How to create easy doodle hearts

I worked on some easy doodle hearts this month. I hope you enjoy seeing how it all came together. 💗

Happy Sunday, friends! 😊

Supplies used
Canson 7x 10 inch mix media sketchbook
Pencil
Kneaded eraser
Micron Pens (various size tips)
Small wooden hearts for tracing

Steps to create

1.  Trace heart shapes on your page in a design that you like.

I used small wooden hearts from the craft store for tracing and I overlapped many of the shapes.

2.  Add random lines to create small sections in each of the hearts.

It’s best if your pencil marks are light so that erasing later will be easy. My dark lines here were difficult to clean up. I don’t think I will make that mistake again…  😉

 

3.  In each section, drop in a doodle pattern using a pen. There are no rules and no mistakes. You decide what goes where and what size pen you will use.

I have a few books full of zentangle ideas and inspiration. I enjoy selecting which patterns to use and where to place them in my piece. There are lots of resources online where you can find inspiration as well.

 

4. Continue to fill in more sections. Take your time and enjoy the process.

I usually sit on my bed with a big clip board on my lap to rest my sketch book on while I work. I find it very relaxing to have the television on in the background while I doodle.

 

For something this large, I will spend a number of evenings working on different sections. I usually limit my time to an hour or so. It is really fun to see it come to life.

I love that doodle sketching is something I can easily pick up and put down. I can work at whatever pace I choose.

5. Final clean up once all sections are filled in

–  gently clean up any pencil marks with an eraser
–  fill in small lines or areas that need a little more ink
– add a little shading in a few places using a pencil

I love how each piece is so unique and personal. I hope you are inspired to create art and do more of what you love. It is always good to find some time to play.

Until next time, share a smile and doodle on! 😀

Patty Anne 💙

follow me on Instagram @pattyanneart

Patty Anne Art

Quiet Thursday – Snowy Pines

A landscape with snowy pines for you today.

Hope you have a wonderful Thursday! 😊

Frozen daydream – 9 x 12 inch bee watercolor paper

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

Until next time, share a smile and spread kindness all around.

Happy Painting!

Patty Anne

Follow me on Instagram

 

Backyard Tufted Titmouse

The Tufted Titmouse is a regular visitor at my backyard feeder. I love to photograph and paint this little guy. Today I have a few backyard birdies to share with you.

Hope you have a wonderful Sunday! 😊

Tufted Titmouse – 9 x 12 inch bee watercolor paper

A quick sketch with a Micron pen and watercolor. I love this simple line and wash style. Splashing paint around at the end adds a little movement and fun. 😀

Watercolor tips:

• a few light washes to build up color always works well
• leave a few white spots here and there to add a little sparkle

 

A few inspiration photos from the backyard feeder.

A visit last Spring perched above the feeder

 

and a little rest on a nearby branch… ❤️

 

A recent visit with Autumn colors in the background.

I hope you are inspired to create art and do what you love. If you would like to receive notifications of new posts, simply click the follow button. I would love to have you follow me on this creative journey.

Until next time, share a smile and have a great week!

Happy Painting!

Patty Anne

follow me on Instagram

Patty Anne Art

Painting butterflies

I have been painting butterflies inspired by Jean Haines. I absolutely love her loose free style of watercolor painting. I found that with just a few simple steps you can paint a little butterfly.

Happy Sunday!

Steps to paint a butterfly:

1. Using a liner #2 brush and a black brown mix, add a small round head. Then just below that, add a line of dots for the body getting smaller as you near the bottom.
2. Outline the top of the wing with a deep color and then use a little clean water to smooth it out.
3. Next to the midsection of the body, add paint with the side of your brush and pull it out away from the body. Continue this on both sides and build up the color.
4. Add more color to the head and wings as needed.

Special notes:

• Allow the paint from the body to touch the wet paint of the wings. Remember that the mix and mingle is where the watercolor magic happens. 🙂
• Be careful to not overwork your butterfly, less is more here.

 

It is always fun to play with different shapes and colors. My favorite butterflies here ended up being the ones in the middle where I left part of the wings unpainted. It feels like they are moving across the page. 🦋

 

Trying to put it all together with a little painting of a flower and butterfly.

Butterfly dreams painted on Bee watercolor paper

I hope you enjoyed this little butterfly practice and are inspired to pick up a paint brush and create art. Thank you for stopping by and following along. Until next time, I hope you have a great week and shine on!

Happy Painting!

Patty Anne

follow me on Instagram

PattyAnneArt

 

Cityscape watercolor

A landscape practice and a few lessons learned.

