Final Watercolor Weekend Roundup for 2021 December 17, 2021

 Hello Ai fans!

Welcome to the final Watercolor Weekend Roundup of 2021.

Our designers did not disappoint!  (but when do they?)

And...we have a special guest this weekend.

Tricia needed the day off so we asked the amazing Diana Sheely to step in and be a guest designer.

First up we have Dot with our first Valentine for 2022!

Hello,

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE all of the Art Impressions Foundations? They make it so easy to make a great card that looks like it was tons of work. I love how this Valentine's Day card turned out.

 

I kept all of the watering cans grey with red accents until the end when I added the enamel hearts. I didn't want it to be too busy. So if you want to make it, stamp the 5469 Watering Cans using a Misti inked in Memento London Fog ink. I used Strathmore Bristol Vellum paper that I buy from Michaels or Hobby Lobby when it's on sale. I just love how easy the ink blends on it. Color the watering cans in with Tombow N25, leaving the striped accents till the end because when you use red and then you get too close, the red will really spread. Stamp the raccoon and the squirrel inked in 969 using the Stamp Positioner. Color the raccoon with N25 and the squirrel in with 969. Give the squirrel a pink cheek using 847. Use a fine tip black pen to darken the animal's eyes, nose, mouth and then add some whiskers. The flowers are all from the brand new 5475 Flower Set 6 inked in 177 for the stems and leaves.The flowers are inked in 847, 993 and 685 but of course you can use whatever flowers and colors you have to fill the pots. The pole is colored in 969 but be sure to the leave the highlight in the center so it looks round. The grass is from the original Foliage Set 1 inked in 177. I then added more N25 to the sides of the pots before adding the lined accents with the 847. The sentiment is from the In the Air Set 4753. I finally got to use the new 5463 Slimline Dies Set but I did have to cut the papers on one end shorter by lining it up with the side lines and running it through the die cut machine again because I didn't cut the original piece long enough.  

 Next, Karen has a beautiful sleigh! 

I created a small holiday scene today, using the sleigh from the recently released 5467 - Snowmen Set:

I coloured the sleigh in my Tombow Dual Brush markers #969/565, and stamped it onto my Bristol Smooth cardstock.  I did the same with my elf from 5125 - WC Elves Set, positioning him above the sleigh, and slightly forward - and then sketched in the toy bag and presents around him with a pencil.  I wanted the bag to be bulging over the sides, and also needed a bit of a shelf for him to perch on, so I kept that in mind when I drew the curves.  For the elf's skin tone, I painted in #850, and #947 for his hair, then for all the greens in my scene, I used #177, the reds are #847, and the yellows are #993 - adding several layers of each to achieve the darker shades.  For the toy sack, I mixed #249 and #565 on my palette to create the teal/blue shade, again adding layers to achieve the darker colours.  For the sleigh, I mainly pulled out the colour from the stamped lines, and added a few tones of #177 and #565 for contrast and shadows.  I lightly painted in a sky and snow shadows with #565.

Since they were drawn in pencil, the presents needed more definition, so I used my Navy Twintone Marker to trace the shape of each package, and redefined any other lines in my scene that needed it.  This is it for 2021 for me on the Art Impressions blog, so I wanted to thank all of you for viewing our projects, and leaving likes & comments on social media.  Happy Holidays, and we'll see you soon in 2022!

Last, but not least, our guest designer Diana!
She created two cards and asked me to choose.  How could I choose between these two?

All Pens used are Tombow

Stamp a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Stampin Up Shimmery White cardstock with the wreath, inside sentiment, and small holly from GF Christmas Set - 4938 in Ranger Distress Black Soot Archival Ink. 

Holly leaves: I colored the entire leaf in 177, and then used 249 and went over the black veining. Lastly, I added a little 133 to the tips of the leaves. The berries and bow are colored with 757 -  make sure you leave highlights on the berries.

Girls: the 1st and 3rd girls' hats, scarf, and mitten are colored with a mixture of 373 & 379. The dots on the mitten are 379. The hats and scarf on the 2nd and 4th girl are colored with 757. I added some shadow to the hat cuffs and pompoms with 565. The hair on girls 1 & 2 is done in 969, and 947 was used on girl 4. Their skin tone is 910 mixed with a tiny bit of 969, lips are 757, and cheeks are 761.

