February Watercolour Weekend

 Hello Ai Watercolour fans!

My first card today is intended to be for any occasion, but would work perfectly as a Valentine if you wanted it to!

I stamped the largest bike from the 5124 - WC Bicycle Set onto my Canson XL Watercolour Paper using #N55, then added the heart balloon from 5722 - Birthday Journal Set above it.  I mixed together #565/249 to make an aqua shade that was painted onto the bike, and shades of N55 & black were painted onto the tires and handlebar.  A wash of #126/177 was added in to create the grassy ground, and using the bullet tip of #177, I hand drew in some longer blades of grass around the tires.  I picked up #443 from my palette, and added it as a wash to the sky.  The large floral from 4868 - WC Flower Set 2 was stamped with #565 to fill in the square basket, then softened with a damp brush to pull out the colour.  For the front basket, I used the heart circles from 4868, in #743 and the Daisy Bunch from Flower Set - 4052 in #676 to create the floral clusters, then filled around them with the tiny sprig from 4867 - WC Foliage Set 2 in #126 and #177.  My favourite stamp - the Mini Foxglove from 4052 - was stamped repeatedly in #565 to create the two taller flower stalks.  After softening everything with a damp brush, the small twig from 4964 - WC Branches Set was added several times with #969.  I painted shades of #743/676 onto the balloon, being careful to keep some areas lighter to suggest a rounded shape.  I used a grey Twintone marker to draw in the string of the balloon.  Layers of #992/969 were added to the baskets for a natural look.  I used the single stem from 4868 in #743/177 to place some flowers around the tires, and used the markers directly on the paper to suggest some tiny flowers.

My scene was die cut using the 5062 - Rounded Rectangle A2 Double Stitched Dies, and the sentiment from 5734 - Friend Sentiments Set was stamped with Versafine Onyx Black ink.  I added a 1/16" dark grey mat, and adhered everything on an angle with 3D foam tape, to the background paper from 5955 - Encouragement PP.

I have been wanting to create a window card for a while, so my second card is a scene that I painted onto my Canson XL Watercolour Paper, starting with the 5577 - Stone Bridge Simple Scene In #N55, then added 3 of the 5789 - Hot Air Balloon Set images in various sizes so they would look like they were floating away into the distance.

Since I knew I'd be using a window, I kept my scene tall and narrow, and used the window die as a guide.  I painted in #443 as the sky, being sure to leave some fluffy white spaces above the hills as a bank of clouds, and then also painted the blue into the stream, keeping the center of it lighter.  The clouds had streaks of grey added to them to create some texture, and the stream had #565 added to the edges to darken it even further.  #177 was washed in on all the hillsides, getting a little stronger in tone in the foreground, with some #126 added in.  The pathway and banks of the stream were painted with #992/947, and tones of N55/565 were painted around the bridge and rocks along the stream.  I stamped the tree & foliage from 5372 - WC Mini Foliage using #969/177/126, and added the clump of shrubs along one of the hills using #177.  The balloons were painted with #565/533/743/993/991/126/443 with 992 on the baskets.  I added darker shades of each colour where the lines of each balloon were, to indicate the shape of each one.

This is what my painting looked like before it went behind the window.

There is definitely a bit of planning involved in a window card!  I cut three layers of the window from 5543 - Journal Template Die Set, and glued them together, as I wanted the frame to be sturdy, and stand out from the wall.  I cut a piece of gingham paper from 5955 - Encouragement PP to 4" x 5 1/4", then cut a rectangle with just enough overlap to be able to glue the 1/8" wide window onto it.  To create my embellishments, I cut out the three flowers from 5588 - Journal Oval Frames from watercolour paper, along with the leafy sprig from 5591 - Journal Rectangle Frames, then painted all of my pieces using the same Tombow colours as my painting.  I used tweezers and some liquid glue to attach everything to the background.

The painting was adhered to a piece of tan cardstock, by holding it behind the window to ensure it was placed correctly.  I added 3D foam adhesive to the back of my window panel, as I wanted the dimension it would give to have my scene appear far away.  As I said - lots of planning!  But I think the end result was worth it.  There is room on the lower right panel for a sentiment - I almost stamped one, but thought I would jinx my finished piece... but a word or phrase could be easily added.  My sentiment will go on the inside.  See you next month!