Happy Sunday! 🙂

As I started working on this painting I quickly realized that things weren’t going as planned. When I dropped color on my damp watercolor paper I could see that my timing was off. My plan was to create distant trees but that was not what was happening. I was disappointed at first but continued on and did not fight it.

Lesson learned: Go with the flow and allow the painting to guide you.

Chilly Cityscape  9 x 12 inch watercolor

I continued dropping in color and resisted the urge to fix things.

Stepping back I could see an unexpected cityscape with buildings and trees. What a happy surprise. Things didn’t go as initially planned but that’s ok. I learned a lot from this exercise and in the end I love the cityscape painting that resulted.

Lesson learned: Watercolor sometimes delivers a happy surprise.

I plan on keeping this painting near my desk as a reminder of these important lessons. 🙂

I hope you are inspired to create art and do what you love. Thank you for stopping by and following along. Until next time, share a smile and have a great week.

Happy Painting!

Patty Anne

follow me on Instagram

PattyAnneArt

Quiet Thursday – Bluebird

A sweet little Bluebird watercolor your way today. 🙂

Happy Thursday!

 

I hope this little Bluebird brightens your day. ❤

Thank you for stopping by and following along. Until next time, share a smile and sprinkle kindness all around.

Happy Painting!

Patty Anne

follow PattyAnneArt on Instagram

PattyAnneArt

 

Beyond the Meadow

A little landscape practice with an exercise from Zoltan Szabo’s book, 70 Favorite Watercolor Techniques.

Happy Sunday! 🙂

Beyond the Meadow – 9 x 12 inch Bee watercolor paper

The flowering tree in this landscape caught my eye. It looked like a good exercise to practice painting trees using the wet on wet technique so I decided to give it a try.

While painting the distant trees I reminded myself to leave enough white space for the flowering tree in the foreground. I was pleasantly surprised with the depth that I was able to achieve with this landscape and how quickly it all came together.

It feels calm and peaceful, I love that. 🙂

I hope you enjoy seeing my work and are inspired to create art and do what you love. Thank you for stopping by and following along. Until next time, share a smile and have a great week.

Happy Painting! ❤

PattyAnneArt on Instagram

PattyAnneArt

 

Lovely Roses

A few roses to share with you today.  While we were on vacation earlier this year my husband captured these beautiful images with our new camera.  Hope you enjoy.

Happy Sunday! 🙂

A simple white rose surrounded by many shades of green.

 

Delicate pink petals, so many different shades of happy. ❤

 

A gorgeous pink tipped rose….hello beautiful!

These photos make me want to grab a brush and practice painting roses. 🙂

Thank you for stopping by and following along. I hope you are inspired to create art and do what you love.  Until next time, have a great week!

Happy Painting!

Patty Anne

PattyAnneArt on Instagram

PattyAnneArt

 

 

 

Dreamy Orange Crush

More transparent watercolor petals to share with you today.

A little splashy orange crush. 🙂

Hope you have a great day and find time to do what you love.

Happy Thursday! ❤

Orange Poppies – 9 x 12 inch Bee watercolor paper.

For this painting, I slowly layered soft petals like I did in my last post. But this time, I continued on and developed the painting a bit further.

I hope you enjoy seeing my work and are inspired to create art and do something you love. Until next time, share a smile and sprinkle kindness everywhere.

Happy Painting!

Patty Anne

PattyAnneArt on Instagram

PattyAnneArt

Backyard Cardinals

I’ve been enjoying the Cardinals at the backyard feeder. I have a few cute photos and a watercolor painting to share with you today.

Happy Sunday!  🙂

I think this pic is pretty cute but I’m not sure that he approved. Just look at his expression below. 😉

 

Um… hold on now, that’s not my best side.

 

There you go, that’s the shot you’ve been looking for. ❤

Once again, I had to contain my excitement long enough to snap these photos. I was lucky to have the window open and my camera ready when this male Cardinal stopped by.

I decided to try painting the 2nd photo above. I just love that look he gave me.

Sweet Cardinal painted on 7×10 inch Arches watercolor block using Daniel Smith watercolors

There are parts of this painting that worked well and parts that did not.

I didn’t quite get the tilt of his head, but that is ok. I’m very pleased with the background color and splash. I think there is always something to learn from each painting. The most important thing for me is having fun and enjoying the process.

Creating art and listening to music brings me so much joy. Thank you for stopping by and following along. I hope you enjoy seeing my art and are inspired to create and do something you love.

Until next time, share a smile and sprinkle kindness everywhere.

Happy Painting!

Patty Anne

PattyAnneArt on Instagram

Patty Ann Art