July Citrus Tech Walllpaper

July! Already. (As I say every month.) After a great 4th of July weekend with my family and in-laws, I'm back home with the kids and my husband for a full month of family time. He's a teacher and I'm now a stay-at-home mom, so we decided to take our 4-year old out of preschool for the month and spend some quality time together. 

Happy tech wallpaper: free download at delightedco.com

We have some fun day activities planned in the bay area and will also be doing lots of neighborhood activities (mainly the park and bakery stops :) as well as some visiting with family. And of course, my husband and I will trade kid duties here and there so we both get some time to ourselves. 

For instance, I currently have our home to myself while he is with the kids visiting his grandma a couple cities away. I've had some time to paint and also need to get a few other things checked off my list, such as posting the July download. These citrus slices are cheerful and make me smile inside and I hope they do the same for you.

As usual, I have an iPad, iPhone and desktop version available for download. Sign-up below for the link and enjoy!

 
 

What I'm Learning: Watercolor + Art Resources

I started taking online drawing and watercolor classes last September (thank you Skillshare and Creativebug!) and can't believe how much I've learned in the past 9 months. I still feel like a total beginner but I'm a lot more comfortable creating with pencil and paint brushes than I was when I initially started. 

20 Watercolor + Art Resources for Beginners

One of my favorite parts of the artistic process is the feeling of accomplishment when I'm done painting or drawing something I didn't know I was capable of. And even when it's something simple (because usually it is), I am grateful for finished products I can feel proud of. Side note: the feeling of personal accomplishment is something I seriously lack now that I'm home with my kids every day. Let's just say there's no "great job on that" feedback like there is in the corporate world :)

I regularly soak up books and classes and podcasts about art hoping to learn as much as I can and then try translating that to paper with my paints and brushes. Below are a list of resources I appreciate and have benefitted from. If you're learning to draw or watercolor (or want to start) and need ideas about where and what to learn, I hope this helps. Have fun!

Skillshare
1 • Ana Victoria Calderon - Watercolor Textures | Watercolor for Beginners
2 • Dallas Shaw Fashion Illustrator - Drawing People
3 • Amarilys Henderson - Expressive Little Faces

Get a free month of Skillshare Premium with my link: http://skl.sh/1N77ltd

Creativebug
4 • Lisa Congdon - Basic Line Drawing
5 • Yao Cheng - Beginning Watercolor
6 • Heather Ross - Drawing + Illustration Basics
7 • Jennifer Orkin Lewis - Illustrative Painting with Gouache 
8 • Molly Hatch - Introduction to Drawing
9 • Brush Lettering with Linea Carta 

Other Tutorials + Inspiration
10 • Simply Jessica Marie - Weekly Tutorial Series 
11 • The Virtual Instructor 

Books
12 • Everyday Watercolor (Jenna Rainey) - comes out in October
13 • 20 Ways to Draw Everything (Lisa Congdon, Julia Kuo, Eloise Renouf) 

Instagram Inspiration
14 • August Wren 
15 • Carolyn Gavin 
16 • Mon Voir 
17 • Paints to Brushes 

Podcasts
18 • Art for Your Ear
19 • Creative Pep Talk 
20 • Savvy Painter 

Have fun!!

*update*
Need supplies? Get my recommended watercolor supply list in this post.

June Tech Wallpaper Download

The June wallpaper download is here!

Watercolor Floral Tech Wallpaper Download from Delighted Creative Co.  | Amanda Gomes

This spring-into-summer watercolor floral pattern is my choice for June's tech wallpaper. I painted each of these elements individually and laid them out in Illustrator to make this pattern which is always lots of fun and rewarding. It never ceases to amaze me how much you can do with Photoshop and Illustrator. This pattern is an example of that and it makes me happy. I hope it brings a smile to you this month! Download below.

 
 

Free Download: Watercolor Lemon Tech Wallpaper

It's May and this month's freebie is a cheerful lemon wallpaper for your iPhone, desktop computer or iPad. Choose the version with or without a calendar and enjoy!

Free Tech Wallpaper for iPhone, iPad, or Desktop. Watercolor lemon pattern by Amanda Gomes • Delighted Creative Co.

Sign-up for my email list below to access download.

 
 

Free Download: Watercolor Floral Place Cards

Here's a set of floral place cards...just in time for your Easter brunch!

Free Watercolor Floral Place Cards • Delighted Creative Co.

These cards can be used for lots of things: assigning seats at a table, labeling food, labeling gifts, or providing direction to guests. They'll add a pop of color and fun wherever you use them. Happy celebrating!

Free Download: Watercolor Floral Placecards for Easter (or Celebration!) • Delighted Creative Co. • delightedco.com

SIGN-UP TO DOWNLOAD

My Work: 10-Day Project Review

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have noticed I do a new 10-day project about every 10-days. I started these last December to help me focus on one type of art or theme and hopefully not only improve my skills, but also figure out what the type of art I truly enjoy. I'm ultimately working towards developing a "signature style" but have found I like so many things, it may take years to actually figure out! 

Delighted Creative Co. 10-Day-Project Review • delightedco.com

But maybe that's okay...and it's probably normal. Since I have no deadline for learning to draw and paint, I'm enjoying the process. One thing these 10-day projects have made me realize is that I truly enjoy working with watercolor and I especially love creating patterns with what I paint.

So now that I've completed 10 of these 10-day projects, I thought I'd share some of my favorite from the first five weeks for now. Side note: I'm taking a break from these 10-day projects to join the #100dayproject challenge (yikes!). It started yesterday, April 4 and lasts until July. I will do a hundred days of watercolor (#100daysofwatercolor and #100delighteddays) which means I have some flexibility with the subject, but am limited by the medium...although I think I'll sneak in some gouache as well. It's water-based so I think that's okay :) 

So here they are : the highlights of my first five 10-day projects. Thank you for following along over the past few months and for all of the encouragement. I truly appreciate it!

Week 1: Patterns created from gouache and watercolor sketches

Week 2: Things to Wear

Fall Outfit Illustration by Amanda Gomes • delightedco.com
Purple ballet illustrations by Amanda Gomes • Delighted Creative Co.

Week 3: Florals

Week 4: Lettering

Week 5: Creatures