Inspired by the humble Crayon

Hi friends! Today I am sharing a fun painting I did of crayons! I recently dug all my kid’s crayons out to see how they fared against artist-grade crayons and I thought these humble Crayolas would be a nice subject for a painting!

You can find a real-time lesson for this project in Critique Club. For only $5 a month, you get access to almost 100 real-time, in-depth art tutorials (2 new tutorials added each month!), monthly art prompts, and the ability to upload your art for feedback from me. If you want to be a part of this vibrant community of artists of all levels we would love to have you!

Supplies (affiliate links used)

• QoR Watercolors *I recommend the high chroma set, 6 tubes for $27
• Arches watercolor paper 9″x12″ 140# cold press block
• Colored pencils: Prismacolor and Brutfuner Macaron
• Pastel Pencils
• White gel pen
• Acrylic black pen
• Black fineliners

Here is the reference photo I took:

Reminder! 50% off Specials on Critique Club Archives through January 31!

• 50% off launch special on the 2022 Critique Club Archive This class gives you lifetime access to all 24 art lessons posted in Critique Club during 2022. Regular price $60, with discount $30. Use coupon code 2022SAVE50 if the discount doesn’t appear automatically. Offer ends 1/31/23
• OR You can save 50% on the entire Critique Club Archive Bundle. This gives you lifetime access to the 96 real-time art lessons posted in Critique Club from January 2019 and December 2022 all for one low price. This is a $240 value. Regular price $200, with the discount $100. Use coupon code ARCHIVE50 if the discount doesn’t appear automatically. Offer ends 1/31/23

I hope you have a great weekend and til next time happy crafting!

Inktober 2022 Recap (Livestream Tomorrow!)

Hi friends! Today I took it easy. I finished up my last Inktober drawing at about 11pm last night, right down to the wire. If you took part in the month-long art challenge hats off to you! If you have no idea what I am talking about Inktober is an art challenge started by Jake Parker to improve inking and it has grown over the years to all kinds of art media. I am going to Livestream a sketchbook flip through tomorrow if you want to find out more about any of these artworks such as mediums, inspiration, etc. The Livestream and replay can be watched in the video player below or if you want to chat live tomorrow morning at 11am ET you can watch on YouTube.

Now here is the prompt list and artwork!

And that’s a wrap of Inktober 2022! I went off script (prompt list) twice, it was a beautiful day on the 6th so I did a pastel painting at the stream instead of painting a bouquet (but the fall leaves made a colorful bouquet I think!) and on the 20th because I was doing artwork for a class I was teaching and I honestly ran out of time to create a new inktober piece. I’m happy with my work. I did more from my imagination this year which is something I’d like to work on more. If you like my art style and want to improve your alcohol marker skills I have an Alcohol Marker Workshop on launch special this month for 50% off. Click this discount link or use coupon code MARKER50 if the link doesn’t appear automatically. I hope to see you on the Livestream tomorrow and til then happy crafting!

Spooky Time is Here! (Although this raven is too cute to spook anyone)

Hi friends, I love how cute this mixed media raven turned out. I want to find an ornate frame for it and use it in my Halloween decorating.

I’m going to share a look behind the scenes of designing this painting and show you how I come up with an idea and then figure out better ways to do it when I go to teach it. If you would like to paint this live with me I will be teaching it live at Michaels online classes on October 20th at 8pm ET. You can get the full supply list and pattern here. The class is $20 and students will get a recording the day after the class.

This Thursday I have a free Micheals class all bout Derwent Pan paints and I will share tips, tricks, and techniques on using them. If you have some of these products (or similar pan paints) and want some ideas on how to make the most of them please join me. You can ask me questions while the class is live and hopefully get some good inspiration! Sign up for free here.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you in one or both of those live classes! Happy crafting!

I read a spooky book and painted a spooky boat!

Hi friends, I’m not sure if everyone would find a battered old boat on a foggy lake creepy but after reading The House Across the Lake by Riley Sage I do!

A real-time narrated version of this tutorial is up now in Critique Club. Enjoy 90 real-time (more complex than youtube) art lessons with 2 new ones added every month along with creative prompts and the ability to upload your artwork for feedback for me for only $5 a month! Now on to the timelapse!

Supplies (affiliate links used)

• Arches watercolor paper block 9″x12″ cold press
• Watercolors: (M Graham) Ultramarine, Cerulean, Viridian, Burnt Sienna, Yellow ochre
• Supervision super-granulating paints (optional) in Devil’s Kiss and Blue Brown.
• Fine mist spray bottle
• An assortment of brushes, I used my new set with Craftamo including a 1″ wash, 1/2″ ca’s tongue, dagger, liner, and #8 round. You will also want a small scrubber and mop.
• Opaque colored pencils like Prismacolor, Colorsoft, Chromaflow or Arrtx (or what you prefer)
• Paper towels
• Cut up credit card for scraping
• 2 buckets of water
• Reference photo

That’s all for today! Happy crafting!

I hope you like sunflowers…

Hi friends, I bought a couple of single sunflowers at the same farm stand where I bought the bouquet I used for yesterday’s tutorial and I had to paint it!

