Let’s Draw & Paint a Vintage Inspired Botanical (free line art included)

Hi friends! Today I have a cheerful flower to remind you spring is right around the corner!

I snapped a photo of my line artwork with and without the shading incase you want to look at it when you draw or print it out and trace it. These are jpg files so you can print any size.

Watch the video see see how to create this painting step by step!

If you enjoyed this lesson you’ll love my Watercolor Flower Workshop with lessons on painting many types of flowers and how to put them together in bouquets, wreaths and swags, the options are endless once you know the basics! Click here to learn more!

Supplies (affiliate links used)

• Reference book of copyright-free images *be sure to check out used copies for savings! *The memories of a lifetime series of books is great, they come with CDs of all the images too or you can photocopy the pages. If you can get them for a good price I recommend them!
• Cute Artsy fan watercolor palette
• Waterproof pens (You can use any brand but the Pitt by Faber Castel in S size worked best for me, use less pressure for finer lines)
• Paper: Any watercolor paper 4″x8″, I used Micador Rains paper and if you are in Australia I would also recommend the Royomac Revolution synthetic brushes.
• Other daffodil tutorials: Watercolor pencil daffodil, Loose Daffodil and Ink and Wash daffodil

I hope you enjoyed this lesson and till next time happy crafting!

5 Awesome Watercolor Techniques & Supplies to Try Today!

Hi friends! Today I have a fun technique video for you where you try lots of things and make a batch of watercolor greeting cards!

Watch the video and see how!

• Supply #1: Altenew Watercolor coloring book: (affiliate links used) Here you get 24 5″x7″ floral designs printed on watercolor paper. There are 12 designs, each version has a dark line version and a light line version so you can have a choice. This is fun and relaxing even for experienced painters who can draw because sometimes you just want to play!
• #2 Watercolor pan paints: These are the basics, they will provide you all the colors you need and you can mix other colors too. Probably the most versatile supply.
• #3 Watercolor pencils: This woodless variety gives you 100% usable product. You can even save the shavings if you sharpen them to use as paint!
• #4 Dual brush markers (waterbased brush and a fine liner) at about 30 cents a color you can color and outline your work for definition and you get a beautiful carry case you can use for other supplies after these are used up!
• #5 Gouache (opaque Watercolor) is great for when you want an opaque highlight or if you completely want to cover your lines. It is available in cups like I used today and tubes. The quality is the same, go for the kind that is more convenient for you.

Also in this project, I wanted to use an old tool that I’ve had a long time, the Making Memories Tag Curler. I actually found a few on amazon if anyone wanted one. I know many of you already have this so it would be fun to use it. Keep in mind this is a discontinued product so getting tags for it will be difficult, if you are going to buy one make sure you can get some tags with it. This seller has a bulk pack of 54.

Other Supplies:

• Organza ribbon
• Kraft cardstock 5:x7″ cards and envelopes
• ATG tape
• Clear Sequins
• Clear glue *be careful ordering glue during cold months as it might freeze in transit.

Well that was fun! Keep in mind you can cut down watercolor paper and stamp any stamps you have or freehand draw designs if you don’t have the coloring book I used. Make the project work for you and til next time happy crafting!

Struggling through a painting…

Hi friends! Today I am sharing a painting I struggled with. I’d been out of sorts all week and I found it hard to focus or even decide what to paint. As I worked through this painting there were many times I just wanted to toss it in the garbage and I probably would have if I didn’t need it for work. This brings me to the thought that there are several ways we can deal with a problematic painting. You can pitch it in the trash, you can set it aside to return to at a later date when your might has had a chance to forget the struggle (probably the best option but you may risk losing interest in the project) or you can do what I usually do which is to fight through and finish it. How do you deal with this?

The real time version of this tutorial is up in Critique Club if you want to see the struggle in real time and see how I solved the many issues that came up in this painting. You can also watch the time lapse below.

Supplies:

• Paper, Paint, and brushes (except giant ones) in my Turner signature Set from Jerry’s Artarama
• Arteza Pastels *if you want to try pastels out for less try this half stick set of 64 I’m pretty sure they are the same thing but smaller size (and a 5th of the price)
• Pastel pencils (Generals) *This brand is a top pick, affordable and Made in the USA, and perform as good or better than more expensive ones I own

If you want to learn more about soft pastels I have a course: Soft Pastels for Beginners you might like and you can save 40% on that class, or any other class in my Teachable school by using the coupon code LOVE40 now through 2/20/21. The pastel class link above should contain the discount but if you don’t see it click “add coupon” at checkout and type in LOVE40 to get the Valentines sale price! Happy crafting!

Learn to Paint a Bokeh Effect in Watercolor (Hanukkah card)

Hi friends! I had a couple requests to come up with a Hanukkah card this year. I realize that the festival of lights has already begun but I wanted to wish everyone who celebrates Hanukkah a very happy one!

I also through it would be fun to see if I could get a bokeh effect in watercolor and I am pretty happy with how it turned out. Learn how in today’s video!

