Paint this little fishing village harbour scene complete with boats and lighthouse in your Etchr sketchbook. Using A. Gallo paints and a Sakura Micron pen you can make up your own details to reflect your own experience of villages like this. Let’s go paint! What’s more delightful than hanging out by the water, and gazing…
Tag: arches watercolor paper
Simple Olive Leaf Bookmarks
Here’s a sweet meditative and relaxing warm-up exercise for you to achieve two things – practice watercolor techniques and create a little gift in the form of these Simple Olive Leaf Bookmarks! All you need is your watercolor set, a brush and a fineliner. Plus half an hour of your time and away you go!…
A Kaleidoscope of Butterflies!
Some days it’s hard to raise a smile, let alone a chuckle! But if you can manage to find a paintbrush and stir your stumps as they say in the navy, then you can get your mood to lift and you might even laugh out loud! These pretty butterflies with their simple embroidery-styled embellishments are…
#Paint a Bird a Day Series
This month we are running a series of tutorials to help you beat the blues and create. What better to lift your spirits than a little bird – or two, or three … So today I’m going to feature the Imperfectly Perfect Circle Birds. You’ve heard the expression “I can’t draw a straight line” and…
Turning Circles into Roses
If a quick floral is what you are looking for then look no further than these flowers, made simply and without stress to create a stylish image ideal for a greetings card, bookmark and more. The great thing about these flowers is they are totally undemanding and unthreatening. All you need to do is pick…
A Galaxy of Abstraction
Sometimes we just don’t want to paint anything particular. For example, we have kids to entertain and couldn’t possibly concentrate on a proper painting. Or we have a headache, or it’s just one of those days. This is when a Galaxy of Abstraction comes to the rescue! This painting can be as much or as…
Three More Wet-in-Wet Birds
Along with flowers, birds are top of most watercolorists lists of favorite subjects to paint. And the way to paint them ranges all the way from literally painting every feather on a bird (not my style!) to loose impressionistic renditions of the “essence of bird!” I prefer the essence of bird approach and I also…
Three Whimsical Hens and a Surprise
If you’ve always hesitated over painting chickens, why not give these super-easy hens a whirl? Starting with nothing more than a watermelon slice shape, you can add the details that make the chicken a hen. When you read a book or watch a video on beginning watercolor the advice given is often “do NOT use…
Embellished Butterflies – Never Give Up!
Today I’m painting a little flock of butterflies with a romantic mood, using my set of six granulating Primatek colors, and the set of six QOR Introductory Colors as well. I am painting wet in wet on a 100% cellulose paper, Etival by Clairefontaine, and I am using Sennelier Walnut ink with a dip pen…
Whimsical Watercolor Birds
Today I’m painting three whimsical birds with a vintage feel, using a few colors selected from two sets of Daniel Smith watercolor tubes – the set of six granulating Primatek colors, and the set of six Jean Haines All That Shimmers iridescent colors. I am painting wet in wet on a 100% cellulose paper, Etival…
Can’t Sleep? Paint my Sheep!!!
This is the perfect painting project for a sleepless night – a quick, easy and stress-free way of painting a sheep! You only need three colors for this painting, plus some iridescent paint or a gold pen to add a bit of embellishment if you’d like to. It’s a simple design of a stylised sheep,…
Capturing Movement and Light with Watercolor
Today we are going to try to use granulating colors in a limited palette along with a little bit of ink and iridescence to capture the essentials of some pretty dragonflies. This is a very simplified way to paint these complex creatures. For the purposes of this exercise, I have deconstructed the insects into segments…
Three Cute Cats for a Cool Card
Today’s project is a two-in-one. We’re going to practice our wet-in-wet technique, and at the same time create a cute greetings card we can use for anyone and for any occasion. It’s a simple design of three stylised cats, and I’m using the lovely A. Gallo paints to create this, on a piece of Arches…
Embrace the colors of Italy with this easy watercolor poppy field
Today we are off to Italy to enjoy the scenery and do some landscape painting of an easy watercolor poppy field! We all want to succeed with our landscapes and to do so you really do need a good quality paper, and there is nothing better than Arches 140lb cold press fine grain paper from…
Three Cute Wet-in-Wet Birds
Today we are practising wet-in-wet and water control and having fun at the same time! If you want to succeed with wet-in-wet you really do need a good quality paper, and there is nothing better than Arches 140lb cold press fine grain paper from France – it’s widely available online. I buy mine in sheets…
Watercolor Butterflies in Loose Style
When we ask ourselves why butterflies are so loved by everyone, the answer is easy. According to my nature encyclopaedia, butterflies are some of the least destructive and most beautiful of insects. For the artist, they are a limitless source of inspiration and fascination, as we explore their infinite shapes and mixtures of colors. As…
Black-Eyed Susans on Arches Paper
If you’re wondering how to paint something cheerful this autumn why not give my method of painting Black Eyed Susans a go? You can paint sunflowers or chrysanthemums or daisies like this too – any flower, in fact. And watch as I find out whether the Arches watercolor paper I just received is as good…