Brush Set Giveaway! Chicken Sketchbook Sunday & Tips for Working with Gouache!

Hi friends! I had so much fun playing with gouache in my sketchbook today. I forget how awesome gouache (opaque watercolor) paint is and how fun and forgiving it is to paint with.

The brushes I used today were perfect for gouache and I get to give away TEN 7-piece sets and winners can pick from the unicorn or mermaid Mythos brushes by Royal & Langnickel. Do to shipping restrictions this contest is open to USA residents only. For a chance to win simply leave a comment saying what state you are from and which brush set (unicorn or mermaid) you prefer. I will draw 10 winners at random next Sunday and you will be notified by email. *You do not need to put your email in the comment, I can see it in my admin, I will contact you by the email you signed up to comment with. Don’t worry if your comment does not appear right away, if it is the first time you have commented here I have to approve it.

Speaking or Royal & Langnickel I am the Featured Artist on the Month! You can read the article here. I am so thrilled to be featured by a company whose brushes I have used for decades, I hope you give it a read:)

OK, now on to the Sketchbook Sunday video! I hope you enjoy it!

Supplies: (Affiliate links may be used)

• Gouache (Arteza)
• Grey watercolor pencil (if desired)
• Mythos Unicorn Brushes (Royal & Langnickel) *Leave a comment for a chance to win!
• Sketchbook (Fabriano Venice book)
• Reference Photo: Photo by JOHN TOWNER on Unsplash

Tips for Gouache:
1. Work dark to light.

2.Work in thin layers (use a light touch to layer or be more aggressive to blend back to previous layers)

3. Use alone or with other media (over watercolor and marker, under pastel and colored pencil)

4. Mat and frame under glass as you would a watercolor.

5. Do not work in thick layers because the paint can crack.

6. Paper or matboard are excellent surfaces for gouache as it can bond well. Avoid using it on canvas or acrylic primed surfaces as the paint may not adhere well.

7. Play, experiment and have fun!

I hope the video give you insight on my process. I think diving in with the dark color can give you confidence and also speeds up the process because you get the dark values established quickly and you don’t have to fight the white paint which can overtake things quickly and muddy things up. If you want more help on your art journey, including real-time versions of 2 sketchbook sunday paintings a month consider joining critique club. You can post your current paintings and get a detailed critique from me and encouragement from other members, so you can improve and reach your artistic goals. Learn more here!

And one more shameless plug for the road…

If you want to paint better birds I have a class on that too:  Texture Toolbox Feathers & Fowl where you can learn how to capture the beauty of birds and the textures of feathers and plumage by following along with four step by step real-time tutorials with patterns included. There is also an archived list of all past bird tutorials I have created in case you are looking for something specific.

Phew! That was a long post! Don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance to win a set of brushes, give gouache a chance and til next time happy crafting!

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GIVEAWAY! Color It Refillable Real Brush Watercolor Markers!

8/29/18 Giveaway is closed, here are the 3 lucky winners!

Virginia Staib from Hawaii, Rachel from Alaska and Madelyn Wolfin from New York

All the winners have been contacted by email and I replied to their comments below in case there are multiple people with the same name from the same state. Thanks for playing everyone, I can’t believe how many people signed up!

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Today I am reviewing the new refillable Color It watercolor brush markers and refills. A set contains 24 watercolor brush markers in a reusable zippered case for $29.99 and refill inks are available for $5.99 per color.  I will be giving a set of these markers away to 3 lucky readers. To enter the prize draw leave a comment below telling me what state you are from and what your favorite color is. I will draw 3 winners in one week and amend this post with the winners name and email the winners. This giveaway is open to USA residents.

Color it products can be ordered on Amazon or on the Color It website. Watch the video to see them in action!

Supplies (affiliate links used)

• Color It Watercolor Marker Set
• Color it Ink Refills
• Flower Stamps
• Color Swatch Stamp
• Watercolor Paper

The Review!