Ai Simple Scene

  I will be sharing this on the Art Impressions blog this Saturday for the 2nd February Watercolour Weekend.  Time for another scene today, using the 5431 - WC Simple Scene Rocky River:

I coloured the entire scene stamp in Tombow #969/565, stamped it off, and then onto my Canson XL Watercolor Paper.  I added in the two deer from 5427 - WC Silhouette Deer both coloured in #969 and placed with my stamp positioner.  The mountains were painted with #533 for the farthest one, as it is a lighter shade, and #565 for the closer one, appearing a little darker.  I added shades of #N65 and #969 to my rocks, adding layers to build up the colour, and using #565 for the shadowy parts.  The hillsides and grassy areas were painted with #177 and touches of #076, again making it a little darker in the foreground.  I used 5010 - WC Tree Set 1, colouring 2 of the trees in #249 to add in the pine trees, and used the marker directly on the paper to add the trees way in the background.  I used one of the bare trees from 5372 - WC Mini Foliage to add in the bushes and gave them a few berries and bits of grass around their base.

I wanted the stream to contrast with the hills, so used #526 to paint in the water and dabbed it onto the sky.  I darkened up the undersides of the deer, and added a slight reflection in the water.

Down on the Farm - Watercolour Weekend

 I could paint a new scene every week with the Simple Scenes sets from Art Impressions!  I started by pulling out 5378 - WC Fenced Scene, stamped it on scrap paper, then figured out which 'buildings' would be the right scale to work on either side of the road.  The one on the left needed to be a little larger than the one on the right that is set farther back:

I coloured my clear scene stamp in Tombow #177 Dark Jade, and stamped it on my Canson XL Watercolor paper. *I chose green as most of the image consists of hillsides, with the exception of the fence, which I coloured in #969 Chocolate.  Using my stamp positioner, I stamped the barn & small fence from 5371 - WC Barn Set in #969/565, and did the same with the house from 4962 - WC Rustic Cabins Set.  Then I placed the rocks from 5055 - WC Sitting Places Set, coloured in #N55 Cool Grey 7 in the foreground - and my scene was set.  With my damp brush, I pulled the colour out from the buildings, concentrating it where shadows would fall, and adding colour to the roofs.  I picked up #856 Chinese Red from my palette to add colour to the barn.  I wanted the house to be white, so just added some shadowy bits, and darkened the windows on both buildings with #565.  A wash of green was added to all the hills & fields, and a few darker stripes were painted in to look like crops.  Using 5372 - WC Mini Foliage, Trees were added around both buildings, and a line of foliage along the hillsides.

My damp brush pulled out the colour on the fence posts, and I kept them lighter near the top where they would be weathered and highlighted by the sun.  I added some foliage in and around them with the tiny grass from the Mini Foliage Set, and around the rocks as well.  I picked up colours from my palette to add a few different shades to the rocks, and stamped the grasses from 5126 - WC Foliage Set 4 in #177/565.  The tiny dot image from 5009 - WC Mini Flower Set was stamped in #565 around the house, barn and fence, and I went in directly with my #993 Chrome Orange marker to add a pop of yellow.  I painted in the road with #992 Sand, and added the suggestion of paths to both of the buildings.  A little stitching with my sewing machine attached it to a blue mat, and I added 3D foam adhesive to attach it to my card base. *I tried not to over-edit my close up photo.  I have a very light hand, so the sky is faint, but it is there, and the overall feel of the card is quite light and pastel - which doesn't translate well in a photo!

Simple Scenes Release!

There are two new Art Impressions Simple Scenes being released today on the Ai blog!  I am using Rocky River for my scene:

I cut out the largest A2 Stitched Rectangle Die from Canson XL Watercolour Paper, and taped it down to my work surface (this gave me a nice 1/8" white area around my image).  I stamped my scene first, colouring the hills in #158 Dark Olive, and the rocks in #N45 Cool Grey 10.  I stamped 5388 - Rugged Tree in #879 Brown on either side, making one a little shorter so that they appear to be different!  Then with the help of my stamp positioner, I added the small house from 5262 - WC Mini Cabins Set coloured in #969 Chocolate/#565 Deep Blue.

With my scene set, I painted in the sky (#593 Reflex Blue), the hillsides in #158, the creek in #593/565 (keeping it streaky, like ripples of water), and sketched in the suggestion of mountains with #565.  For the stones I did layers of greys/blues/taupes, keeping it darker in the crevices, and lighter on the top side of them.  I used the tiny tree from 5372 - WC Mini Foliage in #969 to add a tree beside the house, then used the foliage stamp to add the leaves in #177, and the shrubbery stamp in #177 also.  The foliage stamp was also used for the tall trees, first in #126 Light Olive, and with #177 Dark Jade on top to add a few shadows.  Layers of several browns: #992/969/879 were added to the tree trunks with a little #565 for shadows.  The two grasses from 5126 - WC Foliage Set 4 in #177 were stamped in the foreground around the trees.  Be sure to check out the Ai blog to see what Dot & Tricia have made!