Going with the flow

I bought some pretty paper at the craft store a while back. There’s something about playing with paper and cutting out shapes that always gets me inspired.

Happy Sunday, friends! 💚

These pretty patterns and warm colors inspired today’s art selection. 😊 I haven’t decided what I’m going to do with these shapes yet but I’m sure they will find their way into an upcoming project soon.

I was playing in my sketchbook with a large flat brush and painted this landscape with just two colors:
Prussian Blue and Quinacridone Burnt Orange

I’m amazed at how many different colors and tones you can get when painting with just two colors.

These roses were painted about a year ago with espresso powder and water. Painting with coffee is a lot of fun and this is one of my favorites.

I hope you are inspired to create art and do more of what you love. Keep playing and having fun. Until next time, share a smile and shine on!

🌸 Patty Anne 🌸

Join me on Instagram @pattyanneart

Abstract watercolor – 2 views

I hope you are having a wonderful holiday weekend.

Happy Independence day! ❤️ 🇺🇸

I painted this watercolor landscape using a large flat brush and a limited color palette.

I was pretty happy with the results. When I decided I was finished painting I flipped it around to let it dry a bit upside down.

I was a bit shocked by how much I loved this painting upside down. It made me smile and think, how did this even happen?? It looks like a water view now. There’s always something to learn from each painting.

I waited a while before removing the tape around the border and deciding where to place my signature.

I hope you are inspired to create art and do more of what you love. Until next time, share a smile and shine on!

🌸 Patty Anne 🌸

Join me on Instagram @pattyanneart

Rocky Beach landscape

Today I have a watercolor landscape to share with you.

Happy Sunday, friends! 💚

12 x 16 inch Rocky Beach

This painting was a good practice with some mixed results. I think it’s a good time to do a little self critique. There’s always something to learn from each painting. Hopefully I will be able to carry a few of these lessons forward to improve my next landscape.

The sky:
It is a bit too moody.
Maybe a larger brush and brighter color in the sky would have been a better choice.

The distant mountains:
I really like how the mountains turned out with interesting color and depth.
Using the credit cards here helped me stay rather loose and create some nice texture.

The water:
Nice gentle waves that were not overworked.
The large flat brush to the rescue here.

Beach foreground:
The sandy area fades nicely into the water.
The rocky area in front should have probably had more detail and maybe been broken up into smaller random shapes.

I hope you are inspired to create art and do more of what you love. Until next time, share a smile and stay excellent!

🌸 Patty Anne 🌸

Join me on Instagram at pattyanneart

Silent Sunday watercolor

9 x 12 inch – Crashing Waves at the Beach

🌸. Patty Anne. 🌸

Join me on Instagram @pattyanneart

Evening at the Beach watercolor

I have a beach painting to share with you today. I would love to be at the beach and am looking forward to traveling again very soon.

This painting was inspired by watercolor artist, Lois Davidson. I’ve enjoyed many of her YouTube watercolor tutorials online.

Lately I’ve been taping off the edges of my watercolor paper before I start painting. I really like the nice border it creates around the painting. Although in my photo here it appears that part of the right edge got cut off. 😉

Above is the first layer of watercolor after it dried. I was quite happy with the base. Watercolor always dries lighter than you might expect. The soft soothing colors worked well here.

Adding some nice dark grasses and detail in the foreground created some depth and warmth. I love how the little birds in the sky add some life to the painting.

One thing I’ve learned it that you should keep on playing and practicing. Although I don’t like how the water turned out in this one. The sky is just dreamy and I am in love with it.

While every painting might not be a success, that’s ok. I’m having fun and learning from each one. Paint on my friends!

Until next time, share a smile and stay excellent!

🌸 Patty Anne 🌸

Join me on Instagram @pattyanneart

California dreaming -watercolor landscape

I’ve been watching more tutorials and trying different techniques. I just love how this painting turned out. I may have done a happy dance when I finished. 😉

Hope your day is wonderful! 💙

California Dreaming – 12 x 16 inch Saunders watercolor

I used a 1 inch flat brush, a credit card slice/wedge, and a mini spray bottle.

The spray bottle was used a few times when my paper started to dry too quickly.

The credit card slice was used to gently scrape off some of the paint on the mountains when the paint was slightly damp. The scraping technique works best when the paint is damp and not too wet. I also dipped the edge of the credit card in paint to add some nice straight lines here and there.