The card base is made from Stampin Up Merry Merlot and the patterned paper comes from SU's Penguin Playmates DSP. I die cut the front of the card with the largest circle from 5064 - Circle Double Stitched Dies Set. Adhere the 4" x 5 1/4" painted piece to the inside of the card so you can see the wreath through the circle.

Stamp the front sentiment (from the same Ai set used for the wreath) and 2 of the small  holly leaves on scrap SU shimmery white cardstock in the Black Soot Archival Ink. Color the holly leaves and berries the same as above. Die cut the sentiment and fussy cut the holly leaves. Adhere them to the front of the card with pop dots.

Draw a light pencil line for the top of the mantel a little less than halfway down. Use a positioner to stamp the stockings from Set 5472 - Christmas Wreath Set in 969 & 565 at mantel line. Use a positioner to stamp the puppy in 969 from set Set 4959 - Dog Set, the kitty in 969 from set 4873 - Cats Set, and the large and small presents in 969 & 565 from the Simon Says Exclusive Train stamp set - SSE21B. Now that things are placed, use a pencil to draw a small circle for the wreath and the arcs for the garland at the top of the paper. 

1. Color the stockings: Bring color out on the cuffs and add 565 for shadow on the white cuffs. The colors used on the stockings are 249 & 856. Use Molotow to create the white dots on the heel/toe of the 1st stocking and body of the 2nd stocking. Use a pencil to lightly draw squares for the patchwork design on the 3rd stocking. Add details to the stockings with the fine tips of both pens.
2. Color the puppy, kitty, and presents: Use a #1 brush on all 3 of them. Bring color out on puppy. Leave area around his eyes light. Add more 969 to his ears, 856 to his tongue, and darken his eyes and nose with the brown Twin Tone. Bring color out on the kitty, again leaving eye area light. Add a mixture of 969 & 565 to give her more of a gray color. Add a little 856 to the ears and brown Twin Tone to darken her eyes and nose. Color the presents with 249 and 856.
3. Use the small foliage from Set 5126 - Foliage Set 4 in 177 for the wreath. I used the #1 brush to add water to the wreath.. Use the fine tip of 856 to add the berries. Use the pine branches from Set 5472 - Christmas Wreath Set in 249 for the garland. Use #1 brush to lightly add a little water. Use the berry bunch from that same set in 856 for the berries. Add water to them.
4. Mantel & Hearth: Cut 2 masks of the stockings and 1 each of the puppy, kitty, and presents. Put on the masks of the puppy, kitty, and presents. Use the positioner with the wood plank stamp from 5019 -  Wall Texture Set in 969. Only used 2 of the 3 horizontal lines from that stamp for the mantel. Bring color out and add more 969 as desired. I added a few dashes of the brown Twin Tone to look like wood grain, then softened it with water. Leave the above masks on, and put masks on the first 2 stockings. Use the positioner and the rock wall stamp from 5019 - Wall Texture Set in 969 & 565. Work your way over and move the mask from the 1st stocking over to the last stocking to finish stamping the rocks on the hearth. Bring color out on stones, leaving tops light. Mix 969 & 565 on pallet and add to some of the rocks. Water down the 969 & 565 mixture and dab between rocks for the "concrete" look.
5. Use the candle and bible stamp from 5419 - Bible icons 1 Set. Color the candle ONLY in 969 & 565. Use the positioner to help place them on the mantel. Use the #1 brush and 026 to color the dish of the candle, 565 on the candle itself, and 993 for the flame and glow around the flame.
6. Use brown Twin Tone to draw nails for the stockings and to add whiskers to the kitty. Erase any visible pencil lines.
7. I used the 2nd largest die from 5062 - Rounded Rectangle A2 Double Stitched Dies set to die cut the painting. Mounted it on patterned papers, and added a small bow to the top of the wreath.

                                                                                      Diana Sheely

Be sure to check out Bonnie's latest video tutorial on Youtube.

She created a gorgeous Snowy Christmas Church.

 

Thank you for joining us for our final 2021 WWR!
Don't forget to check out all of the 2021 releases as well.

See you in 2022 for more watercolor inspiration!

You can also find amazing deals in our Deal of the Week category.

From the entire Art Impressions family we wish you all a safe and happy holiday season.

Merry Christmas!