Pros:

• Affordable
• Refillable pens
• Reusable case
• Colors blend well with each other and water

Cons

• Only 24 colors
• If you purchase all the refills at once it can be expensive

Color it watercolor pens are the only refillable option for a real brush marker pen that I know of and they are easy to refill. One $5.99 bottle of ink refills a marker 15 times so it is way cheaper than buying 15 markers. I think these markers are as good as any of the other real brush markers I have reviewed. The ink flows smoothly and they feel good in your hands. The tip is slightly larger than the Zig Real brush pen but smaller than Arteza. To be clear I find all of these markers to be comparable but an advantage to Color It because they are refillable and you can buy the refill inks as you need them. The fact that no refills are available for the other brands out there has always bothered me because unlike a felt tip pen the bristles are not going to wear out so you would be tossing away a perfectly good pen. I am so glad these exist. As for there only being 24 colors available I think that’s fine because with watercolor markers you don’t need as many to blend like you do with alcohol pens and you can scribble the marker on a tile and pick up the ink with another pen to mix and it won’t harm the tip like it may with a felt tip pen. If you desire more than 24 colors that these won’t be for you. I love sustainable products and I am so happy to partner with Color it for this giveaway! I love to shout out companies actively try to do right by their customers and the environment.  Be sure to leave a comment if you want to go in the prize drawing, good luck and til next time happy crafting!

Let’s Paint a Beautiful Long Hair Cat PLUS 25 Watercolor Pencil Tips & Giveaway!!!

Howdy friends! I have seen bursting with excitement to share this project with you today! I have had a lot of requests lately to use watercolor pencils more. Watercolor pencils are versatile, portable and you can get an almost endless array of colors from just a few pencils! Today I will share a real time tutorial for painting this lovely long-haired cat (I think it’s a Maine Coon Cat) and share 25 tip to improve your watercolor pencil paintings!

Grab your supplies (or a nice cuppa) and enjoy the show!

Tutorial
Sponsored by Amazrock! Amazerock is giving 3 lucky viewers a set of 36 watercolor pencils in a beautiful fabric storage roll. Click here to enter their giveaway!

Here is the product page where you can learn more about these pencils and purchase them on sale (there is even an extra coupon you can get if you scroll to the bottom of the page!)

Supplies:

• Watercolor pencils (Amazrock)
• Hot Press Watercolor Paper (Arches)
• Masking tape
• Board to tape paper to
• Pencil
• Water bucket
• Golden taklon paint brushes
• Plastic palette
• Pattern of cat you can print and trace
• Reference photo

25 Top Watercolor Pencil Tips!

1. Use watercolor paper or a robust mixed media paper for best results.
2. Choose the right surface for your project. Hot press paper is smooth like drawing paper but will withstand lots of water and aggressive techniques. Use this paper for botanical, portraits or any time you want a smooth line and lots of detail. Cold press paper is the most common paper with a bit of tooth or bumpy texture. Choose this if you want to add lots of layers. Rough paper is the most textures (as the name implies) and it great for landscapes and other subjects that have lots of rough texture where you want a more grainy or expressive look.
3. Tape your paper down to prevent warping and it will give you a beautiful white border when you are done if you paint to the edge.
4. You can tape your paper to any drawing board you have or use the cardboard backing from an old paper pad or use inexpensive lightweight foam core board for a lightweight option. You can also use plywood, Masonite or a free recycled paneling sample like I do! The plywood/Masonite boards are also good if you prefer to work at an easel as the extra weight will keep your painting from rocking as you work!
5. Always test out new techniques or colors on a scrap of paper (use the backside of failed painting or cheap paper you want to use up for this!
6. Start with an accurate sketch. Watercolor pencil (like watercolor) is transparent so you can’t simply cover up mistakes and erasing on your watercolor paper can damage it so you want to make the mistakes and corrections on your scratch/drawing paper. After your drawing is good you can transfer it to your fine watercolor paper with graphite paper or a lightbox/window.
7. Make a palette for your watercolor pencils by sanding a cheap plastic  palette. Color the pencils on the plastic and then wet the swatch of color with a brush and paint. You can also save broken lead on the palette and add water to make paint. No more tossing broken points in the trash!
8. Alternatively you can pick up color from the tip of your pencil with a wet brush and create wet washes and watercolor effects that way.
9. Remember anytime you wet the pencil lead you weaken it and it will break more easily so let it dry before trying to sharpen it.
10. Sharpening tips! For a sharp point for drawing details use a handheld or electric sharpener. Turn the sharpener, not the pencil, to avoid breakage. To conserve lead for painting large areas use a craft knife to whittle away the wood and leave the lead intact for painting.
11. Texture tips! You can add beautiful texture to watches you create with watercolor pencils, you can spray water in a wet wash,
12. Add salt to a wet wash or
13. Grate dry watercolor pencil lead into a wash.
14. For a dark like thinner and darker than you can get with a pencil try scraping into the wet paint with the edge of a cut up credit card or gift card. Great for fur, hair and veins on flowers!
15. Try not using water! You can draw and color with dry pencils on dry paper for a traditional colored pencil look! Try the hatching technique for fur, cross hatching for shadow or scumbling (aka scribbling) for textured effects.
16. For darker details that won’t easily dissolve with water try drawing with a sharp dry pencils on wet paper, that’s called dry on wet.
17. Use a wet on dry technique for stippling. Simply dip the tip of the pencil in water and dot on details (like the dots on the muzzle the whiskers protrude from.)
18. You can also draw with a wet pencil on wet paper for bold expressive marks that will not easily dissolve.
19. Build depth and dimension with glazes! Simply layer up veils and veils of color and shadow for realistic paintings full of depth and interest.
20. Details are best on dry paper with a sharp pencil.
21. Burnishing can be used to build up colors and create a smooth glassy look. To do this in watercolor pencils I suggest coloring dry on dry and liquefying the pigment with water. Then after that first layer is dry keep coloring with dry pencils until the grain of the paper is full of pigment and the color is rich and vibrant.
22. Create highlight by scratching off the top layer paper with a craft knife. Just be careful not to cut too much paper away or cut through your paper! And don’t cut yourself!
23. Mix your media! A white paint (or gel) pen will make quick work of bright elegant highlights!
24. You can also add traditional colored pencil over a watercolor pencil painting as a final layer but be aware that watercolor pencil will not stick over traditional colored pencils.
25. When your painting is done and it is time to remove your tape peel it back flat at a 45 degree angle to discourage paper tearing or heat the tape with a hair dryer to make it easier to remove.