Supplies:

• Watercolor paint and brushes are from my Turner signature set
• I also used metallic watercolor
• Watercolor cards
• Tape
• Circle template (or punch circles out of glossy junk mail to use as a template

Reminder! I am having a sale on my Hand-painted Holiday’s Class! Save $10 with coupon code JOY2020 of by clicking this special discount link. Offer good until 12/31/2020, Regular price $39, with coupon $29. Enjoy some stress free holiday card and tag painting with new designs added this year!

Happy crafting!

Still Life in Gouache on Questionable Paper…

Hi friends! Today I have a lovely still life to share with you!

I found an old block of watercolor paper I bought about 20 years ago. The sizing has gone bad on this paper but that’s OK, it will work fine for gouache (an opaque watercolor)so that’s what I used it for today! A 2 hour live narrated version of this tutorial is available at Critique Club. There are 42 other long format tutorials in Critique Club right now with 2 new tutorials added each month. These in depth lesson help you stay inspired and build your skills as an artist and you have access to them all as long as you area member. Critique Club membership is $5 a month and in addition to all of the lessons you can submit up to 2 painting for a critique from me. The lessons in Critique Club are in a variety of media making it wonderfully educational to artists curious about different supplies. Click here to learn more about Critique Club or join today!

This is the gouache set (affiliate link) I used. I will be posting a comparison between the jelly cup gouache sets in a few days in case you were wondering about them. Thanks for visiting with me today and til next time happy crafting!

10 Tips for Combining Pen & Ink and Watercolor for Beautiful Effects!

Hi friends! Today I want to share my favorite technique for combing Pen & Ink and Watercolor!

We will use fine-liner pens, these are especially useful because not only are the waterproof when used under watercolor they can also be used with alcohol markers without smearing if you enjoy using both types of media. You can use then to draw a detailed picture and then paint over it or you can add refinement and details to ho-hum paintings.

We will also play with metallic watercolors. They are really fun for adding glitz, glamour and special effects especially this time of year as we get ready for holiday crafting!

If you are ready to learn a bit more about combing pen & ink and watercolor watch the video!

This video is sponsored by Prestigify, you can see their art products here. Use the coupon code FRUGALCRAFTER to save 15% on your order!

Supplies available at Prestigify

• Nomad Portable Watercolors 42 Color Set
• Dazzling Gem Watercolors 8 Set
• Fineliner Pens 10 set
• Premium Watercolor Paper Pad

Keep in mind you can take little elements I showed here and there and apply them to your projects. I hope this inspires you and til next time happy crafting!

Sketchbook Sunday & My October Personal Art Challenge

Hi friends! I was planning on doing Inktober this year but decided that I would just do my own thing. I wanted to improve my figure drawing skills so I am drawing people every day this month.

This was day 2 of my personal art challenge. If you want to see the daily artwork you can follow me on Instagram. You can see the time-lapse of this painting below!

Supplies: (Affiliate links used)

• Sketchbook 9″x12″ Arteza Watercolor book *(“x12″ is sold out so I linked my other most useful size, the 8″x8”
• Watercolor and brushes from my Lukas Signature set
• Waterproof Fineliners
• Prismacolor pencils

That’s all for today! Are you doing an art challenge this month? I might try to work in the 6 Drawtober prompts this month as well. I think personal art goals are really great for growing your skills. I am looking forward to working on this! Happy crafting!

Stamping VS Painting

Hi friends! Have you ever looked at the mess on your craft table after a stamping session and wondered if there was a quicker way? Well, I did so today I am going to see if I can stamp or paint a card faster!

To be fair I chose my ink and cut masks before I started stamping because if I had used these stamps before I would have already cut the masks and have a good idea on what inks work well. I wanted to put hands on time against hands on time.

What do you think will be faster? Have a guess and then watch the video!

Supplies (affilate links used)

• Layered water stamp
• Layered palm tree stamp
• Layered cloud stamp or Amazon
• Mini Ink Cubes
• Cardstock in white, teal and celery
• Artsy Watercolor set I used
• Watercolor Cards I used

So, were you surprised? I still like both methods for creating card and this was a fun experiment! I hope you liked this bit of fun and til next time Happy crafting!

A Fall Themed Still Life

Hi friends! Wow, it is so gorgeous outside! We have unseasonably warm weather and the trees are all shades of red, green, gold and orange contrasted with bright cerulean blue skies! It’s a great time to live in Maine (do me a favor and remind me of this in January, OK.) I was keen to do some fall decorating so I bought some gourds and pumpkins and I thought I would do a simple still life for you!

And here is the photo I snapped.

Just to be clear, simple doesn’t mean fast LOL! This is a longer video but I didn’t want to skimp on technique or cut out portions that would be useful. I have had a lot of viewers ask about how I would paint a white object so I wanted to how that as well.

Supplies:

• Paint & Brushes from my Turner Signature set at Jerry’s Artarama
• 100% cotton Watercolor greeting cards from Arteza (affiliate link)

One more note, my YouTube tutorials have outpaced my blog posts so if you are looking for something new I have a couple new cardmaking tutorials up on YouTube that haven’t been posted here yet. I didn’t want anyone to miss out:) Happy crafting!