LIVE at 12:30pm Eastern Time Today: Pastel Painting FREE Class!

Hi friends! I am sliding into Friday feet first! This first full week of summer vacation has been a lot of fun but has turned me into a last-minute-Sally here in the studio! I will have a live painting class at 12:30pmET though, sorry for the short notice but I am keeping the live shows at the same time each week so I hope that helps you plan a bit. I am going to show you how to paint over an unsuccessful watercolor with pastels. I hope you enjoy it!

 

I had a bunch of extra backgrounds kicking around from when I went to Denver to film my class for Craftsy (BTW all of my blog readers get 50% off my class through this link) and they have been sitting in a bag so I decided to paint over one today! Also I will use up some black and white tube watercolor that has been collecting dust since it came in a  kit and I don’t typically paint with those colors in watercolor. If you don’t have black and white watercolor or gouache, just use an acrylic that is not glossy. As always if you want to join in the chat you will need to watch on the YouTube Watch page and be signed in if you want to ask questions or chat with crafty friends. Otherwise you can watch in the player below.

Supplies available at our sponsor Jerry’s Artarama

For a surface use an old painting on watercolor paper you don’t care for, we will paint over it! Also watercolor or pastel paper is fine, the quality of the paper does not matter for the results, you could even paint on a cardboard box!

Turner watercolors (white and black, I just used the ones that came in the value set since I typically do not paint with these colors)

Pastels (a variety of brands and softness, use your favorites!)

Tools: Brayer, 1″ flat brush, spray bottle, finger or blending sponges

Reference photo by Viacheslav at Paint my Photo

I hope to see you at 12:30pm ET today for this fun and free live painting class! If you are interested in my Craftsy class that focuses on mixed media watercolor and pastels you can save 50% or find out more here. You can also see what other classes are on sale at Craftsy here, we all love a good deal right? Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Paint a Ballet Dancer with me LIVE! Free pattern download here!

Hi friends! Today at 2pm Eastern Time I will have another live painting tutorial. We will paint this ballet dancer with a $10 box of pastels. This is another Craft-mas Collaboration, I think by now time you could use a little relaxing painting time right? I have teamed up this week with Cinnamon Cooney-The Art Sherpa, she will be doing an acrylic painting or a ballet dress AFTER my live show on her channel! This painting reminds me of the Nutcracker ballet:

You can watch it live here (the replay will be available right after the broadcast so don’t worry if you can’t watch live) but if you want to join in the chat and ask me questions as we go be sure to watch on the YouTube watch page.

Supplies:

• Chalk pastels (use what you have, my cost me $10 at Jerry’s)
• Pastel pencils (if you have them, they make the details on the face easier)
• Black Paper (I am using Canson MiTintes rough side but contraction paper is fine)
• Other handy accessories: Sandpaper & knife for sharpening pastels, kneaded eraser or poster putty. Also have a trash bin handy to tap off excess dust from you paper.
• Reference photo
• Pattern (see below)

To transfer the pattern to back paper simply rub the back of the pattern with white chalk, then place the pattern on your black paper and trace. Your sketch will be white on the black paper. Works like a charm!

How About a Giveaway?

I will be giving this painting away after the live show, to enter all you need to do is leave a comment after the show! Also for more artsy-fartsy fun make sure to visit my friend The Art Sherpa, she is doing a ballet dress in acrylics live at 4pm ET (after my show) and I will be hanging out in the live chat during her broadcast and I’d love it if you joined me!

If you missed any of the past 12 Days of CRAFTmas videos you can see them all here! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Let’s Paint Winter Branches in Pastel!

Hi friends! I just found out that we are supposed to get rain and not snow this Christmas in Maine, oh well. at least we had a white Thanksgiving LOL! Tonight I have a beginner pastel painting tutorial for you. I am using soft pastels (like a soft chalk) but you can use oil pastels or any opaque drawing medium. Follow along and have fun!

Supplies:
Surface: Grey mat board (you can use paper too)
Pastels. I am using Windsor & Newron brand and will list the # I used, feel free to use what you have or even try another dry drawing media.
Colors:
#317 Indian Red tint 1- Berry highlight
#726 Windsor Red tint 3 Berry
#725 Windsor Red Deep tint 4 berry base color
#465 Paynes Grey tint 4 shadows/bacground
#331 Ivory Black shadows/background
#554 Raw Umber tint 5 branches
#447 Olive Green tint 5 foliage
#719 Windssor Green Blue Shade tint 4 foliage
#459 Oxide of Chromium tint 4 foliage
#644 Titanium White snow
#709 Windsor Blue Red Shade snow shadows

 
I am trying to take my own advice and remain calm this week.  I have a few thing to do in the studio, which has been taken over by crafty kids, so I have no space to work and darn it, it’s cold in there and it’s making me feel very unmotivated. I think I am going to bring my projects upstairs (sorry honey) and work on the living room floor while I enjoy some TV…anything good on these days? I hope you are enjoying the week. Try not to feel down or stressed. Take care of yourself, everyone who loves you will want you to and I want you too. Have a great night and til next time happy crafting!

Winter Wonderland! {Painting Tutorial and Collab!}

Hi Friends! Today I am excited to share a collaboration project I did with Julien Neel of A Capella Trudbol. He is an amazingly talented singer. I also got to dust off my PanPastels. I bought them a while ago and I love using them but they are one of those “precious” supplies that I keep saving…I need to STOP that!

Here is my portion of the collab, the full painting tutorial with narration…

And here is Julien’s video, a speed painting with lovely music!

How fun is that? I will be giving away the painting to someone who leaves a comment on my video on YouTube and Julien will be giving away an album to someone who leaves a comment on his video. I will notify the winner though a YouTube private message so make sure you check. I will pick a winner next Sunday. You can find Julien’s Music on Amazon and itunes. He has a new Christmas album and others you should check out! I want to thank Julien Neel of A Capella Trudbol for collaborating with me and thank you for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

By Request: Waterlilies!

Hello friends! Today I have a quick and easy tutorial for you on painting waterlilies with cheap soft pastels.

For those of you who watched to the end, do not worry, the injury mentioned was only a skinned knee;) The pastels I used were Marie’s brand and cost $10 at Jerry’s Artarama BUT the name on the package has changed to Charvin and the price is still on sale for $10. You can find the pastels here. I am not affiliated with Jerry’s but I do order from them from time to time. I have also tried these with water and they are nice that way too. They are like a richly pigmented chalk and the package says that they are highly light-fast. Not bad for $10! I like to find cheaper alternatives that work as well as the pricey counterparts. I hope you enjoyed this easy pastel tutorial, and til next time happy crafting!

Sunflower Painting Tutorial {Pastel for Beginners!}

Hello friends! I got a request on the facebook page to paint a sunflower. I thought it would be nice in pastels since many of you have some from the pastel stamping tutorial for a few weeks ago. This is an easy pastel tutorial, I hope you give it a try. You may substitute oil pastels for soft (aka chalky) pastels if you like, heck you can even use crayons on white paper if that is what you have. Don’t let a lack of resources stifle your creative spirit! Let’s paint!

If you try this tutorial and want to share your work go post in on our facebook page, I’d love to see it! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!