel drawers to my table.
The pastel drawers had some pastels in them but also gelatos, shallow stamps and some other odds and ends. I put the gelatos in the clear racks with a variety of other supplies I wanted handy. I put watercolor, pastels, specialty and standard colored pencils in the other rack and I unboxed some very precious soft pastels to go in the pastel drawers. I was able to clear out a cubby behind my desk and I put my pan pastel sets there because I really want to use them more so I need to make them easy to grab when I think of it because with me if I can simplify my process I will get more done and use more supplies. I am not done setting up my “within reach area” but I plan on filming a tour of it when I am done if anyone is interested, you can let me know in the comments below:)
I posted that photo on instagram the other day and many people asked me where I found the clear organizer and pastel drawers so I have some options below (may contain affiliate links)
Clear Acrylic storage with risers: The closest thing I can find are nail polish storage displays. Different sizes are available and some have dividers on each level and some don’t. Also check sizes before you buy as some are large and some are tiny and come with up to 7 risers. Measure your space before you order.
The spinning cubbies are from Harbor Freight. I have tried to move this off my table but it is so convenient to have andy and I reach for something in this spinning organizer every time I work. I saw this spinning organizer for $14.99 in Amazon and it will accommodate some taller items too, there is alos and extra $2 off coupon! You can also find a metal one like I have on Amazon but I think it is overpriced. I think the one I got in store at Harbor Freight was under $20. Also if you go to harbor freight I recommend their magnetic tool strips, I keep all of my scissors and oft used tools on that on the edge on a shelf behind me and I no longer lose my scissors!
Since I have all of this crafty goodness on my table I plan on doing some mixed media today! I am not totally sure what I am going to end up using but I will either update this post later or create a new one with all the supplies I used. I am thinking I might use one of my cradled wood panels, matte acrylics, stencils and pastels but don’t hold me to anything! You can watch the live stream or reply in the player below but if you chat live with fellow painters be sure to watch on YouTube!
I did see this pretty metal bucket of flowers that I think I want to use as inspiration tho, again no promises:)
One more thing!
With all of the talk about GDPR privacy compliance going on in the EU I thought it would be a good time to have a refresher on how my blog, school and website uses your information. I want to assure you that I only use info you provide for the intent you gave me. For instance if you comment on my blog you have created an account with WordPress to do so (you can see the WordPress privacy policy here) and I can see your email address in my blogs back-end. The only time I would use your email address is to notify you if you entered and won a giveaway on my blog and I would “CC” that email to the giveaway provider, for instance the marker company who was mailing you the prize so you could give them your mailing address to have your prize shipped. I never add people to mailing lists or share your information other than if you won a prize from a sponsor and they need to contact you to ship you a prize. The only instance that I would use your email is if you asked me a question in a comment and I felt it would be better to respond privately via email instead of in a public forum. If you are receiving an email when I create a blog post you have signed up to follow my blog. You can unsubscribe by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email or you can switch to a weekly digest if you prefer. You can always manage your subscription if you look in the upper left hand corner of my blog (on a computer) or scroll down on your phone/mobile device and look for “Email Subscription”. I want you in charge of what stuff you get from me:) The other mailing list I have is my monthly newsletter and if you receive that you at one time opted in. If you would like to join it or unsubscribe you can do that here, or it is right under the email subscription box on my blog. As always there is an unsubscribe button at the bottom of any email you get from me. I always strive to do right by my peeps and if you have any questions about how your info is used on any of my websites you can find out more here for my blog, here for my school and here for my shop. I hope over the years I have earned your trust on these matters but it is always a good idea to do a privacy checkup with any websites you use regularly.
Enough of that boring but important stuff! I have materials to play with to get ready for today’s live stream, see you at 12:30pm ET! Happy crafting!
White Gel pen of extra fine posca pen *I am recommending the posca pens as they don’t clog and can be refilled by pulling out the nib and adding thinned acrylic paint in the nib hole with a pipette. *note, this is my hack and not a brand approved recommendation.
Let me know what you think of on location videos. I love to paint in the beautiful landscape of Maine in the summer and if you are interested I’d love to take you along with the magic of video! I hope you had a pleasant Mother’s day and til next time happy crafting!
Hi friends! I am a child of the 80’s and I couldn’t help feel nostalgic for my Lisa Frank Trapper Keeper after I painted these rainbow giraffes last night!
I turned to Instagram and Facebook and asked friends which giraffe I should paint. There were strong support for both but the close up had a bit more of an edge plus it is more difficult so I think I will do the close up one but also give instructions for the tall one if that is what you prefer. Both patterns will be provided in the material list and they are jpg format so you can print them whatever size you want. My practice pieces were done at 6″x9″ and the one I am painting live will be 9″x12″. You can do what you like!
