Sweet Little birds

Today I’m going to show you how my little bird painting came together.

It started with some cute templates that I made. When I’m painting birds I like to block out the bird shapes first.

I like being able to physically move the templates around and place the birds in different positions to find the best placement before I make any pencil marks on the page.

For this painting I decided to overlap two birds on the left facing the bird on the right. These little guys are sharing a special moment… 😉

The watercolor technique used here was wet on wet. Which is simply wetting the paper first with clean water and then dropping in wet paint. The magic happens when the paint mixes and mingles on the paper.

I worked my way across the paper starting with the bird on the left working on one bird shape at a time using the wet on wet technique. Each bird will be similar but not exactly the same and hopefully this would keep me from dragging my wrist through wet paint.

The next step was adding a little ink detail with a small waterproof pen. At this point I noticed that I needed a few more darks on the wings and so I added a little more paint there to finish the birds.

The last step was adding a background and a few details to the branches. Since the birds are the focal point, I tried to keep the branches rather soft without too much detail.

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 sprinkle kindness everywhere.

🌸 Patty Anne 🌸

Join me on Instagram @pattyanneart

Watercolor warmup

I decided to play around and warm up a little with my dagger brush. I had an underwater painting in mind and decided to practice some wavy strokes.

The dagger brush has a nice point and wide base. It takes some getting used to but it’s a fun brush and quite versatile.

My warmup process was:
– Load the brush with paint
– Start at the bottom of the page with just the tip on the paper
– Lightly drag the brush upward making a thin line and then
press down in a rather wavy motion before lifting up and ending the stroke.

Just playing with two colors, Prussian Blue and Burnt Sienna light.
I started out with a very dilute mix of each color…

and worked my way up to darker colors.

Later I moved on to the underwater painting I had in mind. It didn’t turn out as I hoped. I may try again later but for now this little practice piece was a keeper. 😊

I’ve been trying out some new brushes lately. I recently purchased a set of 3 Hake brushes. I’ve only used the 2 inch size which is nice but it has been shedding a bit which I am not liking.

Have you tried out any new brushes lately? What is your favorite go to brush?

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

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

Looking forward to Spring

I’ve been thinking about Spring and decided to paint some tulips.

Hope your day is wonderful. 💚

Lavender Tulips – soft and loose

I had some fun with the leaves on this one.

Magenta tulips – inspired by the beauties in my yard. I can’t wait to seem them again this Spring.

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

Soft flowers with ink detail

I have a sweet little floral to share with you today.

Happy Sunday, friends! 💚

I started out painting some pretty watercolor flowers and layered in some leaves and buds.

Soft pink and yellow petals combined with green gold leaves make up this palette today. I just love the layered petals and peekaboo flowers.

Adding ink sketching came next.

Outlining the petals and adding some detail in the center always wakes up my flowers. Some ink leaves and vines were added to balance things out and add some playfulness to the painting.

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

Watercolor with wax resist technique

I decided to try out the wax resist technique and have some interesting results to share with you.

Happy Sunday, friends! 🌼

In each of these little paintings I used a birthday candle to make marks on dry watercolor paper before painting. You can see the tiny candle that I used in the lower left landscape near the bottom.

The waxed area resists the paint and you are left with the visible white of the paper showing through. It worked well on a few of my mini paintings.

Watercolor Notes:
-After making marks on the paper it’s hard to see where the wax is and how much coverage you actually have. It’s a bit of a risk but was fun to try.
-The wax will remain on the paper and does not wipe off. Once it’s down, you can’t go back.
-There were a few tiny wax bits left behind on top of the paper after I finished drawing/mark making with the candle. I just brushed them off the paper before I started to paint.

After playing for a while I decided to try using the technique on a bigger painting. A happy sunflower sounded like fun. 😁

Mom’s Sunflower – 9 x 12 inch watercolor

In the center of the flower I used the little candle to make some markings on the paper. The bright white area is where the wax went down. In some places I ended up with a light coverage but I think it’s rather nice.

I am super happy with my bright and splashy sunflower.

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 at pattyanneart

Joyful flowers

I have a joyful sketch to share with you today. This simple piece makes me happy. I hope it brings you a smile as well.

Happy Sunday friends! 💙

I started out with some playful flower shapes using my two of my Tombow watercolor brush pens. Nothing difficult, just having fun. Oh, I love those colors!

9 x 12 inch – Love is Love

Then I used a pen to outline my flower petals and add a few simple touches. The ink pulls it all together and brightens up this playful piece.

Once again I am reminded that less is more 😊

I think this would make a lovely card. I’ll have to give that a go.

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

🌸 Patty Anne 🌸

Join me on Instagram @pattyanneart

Watercolor and ink bouquet

Today I have a watercolor bouquet to share with you.

Happy Sunday, friends! 💚

I decided to limit my color palette to four colors. Then I mixed up a few more shades with those colors.

I started out painting a few big flowers and then developed the rest of the painting around them. I just love how the little buds and leaves surround the bigger flowers.

The muddy patch in the middle needed some attention so I set the painting aside for a while to think about it. About a month later I decided to go back in and add some ink.

I pulled out my micron pens (Sepia 01 & 005) and started in with a few leaves and some detail in the center of the big flowers.

The simple ink lines on the vase worked out well. I like how it cleaned up the edges and added a little more weight to the bottom of the painting.

More detail and leaves were added on the last round. I decided to call it done at this point before completely overworking it. 😉

Colors used: Daniel Smith Yellow Ochre, Pyrrol Scarlet, Indigo, and Sap Green. The additional color combinations mixed are on the right side.I really like the lighter shades of green and peach.

I think the ink detail was the added touch this painting really needed.

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 at 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