I hope you enjoyed these 25 watercolor pencil hacks and apply them to your next watercolor pencil project! If you liked this be sure to share it with a freind or pin it on pinterest using one of the handy sharing links at the bottom of this blog post. 😀 Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Heirloom Winners!

Hi friends! I am telling you, I am such a ding-dong this month. With so much going on between my regular videos and blog posts, classes and the kids end of the school year stuff (my son started drivers ed, yikes!) I have been running in many directions! I completely forgot to announce the winners of the Heirloom Productions Stamp Show Tickets! They are: Karen Stevens, Debra Graham, Monika.Buzsy, Mary Nieb, Kris Storts, Betty Wlazlo, and Donna Birney. Please check your inbox for an email from Nikki at Heirloom containing your tickets! See you at the show! If you didn’t win you can purchase tickets to the show on the Heirloom Productions website for $6 through 5/27/18 which is cheaper than at the door ($8/day or $14 for both days) but if you are taking a glass you get your admission to the show free.

I love attending the Heirloom Productions Stamp Show in W. Springfield MA, there are so many good vendors and I love seeing folks in person that I chat with here and on YouTube. People are so friendly and it is so nice to meet online crafty friends in person. I do hope you will say hello if you see me at the show! Last week I was notified that the Loose Watercolor Bouquet (Lilacs) class was nearly full but I do have spots open in the Loose Watercolor Roses class if anyone is interested. The past years I have taught at Heirlooms my classes have sold out so if you want to paint with me on Friday June 1st be sure to reserve your spot here.

 

I’ll be back tomorrow with a fun cardmaking tutorial with a sneaky die cutting hack! Til then happy crafting!

 

Ever After Blog Hop & Giveaway!!!

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! 🙂

• 30th April Tamara Laporte
• 1st May Ady Almanza
• 2nd May Andrea Gomoll 
• 3rd May Renata Loree
• 4th May Cristin Stevenson
• 5th May Danielle Donaldson
• 6th May Effy Wild 
• 7th May Tiare Smith
• 8th May Kara Bullock
• 9th May Katrina Koltes 
• 10th May Lindsay Weirich the Frugal Crafter *You are here!
• 11th May Lucy Chen 
• 12th May Marielle Stolp
• 13th May Micki Wilde
• 14th May Regina Lord

Have a great time following the blog hop, good luck and til next time happy crafting!