You can watch the live broadcast or replay in the video player below but if you want to chat live be sure to tune in on YouTube at 12:30pm today.
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.
Supplies:
Watercolors (you can totally use any brand with a good assortment of bright colors, this would be a great project to paint with kids too!) If doing this project with kids try Lukas studio. *They are a great starter set but make sure you supervise them as they are highly pigmented, you don’t want kids eating the paint or redecorating your walls! I’ll be using Turner watercolors (Rose, Pyrolle scarlet, lemon yellow, pthalo blue, *turquoise, Ultramarine, Diox violet, burnt sienna) *=optional
Watercolor paper. I am using Strathmore Windpower, it is cheap and wet in wet techniques look really pretty on this. *I am using the 9″x12″ pad, you get 15 sheets for $7.99 and it’s made with recycled materials!
Brushes: A variety of rounds in any brand you like! Try Mimik Kolinsky, it is faux fur and a bit stiffer than the Mimik Squirrel. I have the value set
Other: Masking tape, credit card scraper, paper towel, 2 water buckets
The techniques you learn today will help you “rainbowize” and animal, how fun is that! I urge you to share you painting gifts with someone. If you have children or grandchildren this is the perfect project to show that the “ordinary watercolors” they have at home can be bright and vivid! Let them draw freehand or help them trace it if it helps. Art kept me out of so much trouble as a kid and I think it is important to have an outlet to express yourself any way you want. It harms no one and is constructive and confidence building.
I hope to see you on YouTube at 12:30pm for some rainbow painting fun! Til then happy crafting!
Hi friends! I have some wonderful & exciting news! I am going to be teaching
on Ever After this year! I saw the beautiful artwork from many talented instructors last year and I am so happy they asked me to be a part of this years crew! And even MORE exciting news is that I can give away 1 space on this magical new collaborative
art course! Keep reading if you want to find out more about Ever After and if you want to find out how you can win a spot! 🙂
First let me tell you a bit more about Ever After in case you haven’t heard about it yet!
“Ever After” is a mixed media art & style development course with a fairytale theme hosted by Tamara Laporte from Willowing Arts. Tam is joined by 14 popular mixed media art teachers who will all share beautiful fairy-tale & myth inspired lessons with you AND they will also divulge all their hints and tips on how they developed their own style and how YOU TOO can find your own unique voice as an artist! 🙂 Yay!
You can find out all the deets (and sign up with the Early Bird price) by clicking HERE.
My chosen fairy tale is The Wizard of OZ. My lesson will be inspired by this
fairy tale, I have some fabulous ideas cooking! I’ve not fully developed my class idea yet, but I’m excited to be sharing my drawing, layering and perspective techniques with you, much like you can see in this painting I did for Lifebook last year.
Registration opens on May 15th 2018 and the class begins on July 1st 2018.
So if you want to start your summer drawing and painting fairy-tales, exploring your own personal story and style and hang out with a wonderful creative community of like-minded souls, be sure to join once registration opens! 🙂 Keep this page bookmarked so that you can sign up the moment it goes on sale! 🙂
Now then, onto the give-away and blog hop! 🙂 I can give away 1 space on this year’s Ever After to 1 lucky winner, yay! 🙂 And if you follow the blog hop (see below for links and dates) you can up your chances of winning a space by entering all the other give-aways also! 🙂
To enter the giveaway simply leave a comment below letting us know why you would love to join Ever After this year. I will announce the winner on 5/17/18.
Here is the list of the other amazing teachers who will be teaching on Ever After this year. They too will be giving away a spot on Ever After so go check them out and enter their give-aways! 🙂
Hi friends! I am honestly terrible at brush lettering, you will not learn how to properly letter anything in this video but I will show you how I cheat at it and I’ll show you how to design a pretty watercolor wreath
Sponsored by Smart Art, a wonderful monthly subscription art box company! All the supplies can be found in the April Smart Art Box but if you missed out on that I will list them out below with amazon affiliate links.
I used a lightbox to trace words I printed with a brush letter font in Google Docs. This is the light box I own. I have had it for 2 years and it works great!
This project was more fun that I thought it would be and I really like the wreath I painted and how the paint played on the crisp and smooth paper. There was a tiny bit of buckling on the paper from the watercolor but not too bad. I tried experimenting with watercolors on that paper but it was really too thin to do more than a few small accents. I hope this inspired you to try something new! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!