Grab your supplies and paint along, that is, as long as you are not sick of sunflowers:)

Supplies (Affiliate links used)

• Strathmore 400 series paper 6″x12″ *I like these landscape pads and it’s only $5!
• Supervision granulating watercolors (new)
• Sennelier watercolors (the metal tin of 12 tubes I bought is still on sale! grab it while you can if you want these)
• Cute travel palette (I resined the mixing space because it was only painted wood, this one looks better and is way cheaper than what I paid, nice Christmas gift! walnut and oak available)
• Arrtx Acrylic markers (these have sales and coupons going for the rest of September 2022) this is the single-end pastel set of 30
• Watercolor pencils

That’s it for today. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and til next time happy crafting!

I know it looks like a hampster but the owner swears it’s a gerbil!

Hi friends! I have a cute and fun project to share with your today! There was a bit of a debate over what kind of rodent this was so I asked my schoolteacher friend Jenny, who graciously let me use her photo of her classroom pet to paint from, and she said it is a yet-to-be-named gerbil. Her students will name it when they go back to school. I wonder what name they will pick?

You can find a real-time version of this tutorial in Critique Club along with 87 other long, in-depth lessons in a variety of interesting art media. I add 2 new real-time tutorials each month that is more thorough than what is posted on Youtube plus you get monthly creative prompts to get you painting when you are stuck. What’s more, you can upload your work for feedback from me. All for $5 a month. Learn more here or enroll today!

Supplies (Affiliate links used)

• Watercolors: Shinhan PWC (review to come soon) 32 color set on Amazon, 24 color set on Amazon, 12 pastel tint set on Amazon, sets and single tubes on Blick
• Hot Press watercolor paper
• Prismacolor pencils: sets on Amazon or you can find sets and open stock on Blick
• My new watercolor brush set!

That’s all from me today. We will be leaving soon to move Maizy into the dorm (sniff, sniff) so it’s going to be an emotional day for us. I hope you are having a good day and til next time happy crafting!

I’m not So Sure About this Painting…

Hi friends! I will say this painting was fun to paint. I will also say that it turned out a bit chaotic in the end and one viewer on youtube came out and called it ugly and overworked so if at any point in the video you like the way it looks feel free to pause the video and just pretend that is the way I left it LOL! I might add some collage and stamping to this later because, hey, what have I got to lose? This is an “enjoy the process of painting” (which I did) so I hope you do too or at least enjoy the company while you work on something else. Onward!

Supplies (Affiliate links used)

• My new watercolor brushes!!! This set of 6 high-performance, Cruelty-free brushes are perfect for watercolor and designed to my specifications of paint carrying capacity and control.
• Arches cold pressed paper (block) 9″x12″
• M Graham watercolors
• and a couple fun, specialty sets of watercolor: Paul Rubens Opera set and Supervision rock + Mica
• I added accents with these overpriced crayons
• I sketched with Colerase pencils (indigo)
• Reference photo

The moral of this story is even a bad day of painting is better than not painting at all. And to tell you the truth I kinda like parts of it. Happy crafting!

The Cattails are out!

Hi friends! The cat tails, or Corn Dog Flowers as my students used to call them, are up and I love them (even tho it means fall will be coming soon) so I decided it would be fun to paint them along with other wildflowers that are out now.

You can find a real-time version of this tutorial in Critique Club along with 86 other long, in-depth lessons in various exciting art media. I add 2 new real-time tutorials each month that is more thorough than what is posted on Youtube plus you get monthly creative prompts to get you painting when you are stuck. What’s more, you can upload your work for feedback from me. All for $5 a month. Learn more here or enroll today!

Supplies:

• Paper, Watercolors, and brushes are from my Turner Signature set available through Jerry’s Artarama
• White gel pen
• Colored pencils

I hope you have a wonderful day and keep cool if you are also experiencing a heatwave like we are in Maine. Happy crafting!

This turned out OK, but it had me worried for a while…

Hi friends! Yesterday I wanted to paint a still life of the succulent my hubby bought me for mothers day, isn’t this plant lovely? Too bad its days are numbered. When you are an artist who struggles to keep plants alive you tend to paint them as soon as possible LOL!

Here is how the painting turned out. I put the original painting in my shop in case anyone is interested.

Now, sit back (or grab your paints!) and enjoy this longer-than-average tutorial! Do you like shorter or longer tutorials better?

Supplies (Affiliate links used)

• Aowin watercolor palette of 36 (awesome deal, be sure to click the coupon box if it is still there!)
• Watercolor crayons (neocolor2)
• Arteza hot press watercolor paper
• May new watercolor brush set is coming in July!

Want more?

If you are interested in learning how to use watercolor crayons effectively on their own you might like my Watercolor Crayon Workshop. You will learn how to create eight beautiful paintings step by step while mastering watercolor crayons. Or, if you’d like more long-format mixed media tutorials like this as well as the opportunity to upload your work for feedback you will love Critique Club! for $5 a month you have access to over 80 real-time lessons in a variety of media (plus 2 new tutorials added every month!) as well as monthly creative prompts! Click the link above to learn more about either class! Thanks for painting with me today and til next time happy crafting!