Another Friday, another download. This week I have an art print for you in two colorways: blues and oranges. Tulips are my mom's favorite flower so I have a soft spot in my heart for them and think this simple version is something she will enjoy...and I hope you do too!
I recommend printing on 8.5x11-inch card stock and then trimming to fit into an 8x10-inch frame or a 5x7 frame...whatever is best for your space. Enter your email address below and download your PDFs. Easy peasy.
I would love to be able to paint florals. Pretty, detailed florals. But my beginning watercolor classes just don't teach florals...I still have lots to learn. But since I'm a little impatient, I made an attempt to paint flowers without any tutorial...and here is the result.
They're not that beautiful, but they do resemble flowers so I'm happy about that, for now :)
Brush: size 8 (I think! Forgot to make a note of it)
Watercolors: Winsor & Newton Cotman Pan Set
The year is officially flying by, right? In honor of October, this week's download is a fun black cat and pumpkin duo. The download includes four files: calendars that will work for a desktop, laptop, iPad or iPhone. Happy Friday!
This week I started the second part of Yao Cheng's Beginning Watercolor class on Creativebug. The first session was all about making leaves and here is my first attempt. I've said this before: I really like Yao's teaching style. She is gifted but has a nice way of explaining what she's thinking at a basic level so I feel like it's actually possible to create what she is painting. And yes, mine are a mess compared to hers but at least I have a general sense of how to make the leaves she demonstrates and now it's up to me to continue practicing.
This wreath version above is my favorite attempt.
As I continue learning to watercolor, I am getting ready to start the second part of Yao Cheng's Beginning Watercolor class on Creativebug but don't yet have all the supplies Yao recommends which is delaying my start. (Although in the interim I'm working on a different watercolor class on Skillshare which I'm also enjoying...I'll share more later.)
As I prepare to continue Yao's class, however, I purchased the 10mm angled brush she recommends. I found it at Michaels and used my 50% off coupon for a total spend of $5. Not bad.
I couldn't help myself and started using the brush to see how it feels and thought I'd show you what I'm learning.
To test out the brush I drew lines, letters, shapes and just filled up a practice sheet to see how it felt. My favorite discovery was the way it will make thin petal shapes for a basic floral.
I also like the straight edges, lines and the possibility of creating structured shapes. I will need to practice over and over to gain control and reduce the shakiness of my lines, but the potential is there. I can see myself using this for painting houses (which I currently love to sketch), florals, geometric patterns, and possibly even letters.
I'll continue practicing with it and and looking forward to seeing how Yao recommends it be used.
LINKS
Yao Cheng's Class: Beginning Watercolor via Creativebug
Paper: Strathmore Skills Practice Watercolor
Brush: Winsor & Newton Cotman 10mm (3/8") Angled
Paint: Winsor & Newton Cotman Pan Set
Happy Friday! If you like colorful note cards, I think you might enjoy today's free download. Using one of the practice watercolor designs I worked on this week, I designed a size A6 note card that you can print and cut at home.
It's super easy: print on card stock, cut (I've included crop marks), and fold in half. I love Paper Source envelopes and am using a fuschia A6 envelope for mine but I think Clover or Royal Blue would work well too. In case it helps, I also used Paper Source 8.5 x 11 card stock in Pure White.
Another idea...instead of folding in half, you can cut in half and use as A6 flat cards. Have fun and print as many as you'd like!
I'm going to sing Lisa Congdon's praises again. I am so happy I discovered both her and Creativebug because she is teaching me so much as I continue my online learning addiction. Her approachable style, encouragement to practice regularly, and reminders that I shouldn't be aiming for perfection are what make her an ideal teacher in my book. Not to mention: her work is really great.
In addition to her 31 Things To Draw Course, Lisa has a Drawing and Illustration Basics class which I'm going through at the same time and feel like a whole world has been opened to me. A world of drawing. Something I never thought I could do...but I'm doing it. And yeah, I'm drawing at an elementary level but I feel like I'm improving each day and I'm completely enjoying myself, which is a good enough reason to continue.
Today I'm sharing the sketches and a bit of the process that I took to make this month's floral tech calendar. (If you didn't get yours yet, you can get it HERE.) Lisa recommends drawing things again and again and in as many variations as possible.
My final piece looks like this:
I started with sketching a page of asters.
Chose one, cropped and lightened it in Photoshop. Then brought it into Illustrator and used Live Trace and the pen tool to vectorize and smooth it out.
Then played with color, added stems, and built a page full of flowers. It was fun and I'm happy with the way it came out :)
