Watercolor Weekend 5-20-2023

 Hello Ai Watercolor fans!

It's a Watercolor Weekend here on the Art Impressions blog
and this weekend we're showcasing some of the new Scenic Foundation sets that
were recently released.

There are 6 new sets in all and all are so beautiful!

There is a sale bundle available or the sets can be purchased separately.

Our three fabulous Watercolor Design Team members all used a different set this week so you have lots of inspiration to choose from!

We're starting off with Tricia's peaceful scene this week.

She used 5745 – SF Stone Bridge
  

Hey watercolor fans, we are showcasing the new Watercolor foundation stamps. I chose the Stone Bridge stamp. 

I started out by inking it with 969 and 569, stamped it off and stamped it onto my watercolor paper.  I used the small leaves from the mini foliage set with 177 and stamped it around the tree. 

Next, I masked off the bridge and stamped it again in front of the house as a bush.  I moved the mask to the house, and stamped it again on the left side of the house. I used the small flower bunch inked with 815 and 177.  I stamped it on each side of the bridge and under the tree.

Lastly, I inked the small grass and stamped it next to the tree.  Once all the stamping was done, I used my brush and water to pull the color out of the lines.  I added additional color from my palette.

I added green to the grass and blue to the water.  I built up the darker color under the bridge. I added some shadows under the bench and darker color directly from my marker to create some additional shadows in the trees and bushes.

I hope you share your creations with us.  Have a crafty day!

Next up, we have Karen.

She created a wonderful masculine scene using 5747 – SF Wooden Cabin.

             

Hello Ai Watercolour fans!

I am really enjoying painting the new Scenic Foundations stamps!  They are quick and easy to paint, as the layout and perspective are figured out for you.  You don't need to see which size of house works, or how to balance your scene - you can just pick your colours and get down to business.  Here is my card with 5747 - SF Wooden Cabin:

I inked up the entire stamp with Tombow #969/565 and stamped onto my Canson XL Watercolour Paper.  After pulling out the colour with a damp brush, I painted my cabin in a mixture that I created myself!  I wanted it to be a worn/faded reddish colour, but don't own a marker that works - so I mixed #856 and 969 on my palette, to create the look that I wanted.  I painted a darker version on the front of the house that is shadowed, and lighter on the side.  I decided on a yellow boat and front door, knowing that the rest of my scene would be mainly green & brown, so painted layers of #993 on both of them.

I started with #126, which is a lighter, yellow/green, painting the grassy areas in the foreground, then added #177 as the grass farther away.  I coloured up the two trees from 5372 - WC Mini Foliage Set in #177, and masked off the hillside so they would appear farther away before I stamped them.  The foliage stamp from the set was used to create the leaves on the tall tree.  #992 was painted on the roof, porch and down the path, as it's a faded brown colour, and #969 was used to darken up the tree, stump, and wharf.  I wanted more rocks down the path, so coloured part of one of the image from 5414 - WC Small Rocks Set.  Shades of #N65 and 992 were painted on the rocks and the chimney in a mottled fashion, adding shading with #565 and layers of all the colours.

The water was painted with #493, and 565 toward the edges, and #565 was used for the sky, and to add shadows to the windows, boat and under the wharf.  Using the twigs from 5196 - WC Desert Set, I stamped a couple of shrubs behind the rocks and stump using #969, and added leaves directly with my marker.  The long grass was also drawn in.  I used my brown Twintone marker to add the lines back into the bark of the tree.

We'll wrap things up with this tropical beach scene from Diane.
She used the new 5749 – SF Beach Cabin.

 

Hello Ai Watercolor fans and welcome to another Watercolor Weekend! Today I am sharing with you a beach scene using the brand new Scenic Foundations Beach Cabin Stamp – 5749. These new foundation stamps are so awesome because the scene is already created for you! 

 

That said, I decided to modify this scene slightly by leaving off the beach cabin and adding in a rocky shoreline to the right. I was going for a relaxing tropical paradise beach vibe, reminiscent of a recent vacation. Nothing is more relaxing to me than sitting on the beach, listening to the waves crash, and watching the world go by!

           

 

I masked off a rectangular frame for my painting with Post-It tape and inked the Beach Cabin scene with 565/969, leaving off the cabin, and stamped off once before adding to my Canson XL watercolor paper. Next I inked just the rocks from 5748 – SF Cottage Creek in 969, and stamped to the right of the scene to extend my rocky shoreline. These clear stamps are great because you can see through the stamps, so no need to use a positioner! 

     

  With my scene complete, I used a damp brush and pulled out the stamped lines of the image to create shadows and contours. For my color palette I chose vibrant tropical colors:  856, 905, 985, 133, 291, 407, 685, as well as 177, 249, and 990 for the foliage and sand. With a pencil, I sketched in a horizon line. I washed in the sky, leaving a small white gap above the waterline with 291 and a little 407. I added a bit of 452 to the corners to brighten and frame the sky. The water was painted much the same way, leaving areas of light and dark to create waves. Next I added sand to the shoreline, chair legs, around the pots and perimeter with 990 and a small amount of 969. For the rocks I used 990, 969 and 565. To frame the corners of the scene, I inked the large fern stamp from 5418 – Bible Foliage Set 2 in 177 and stamped multiple times. Next I added florals to the pots: (blue pot) mini dot cluster from 5009 WC Mini Flower set in 685, (white striped pot) daisy bunch from 4052 – Flower Set 1 in 985, and (coral pot) long stemmed flower from 5475 – WC Floral Set 6 in 856 and 177. For the foliage I inked just the top of the leafy branch from 4867 – WC Foliage Set 2 in 249 for the blue pot. For the white pot, I inked the small rounded palm frond from 5120 – WC Palm Tree Set in 177. For the coral pot I inked the small fern stamp from 5418 in 177. Next I added color to the pots: 905 (coral), 407 (blue) and 905, 133 and 407 stripes (white). For the umbrella, I painted the sections in 905, 856, 407, 133 and 985. The pole was painted with 977. For the straw hat I used 685 for the hatband, and 990 and 977 to shade and contour the hat. I added shadows to the chair with 565. Details were added to the sailboats in 407, 133 and 856. I used Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleed Proof White to add whitecaps to the waves, and splashes on the rocks and shore. I also added white lines to the umbrella and hatband, and dots to the flowers. Under the larger waves, I added a bit more 407 to shadow under the curling waves. The final touch was to add back any missing details with a brown or blue TwinTone marker where needed. I die cut the painting and frame using the 5724 – Nested Rectangle Dies and popped up the frame on the card base using foam squares. I like to decorate the inside of my card too. I stamped, painted, and die cut the purse and flip flops images from 5509 – Beach Accessories. I adhered the images to the bottom right corner of the white mat.

 

I think this would make a lovely Bon Voyage card for a friend or a nice Thank You for Your Hospitality card. Thank you for joining us for Watercolor Weekend, until next time – Happy Painting!