I usually paint the sky first but this time it was painted last. After finishing with the mountains and water in the foreground, I wet the sky area and dropped in lots of paint on the right side. Tilting the paper then helped the paint move about in the sky. A damp brush also helped encourage the paint in the sky to fall downward a bit.

I think the key to keeping a painting fresh is to be brave, have fun, and don’t fuss with it.

I hope you are inspired to create art and do more of what you love. Until next time, share a smile and shine on!

🌸 Patty Anne 🌸

Join me on Instagram @pattyanneart

Poppies in the Sun

I love watercolor tutorials. There’s so much to learn from another artist by watching their process and following along.

I very much enjoyed Karen Rice’s YouTube tutorial Poppies in Watercolour. After watching it a few times, I pulled out my good watercolor paper and jumped in with some paint.

Happy Sunday! 💚

I taped off my watercolor block and worked wet in wet to establish a nice sunlit background with distant poppies and leaves scattered about.

Color mixing green:
Payne’s Gray + Lemon Yellow
Ultramarine Blue + Lemon Yellow

Karen used Payne’s Gray and Yellow to create a very nice earthy green. I really like that combination and will definitely use it again.

Another great take away from this tutorial is that when painting wet on wet and the paper is quite saturated, if you apply a thicker paint (more paint/less water), you are able to have more control with the paint on the paper.

I continued adding more Poppies in the foreground trying to vary shape, color, and placement. Once I was happy with the flowers, I added some buds and seed pods.

Poppies in the Sun watercolor – 12 x 16 inch Saunders watercolor paper

After a few final touches, I removed the border tape and called it done. I just love these happy flowers.

I hope you are inspired to create art and do more of what you love. Until next time, share a smile and stay excellent!

🌸 Patty Anne 🌸

Join me on Instagram @pattyanneart

A variety of landscapes

Today I have a variety of landscapes to share with you. One of my art goals this year was to continue to paint more landscapes and push myself to explore and have fun.

Happy Sunday, friends! 💚

Abstract landscape

Warmer colors in the foreground and cooler colors in the background.

I love the brush marks and water spots in the foreground. They create some nice interest and texture.

Brushes used: large round #14 and a mini fan

Countryside landscape

I follow many awesome artists on Instagram. This piece was inspired by sophiemomo1. Her works always speaks to me and pulls me in. I can feel the calm and beauty of nature in her work.

The flowers and leaves in the foreground add nice color to this piece. I just love how they turned out, they’re quite joyful.

In my 9 x 12 inch watercolor sketchbook I taped off 4 squares for mini landscapes. This exercise allowed me to complete some quick paintings and try out a few different scenes.

I started with simple sketches and painted with a large brush to keep things loose. It was a good practice and lots of fun.

I hope you are inspired to create art and do more of what you love.

Until next time, share a smile and shine on!

🌸 Patty Anne 🌸

Join me on Instagram @pattyanneart

Painting Snowy Pine trees

I’ve been painting pine trees the last few weeks. Today I have some snowy pines to share with you.

Hope you have a wonderful day friends! 💚

Before I jump into my painting I wanted to share a few tips and pics of my setup.

I started saving toilet paper rolls that have just a few last sheets on them. I keep a little basket of them nearby to use while painting.

I can easily remove excess paint or water from my brush using the tp roll. I also save and reuse big plastic yogurt tubs for my water containers.

I started at the top with small loose tree shapes using a light color. As I worked my way forward I painted larger trees with slightly darker greens.

The foreground trees are the largest with the darkest colors and most detail. At this point I stepped back for a bit to decide what was next…

Adding more color and detail to the large trees up front was next. Just enough paint to wake them up and add more interest. For the snow I used my white gouache to sprinkle on the branches.

I had to be careful to find the right balance and not overwork things. It’s often hard to know when to stop. 😊

I hope you are inspired to create art and do more of what you love. Until next time, share a smile and stay excellent!

🌸 Patty Anne 🌸

Join me on Instagram at pattyanneart

Silent Sunday – Soothing Blues watercolor

Happy Sunday, friends! 💙

Share a smile and shine on!

🌸 Patty Anne 🌸

Join me on Instagram at pattyanneart