Watercolor Gift

This is my first attempt at painting on the watercolor canvas sheets. I only used my watercolor pencils.

The sheet did not buckle anywhere near what I was expecting. The first layer I laid down using the watercolor pencils, I used a lot of water (I thought anyway) using a mop brush and it did not run & scatter like paper does … I liked that. The colors were darker than usual and I liked that also. I put the tree on next - I let it dry then lifted some color out here & there on the tree. I also put in the grass … the bottom left corner grass is not good - I did that on purpose .. I want to play with this some to see if I can fix it to make it better. Next I will be putting in some leaves on the tree … seeing if I can fix the grass into something I like or not .. it will be fun. According to Tom Lynch - we don’t ever have to throw one of these away because we do not like how it turned it - he said he has reworked on these up to 30 times. We’ll see … once I get to 20, I will let you know

I give the watercolor canvas sheets a 10 on a scale of 1-10. I am still not giving up paper painting at all though … both have their place in my watercolor painting … I want a roll of the watercolor canvas - I have a mural project in mind that I would rather use watercolors than oils - that is the main reason I decided now was the time to try the watercolor canvas. The texture of watercolor paper is different than canvas of course so I can do different things with each. I’m looking forward to it. I enjoyed using it and am looking forward to getting better at using it … I hope you enjoy it too!

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Staedtler Karat Watercolor Pencils Fredrix Archival Watercolor Canvas Rolls Adjustable Tabletop Easel Animal Manikins Strathmore Blank Cards And Envelopes Caran d’Ache Metallic Watercolor Pencils Cretacolor Aquarellith Watercolor Pencils Faber-Castell Albrecht Dürer Watercolor Pencils Acquerello Watercolor Blocks Arches Watercolor Blocks Fabriano Artistico Bright White Watercolor Block Canson Montval Marine Watercolor Block Lanaquarelle Watercolor Blocks Lanaquarelle Watercolor Blocks Strathmore 400 Series Watercolor Blocks Stephen Quiller Watercolor Blocks

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Using watercolors, we can paint our Holiday themes for gifts every day including the day of the holiday because they dry so quickly - if you forgot until the last moment that you were supposed to bring a painting to Aunt Cathy of a Thanksgiving turkey - you have time to do it before dinner is served. In fact, creating the turkey painting in front of your family (if you are comfortable painting with people watching) can create interest in your art as well as stimulate interest in the family members to take up painting themselves. Giving paintings as gifts to those who long to paint or craft or create can generate the courage to try it themselves - after all, if you are willing to do it {AND even in front of them} they may believe in themselves enough to try too. Or they just may like yours so much they will buy them and not paint at all anyway.

If you like tight controlled drawings as the basis for your paintings … create several weeks and months before holidays to take with you to then watercolor paint at family gatherings. Similar in idea to the paint-by-number drawings available in hobby / craft / art stores. You will be practicing your drawing skills when it is convenient for you - you can even do it at lunch time while eating your lunch between the morning and afternoon day job workload rush to relax and reduce your stress.

Watercolor paper and pencils for the drawings are easy to carry to & from work (unless you work with quite large papers - 18″ x 24″ might be a bit difficult but certainly not impossible - I have a portfolio where it would fit just right with my drawing board for loose sheets of paper or just putting a watercolor block in and off it will go to where-ever I need to go - it has a carrying handle and a shoulder strap - similar in idea to carrying a briefcase around. Drawing pencils or watercolor pencils are easy to slide into the portfolio and take along too and I have a small hand pencil sharpener I keep in the car and an extra in my purse (aka backpack with a shoulder strap - my set of 24 watercolor pencils and either 9″ x 12″ or 10″ x 14″ watercolor pads fit easily) - the electric one sits on my drawing table at home and I love it dearly - but I am not going to get a battery operated one to carry around - I know me - I tend to forget to get extra batteries for things and then when I need them - I am nowhere near a place to get them or it is out of the question time-wise.

I just read the October 2007 issue of Watercolor Magic - no Thanksgiving or holiday themes mentioned but the very most interesting articles to me were two that discussed computers:

1. Studio Staples by Tom Zeit - Programs for the Painter.

I use a computer in my painting {I have Corel Painter and NaturePainter software that I use to paint on the computer} and art studio (blogging is an art business activity} but there were 3 art business programs I had not heard of and am glad that they were mentioned so I can research them and find out if any will work for me in my business.

The programs mentioned were Working Artist (www.workingartist.com), Artsystems Studio (www.artsystems.com) and Artlook for Artists (www.artlooksoftware.com).

2. Taking the Leap by Maggie Latham

This article was full of good information how and what equipment she uses to create and print her own giclee prints in her office/studio. I upload my paintings graphics to my ImageKind Galleries (as well as my photography) and customers can choose Fine Art Prints or Posters and whether to frame them or not to frame them - I am not doing limited Edition Prints at this time or signing the prints though. When I start selling signed Limited Edition prints next year - now that I have the information, I could purchase the equipment and print my own.

Business sales idea: with a laptop Tablet PC loaded with Corel Painter for example and a giclee printer - it would be very possible to paint at art/craft shows and sell signed prints of them immediately - something to think about! Or I can continue to continue to order them from ImageKind, sign them, mat and/or frame them and display them for sale at art shows. Or I can do some of both. Or I can just paint in real watercolors at shows and sell those with mats/no frames.

Today’s featured art is Watercolor Toadstools by Barbara Burns

Watercolor Toadstools by Barbara Burns — View Larger

Tags: Barbara Burns, Watercolor Toadstools, Imagekind, toadstool, watercolor