Christmas Pines and Inktober

It may be a bit early to start thinking about Christmas, but it is not too early to start planning a few Christmas card designs for this year. I wanted to use my artwork last year but was unable to get things printed in time. Hopefully things will work out better this year.

These paintings remind me of our family trips to the tree farm in December each year to find a special tree for Christmas. Those trips are special memories with my boys that I will always cherish!

Snowy Pine

This Snowy Pine was painted on 6×9 inch Aquabee watercolor paper. I love this simple pine and the background just feels like a snowy December to me. I think this one is my favorite.

Pines in Sunlight

These Pines were also painted on 6×9 inch Aquabee watercolor paper. I painted this mostly wet on wet, but as the painting started to dry I added more defined branches here and there. I left some white areas and used a variety of greens (light to dark) in the painting. I really like how it looks like the sunlight is shining down through the trees.

Penguin Buddies – Ink and Watercolor

I sketched my Penguin Buddies for #Inktober with a .01 Micron pen. I decided to add watercolor and was very happy with the result. I think the color gave this sketch more life and feeling. Adding the background color was the last step. I used the side of my round brush to playfully swish the blue gray color all around the Penguins. I love that it looks like a splash of water and swoosh of cold air around them. I think my Penguins will make a cute card this year.

Tips:

When sketching with ink, it is best to work in one direction, like left to right, or top to bottom. If not, you must be very careful. Just like when painting, try to keep your hand or wrist from touching a wet area. I learned this the hard way recently with one of my #Inktober sketches. I got ink smudged on my hand and a little bit on my paper. Luckily, I didn’t ruin my sketch but I could have ended up with a big mess.

I hope you enjoy seeing my work and are inspired to keep painting, creating, and having fun. If you would like to receive notifications of new posts by email, simply click the follow button on the right. I would love to have you follow me on this journey.

You can see more of my work on Instagram and my website, PattyAnneArt. Until next time, enjoy yourself and have fun!

Happy Painting!

Patty Anne