Watercolor Weekend 8-19-2023

 Hello Ai fans!

Welcome to Art Impressions Watercolor Weekend!

Over the last two weeks there have been some FABULOUS new releases.

This weekend, our Watercolor Design Team is featuring some of those sets.

If you haven't seen them yet, head on over to the website and check out all the new goodies!
These can be purchased individually HERE or you can go for the bundle and save a little money.

Tricia is our first artist up today.

Welcome Back Watercolor Fans! I am loving the New Releases so far and the new whimsical flowers is no exception.  These are great to use with the new Gnomes set but they are also great on their own.  Here’s how I created this project.

 I started by taping off the edges of my project.  This allows for a crisp white border.  The first stamp I grabbed was the leaves.  I love that just because it looks like a leaf stamp it doesn’t mean it can’t be a flower stamp.  First I inked them up with 177 and stamped them in the middle of the card then stamped a second and third generation to the right and left of that.  I re-inked it and added it over to the right and a little to the top left. This keeps the painting balanced.  I know I want to stamp more flowers in front of the ones on the left so I stamped them higher than the others. You want everything to be random, nature is random and therefore there are no mistakes.  Just have fun with it, play is the key to innovation.

I cleaned the stamp off and inked it again to use it as flowers.  First, I inked just the veins in the middle with green.  Next, I inked up the “leaves” with pinks and purples.  Notice that I haven’t added any water, don’t worry it’s coming, we have to make a big mess first. I stamped the pink ones to the right and left and then some purple ones.  To create the daisy flowers, I inked them up with browns (stamped off to create white flowers), pinks and purples. 

Using yellow and brown I created a side view flower as well as a red tulip.  I inked those up with brown, stamped them off and then watercolored them using my palette.  The little blue bells (that’s what I call them) are awesome.  They could also be snow drops done in white…woo hoo…maybe for Christmas cards.  I inked those with green and blue.  I didn’t stamp them off because I wanted the bright colors.  I used the vines from the Foliage set 5 set on the upper sides.  You can fill in any areas that are open with any foliage.  Don’t overdue it, you can always go back in. 

Add water to all flowers and foliage.  I tend to use a little more water to get a more loose feeling.  Once everything is dry, I go back in and add darker shadows to the middle of the flowers and to anywhere I feel needs details.  For the sky, I used a wet in wet technique.  I love blooms so I don’t mind wet and dry areas, darker and lighter colors. I just let watercolor do it’s thing.  After that was dry, I removed the tape, cut it down and placed it in my MISTI.  I used black ink and one of the new sayings from little things sentiments set. AND sign and date (missed it again but I have done it now!).  This is a therapeutic, let it go kinda painting, give it a try if you need some you time or if you lost your mojo.

We are all enjoying this new release (and every other release lol) and I know you guys are too.  I enjoy seeing all of your awesome inspiring work.  Thanks so much for stopping by.  Til next time, have a crafty day!

SUPPLIES:

Next up we have Karen.

Hello Ai Watercolour Fans!

I have a whimsical scene for you this week:

I stamped my sleeping gnome from 5785 Gnomes Set onto my Canson XL Watercolour Paper, masked him off, and stamped the stump from 4871 WC Rustic Container Set behind him.  I positioned the mushrooms from 5788 Whimsical Mushrooms on either side, and added the leaves from 5795 Berries in various spots.  Three different flowers from 5794 Whimsical Flowers were tucked in behind, and finally my little bee from 5561 - Birds and Bugs Set.  For all of my elements, I used Tombow Dual Brush Markers #969/565.

From my palette, I painted tones of brown (#947/969/899) onto the stump - the image shows you where the crevices are, so those areas are the darkest, while the more rounded areas catch more of the light, so they are the lightest.  For the toadstools and his hat, I started with #856, layering it to get darker tones, leaving the upper areas as the lightest shades.  The yellow toadstools and his shirt were painted with #991/993.  I wanted the leaves to be bright, so I started with #126, then mixed #249/493 to get a teal green shade for the darker areas.  #533/565 were painted on all the flowers - just as shadows on the white ones.  #526 was painted on his trousers, and #N55 on his shoes.  The bee was done with #N55/993 and a touch of blue on his wings.  The small grass from 4051 - Foliage Set 1 was stamped in #177, and painted out as a wash.  Finally a wash of #493 was painted in as the sky.  I added the sentiment from the Gnomes Set in Versafine Onyx Black ink, and added a few dots to my scene with my navy Twintone marker.  I cut out the scene with 5061 Square Double Stitched Dies, and mounted it onto my background paper.

Our final designer this week is Diane.

Hello Ai Watercolor Fans and welcome to another Watercolor Weekend! Today I am sharing a card using the newly released 5785 – Gnomes Set, 5788 – Whimsical Mushrooms, 5797 – Little Things Sentiment Set, and 5832 – Gnome Paper Pack. Wow – I am so in love with these new sets and the coordinating paper pack! With all the different sizes of gnomes included in the set, the possibilities are endless. The gnomes coordinate so well with most watercolor sets. Here I have used a stamp from Summer 2022 Journal Set (5576 – Little Trucks Set).

 

I kept my color palette fairly simple, incorporating colors from the awesome new Gnome Paper Pack: Tombow 565, 969, 249, 856, 526, 912, N25, and N79.

I inked the truck from 5576 – Little Trucks Set in 969/565, leaving off a space to place the gnome on the truck bed ledge and stamped off before stamping onto my Canson XL watercolor paper. Using my positioner, I stamped the gnome onto the back of the truck, sitting on the ledge. I then made a mask of the gnome and stamped the mushrooms into the truck bed, behind the gnome. For the driver, I masked the window opening with Post-It Tape. I inked just the head of the small, upward looking gnome and stamped into the window area using my stamp positioner. Once the masks were removed, I used a damp brush to pull out some color from the lines of the stamped images and brushed in some shadows and contours. With a pencil, I drew in a small rectangle to create a sign for the door. 

 I mixed 526 with a small amount of 249 to create a vintage aqua blue for the truck. In some places, I brushed in more layers to darken the shaded areas. For the gnomes’ noses and hands, I used 912. For the metal parts of the truck I used N79. To lightly darken some areas on the metal, I used a touch of N25. The tires were painted with N25 and darkened with added layers to create shadows and contours. For the driver gnome’s hat and the mushroom caps I used 856. The undersides of the mushrooms were shaded with N79. For the mushroom stems I used 969 and darkened just a bit where the stem meets the cap with 565 to create a shadow. The passenger gnome’s hat was painted with 526. His jacket was painted in 249, his shoes with 969, and N79 for the soles. Stripes were added to the hats using the bullet tip from 856 and 526. For the gnomes’ beards, I added details with a small brush using N79. For the door sign, I shaded the edges in 969 and used a gray TwinTone to write in Gnome Farms. I brushed in a watery sky with 526 and added a shadow under the truck with 565. Small were dots were added to the mushroom caps using Bleed Proof White. Details were added back where needed with the fine point of a brown or gray TwinTone. 

 

If you’ve been following my work for awhile now, you know I love to add a little something to the inside of my card. Here I inked a little mushroom house and small mushrooms from 5788 in 856.

    

I can’t wait to see how you incorporate these adorable little gnomes into your scenes. Be sure to tag us on social media, we love to see your work! Thank you for joining us for another Watercolor Weekend. Until next time – Happy Painting!