Maker and Stamp Giveaway! PLUS 2 ways to blend and stencil with alcohol markers!

***Edited to add winners names: Rebecca Bishop, Becky Hill, tammyreese, Rachel Gonzales and Linda Dewolf. I have emailed the 5 winners so if you see your name check your email (and spam folder just in case!) I contact winners with the email they used to sign up to comment on my blog. Thanks everyone for playing!

Howdy friends! I am really excited today because I get to get away some art goodies! 5 lucky blog readers will win their choice of colorway of either a 7 pack or 13 pack of new Azure markers from Royal & Langnickel and (because you will need something fun to color) a Cling daisy stamp from Stampendous. All you have to do is leave a comment telling me what marker set you want (you can see all 18 sets here) and tell me what state you are from because due to shipping restrictions I can only offer this to USA residents.

I will also be giving away 5 Azure marker sets and Stampendous Poppy cling stamps on my Instagram! So pop over there for another chance if you like.

In today’s video I’ll show you how wonderful these markers are and how you can use them (or whatever markers you already have) to create smooth blends and airbrush effects!

Video!

Supplies:

• Royal & Langnickel Azure Markers
• Stampendous Rose stamp set: (the rose set with the vase is unavailable but this one is close and very pretty and so is this one and it has several big flowers and 2 vases.)
• Stampendous Poppy Cling Stamp
• Cardstock for markers
• Stencils used: SSS Folk Dance Stencil, The Scales and Tiles are both by Judikins but I think they may be retired, Similar ones can be found here.
• Marker “airbrush” hand atomizer.

 

 

These cards were a lot of fun to make and I think the rose ones would be perfect for Mother’s Day. If you want to win your choice of a 7 or 13 pack of Azure Markers just leave a comment below telling me what set you would like and what state you are from and I will pick 5 winners next Thursday! Don’t forget to check out my Instagram page today for another chance to win as well! Thanks to Royal and Langnickel and Stampendous for providing these prizes and good luck to you and til next time happy crafting!

Belated Birthday Card Idea, Giveaway & Blog Hop!

Edited to add winner: Congrats to Jean Marmo, the winner of the gift certificate!

Hi friends, today’s project is part of the TopFlight Stamps Blog hop! TopFlight stamps is one year old and they have a 1^st Birthday Special Discount through 3/31/18: 20% off all orders with coupon code BDAY20 (that is a better deal than the coupon I shared in the video but if you are checking this out after 3/31 you can use the video coupon:)

Topflight Stamps is a place you will find different and unique stamps from around the world. Today we have an AWESOME blog hop with some of the best paper crafters in the industry. Be sure to comment on this blog and all the blogs on the hop to be eligible for the GRAND PRIZE a $50 store credit!!!  PLUS – each of the designers on this blog hop are giving away a $10 gift certificate to one of the commenters on their post. I will announce my winner here on Monday, April 2. The $50 Grand Prize winner will be announced on the Topflight Stamps Blog the same day.

Today I have a belated birthday card you can make in about 15 minutes using one of my favorite brands of stamps available at TopFlight stamps: Katzelcraft! I love the expressive characters in all of their stamp sets and every time I add a set to my collection I am thrilled at how well they go together! Watch the video to see how easily this card comes together!

Supplies:

• Katzelkraft Rats Stamps
• Katzelkraft Accessories Stamps
• Katzelkraft Cats Stamps
• Darkroom Door Frame Stamp

Other Supplies (Affiliate links used)

• Arteza Brush Pens
• Versafine Black ink
• Clear Embossing Powder
• Bristol board for stamping
• Other: Card base/cardstock

Now, be sure to check out all these blogs and comment for your chance to win the grand prize!!

• Topflight Stamps
• Donna Bowman 
• Lindsay Weirich – You are here
• Clare Messenger
• Julia Stainton
• Jenny Colacicco
• Veronica Zalis
• Tenia Nelson
• Lisa Hoel
• Teri Anderson
• Jenny Marples
• Nathalie Fournier
• Karen Bearse
• Kristina Song

Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget to leave a comment here for a chance to win a $10 gift certificate to TopFlight Stamps and leave comments on the other blogs too if you want to increase your chances and possibly take home the $50 grand prize gift certificate! Good luck and til next time happy crafting!