Today I have 3 paintings inspired by watercolor artist, Jean Haines.
No sketching, just paint on paper.
Big shapes and lots of juicy color.
Red Poppies – 1
Trying to simply enjoy the painting process and play with color. ❤
The petals were painted with different shades of red. I dropped in more color here and there, big strokes and no fussing. While the petals were still wet, I painted the center of each flower blue. I encouraged the paint in the center of each flower to mingle with the petals by tilting the paper and also touching the center edge of the wet red petals with the blue paint.
A little clean water helped soften and ruffle the outer edges. I like how that turned out.
Red Poppies – 2
I connected the flowers in each painting by simply pulling a little red paint from flower to flower.
Red Poppies – 3
Each 6 x 9 inch painting came together quickly. It was fun to paint the same thing a few times in a row. I found that I learned a little something new with each painting.
I hope you enjoy seeing my work and are inspired to create art and do something you love. The Erin Hanson quote below inspires me, I hope it inspires you as well…
What if I fall?
Oh, but my darling, what if you fly?
-Erin Hanson
Thank you for stopping by and following along. Until next time, have a great week. 🙂
A Spring inspired post for you today with a few watercolor tulips.
Tulips make me a happy girl. ❤ I hope you enjoy them as well . 🙂
Soft Pink Tulip painted on 6 x 9 inch Bee paper.
I love the ruffled petals. When working on the background, I decided to also ruffle the edge of the background colors a bit. I really like how that worked out.
Soft Pink Tulip
Bright Pink Tulips painted on 6 x 9 inch Bee paper.
The greens and bright pinks work well together. I love that combination.
To create the soft distant tulips, I used the wet on wet technique. I simply wet the paper first with clean water and then while the paper was still wet, painted the general shape of tulips with a wet brush loaded with color. Then I continued dropping in more color to build up different areas.
Bright Pink Tulips
Watercolor Tips
– Build up color from light to dark
– Always have a tissue handy for those times when you drop too much color or too much water on your paper
– Mix it up and try something different
maybe a bold color, different brush, different paper, or an unusual color choice
I hope you are inspired to create art and do something you love. Thank you for stopping by and following along. Until next time, have a great week. 🙂
A few years ago I painted a Coneflower after watching this Deb Watson youtube video, How to Paint a Coneflower in Watercolor for Beginners. I decided to watch the video again but this time decided to paint a larger flower.
I painted this first Coneflower in 2015 shortly after I started documenting my journey. This was painting number 35.
Coneflower painting 2015
I’m really pleased with this early work, I think it was a nice exercise.
In the video, I love that Deb walks through painting the wet on wet background by dropping in lots of color and letting the colors mix and mingle. I remember when I was just a beginner, she made me feel like I could do this and gave me the confidence to give it a try. This video is packed full of great tips and advice that has stayed with me.
My recent Coneflower painting on 9×12 inch Saunders watercolor paper.
Coneflower painting 2018
This is painting number 651. Wow, I am so amazed by that number! 🙂
The salt technique worked out much better in the new painting. I have more experience using salt now and have a better feel for when to sprinkle it on the wet paint.
Salt technique – things that can affect your results How wet is the paint. If too dry, the salt will not work very well.
How much salt is applied.
How you apply the salt. Sprinkle or Toss like”Bam” 🙂
Applying the salt from directly above or at an angle.
The type of salt used. Kosher salt or a finer table salt.
I hope you are inspired to create some art and do something fun.
Thanks for stopping by and following along. Until next time, enjoy yourself and stay warm.
As we close out 2017, I thought it would be fun to look back at a few of my favorite birdies from this year.
A few paintings and photos from 2017…
Penguin Buddies – Ink and Watercolor
A couple of joyful penguins,
Duck – inktober
Ducks on the pond
an afternoon swim,
Goose watercolor with background
a happy goose,
Sweet Bird watercolor
a sweet little birdie,
Birdies at the beach
and a lovely day at the beach with these beauties.
Painting and sharing with you this year has been such a joy. I will continue on this watercolor journey and will probably paint a few more birds next year as well. 🙂
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I hope my art continues to improve in 2018 and that I can inspire you in some way to be creative and do what you love.
