Okay, I’m a bit annoyed at WordPress. I had this all written out, and then the kind WordPress deleted it all for me. 🙂
Today I actually don’t have a prompt for today. I was brainstorming what to do that was slightly Christmasy, but still something that will last well through January and February, and so I came up with some evergreens. I wanted to give it a new twist, and so I chose my least used and detested art medium, water colors.
It seems that most artist really enjoy water-color, so I went with what the majority seems to enjoy. What you’ll need for the art project is:
~water color paints~
~water color paper~
~pencil~
~brush~
~water~
~white acrylic paint~
So, to get started, grab your paper and pencil.
Lightly sketch your main pine tree. I decided to do a typical pine tree, even though I’ve never seen this type where I live. In the South, our pine trees look like this.
When I was little, I asked my mom why pine trees in the Christmas books didn’t look like real pine trees. Apparently those kind of pine trees grow where it snows.
I decided to do four different colors on my picture, with four different zones. Zone one is the farthest from focus, and zone four is closest. I did zone two as mere peaks, and then added slight detail for zone three. Now, grab your paints.
Honestly, I don’t understand how you would like water colors. They stress me out. XD But, I chose the dark blue paint for the sky, and slathered it on there. While it was still wet, I used my finger tips to add texture. I think that’s my favorite part of the whole picture. 🙂
For zone two, I chose blue-green, and put it on there. Since the dark blue was still wet, they kinda combined, but I actually decided I liked that look. Now it was less defined.
For zone three I used the brightest green I had. I love the pop of color, and I just slathered it on.
On zone four, I took dark green, and added dark areas here, and lighter areas there, until I was happy with it. Just play around until it agrees with your eye. 😀
Now, I kinda forgot to take a picture in-between? So, we’ll have to go with this. The paint had started drying, and so I took the light green and used it to define zone three slightly. Don’t go over board, because we don’t want the viewer’s eye to be drawn there. Take the dark blue and add it to zone four, along with some dryer dark green.
Next, take some acrylic and mix it with water. Put some white on the top of zone four, and then take the left over and splatter it all over the picture to make it look like snow. Let the picture dry before you sign it, and you’re done.
Do you enjoy water-color? Are you looking forward to the holidays? What is your favorite Thanksgiving food?
Hello, folks! I’m glad to be back here today to show you a new tutorial. I’ve recently been interested in the regency era, and I found this beautiful picture on Pinterest, and I thought, “Why not paint it?”
I decided to make it ever harder by using pastels. Now, before I begin, let me warn you. PASTELS ARE MESSY. And when I mean messy, I mean your whole entire floor will be green from that lovely dark green you used…If you don’t take precautions. I would advise using something with a tray underneath it as you use pastels, and do it outside, or with newspaper on the ground. Also, wear clothes you don’t care about, or cover yourself in towels, like I did.
Now, on to the art project!
You’ll need…
A pastel set (I have a set of 72 different colors my aunt gave me.)
Pastel paper
A pencil
Eraser
Fixative
(optional: tape)
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This was the prompt I chose.
So, first off, I taped my pastel paper to my music stand, which will be serving as my easel. I had the choice of grey, or a more skin tone, and I chose the skin tone, since it was easier to rip out.
Now, the first rule I always try to follow (and usually forget) is when drawing, start with what’s closer, but when painting, start with the farther away things. I’m really bad at freehand painting, and that’s why I always sketch before I paint. Start with your person’s head.
I gradually sketch more and more…and then erase more and more. XD Just work with one line at a time, or one shape at a time. I ended up erasing the whole head, and moving it back a bit, and then I erased the arm, and the shoulder…And you get the point. Just play around with it.
Now, I’ve added a bit of the detail. I don’t want the girl to be too detailed, or else I’ll get distracted. Just a rough outline. Now, you’re ready for pastels!
I decided to start with a light blue for the background, and then mix a light grey with it.
This is what it should look like once you mix it all up. I portioned the painting off because I wanted to. (Haha.) You can do whatever you like with the background of your painting. I find the less detail, the better and easier, especially with pastel.
For the top part of the background, I used mostly a dark red, blue, and a very dark grey.
I have a lot of pictures of this in progress, but I’ll give you this one. I used the darker color more in the corners, and left a gap in the mid-left side. If you look at the prompt, you can see the light reflecting. That’s why I left that spot there.
Part of the reason pastels are so messy is that you use your fingers to smear, and smear, and smear some more. Honestly, if you love mud, and dirty hands, this is the art project for you! (I actually enjoy those things…Sooo…) Smear your colors together, and bring them as close to the lines you’ve made as possible.
I used lots of different blues, and white for the light reflecting, and then I took more of the red. Smear those together.
These are the different yellows I used for the thin strip in the middle of the background.
I took the darker yellow, and outlined the outside, and used the lighter yellow for the inside. Another good thing about pastels are that they’re really forgiving…And they let you continue to work with different things. I also added more white to the background, with a bit more red.
I took some orange that I felt needed to be used to outline the outside a bit more, and then the brightest yellow for the inside. Smear it together.
I used a purple, and the same blue for the background to make the dress. Just slather them on there, and smear ’em together.
The dress in the prompt has a lot of lines, and folds. I used a blush pink to draw them, and the white to highlight the ones up top. (Don’t worry if you end up smearing them…I did.)
I decided I needed more light and dark contrast, so I used a lot of white on the left side of the dress, and a lot of an eggplant color on the right. Use as much white as possible, but be gentle with the dark colors. Dark colors aren’t as forgiving as the light colors. 😉
It took me a long time to get satisfied with the dress. Just play with it for a long time, and step back every once in a while to get a new look at it. Then, add the white for the gloves and sleeves.
I used a yellowish creme color for my person’s skin…At least, to start the skin.
Add the blush color you used on the dress, some white, and a brighter yellow where you think the shadows are.
I decided I didn’t like how bright the background was, so I paused on the skin and slathered white all over the background, and smeared it all together.
The background ended up like this.
Take a bit of dark grey, and accentuate the shadows before taking a bright blue to outline the girl. You don’t have to use blue…I’m just drawn to blue, since it’s my favorite color. You could use a yellow, or a lighter color, or even a green. It’s up to you.
Then add whatever color you want for her hair. I’m partial to redhead. 😉 I couldn’t get the mirror to suit me. Even now…I reluctantly admit that the mirror isn’t what I wish it was. But I needed to post this for Art Lab. XD
I played with different colors, and played with the mirror. Then, I left it like this for a while.
After a while of letting it sit, I came back to it and added more red, and grey. Sign your name…
You have your finished project! I will be the first to admit that this did NOT turn out like it should have, or like I wanted it to. *sigh* But…Let me know what you think.
Have you ever used pastel before? What is your favorite historical era? Do you enjoy messes?
— I will admit I love music, and playing my instruments more than my art.
I’m a homeschooled gal, and would enjoy seeing y’all over at my blog!
Okay, before we get started, I need to make a confession. I’m a terrible artist. I love art, and I love painting, sketching, or painting with pastels, but I’m not good at it. So, bear with me, and hopefully we’ll learn together.
Today, I got my inspiration from this on Pinterest.
(I purchase most my paint from Dick Blick. All of the above are purchased from there with the exception of Settler’s Blue, which is Folkart, and the tube of gold, which I ended up not using.)
— A pencil
— A glass of water
— A mixing knife
— Palate
— a wide flat brush
— A small, pointed brush
— A medium flat brush
— A medium round brush
— Canvas paper.
All right! Once you have all that, or stuff similar to that, you can get started! I took one sheet of canvas paper and my pencil.
I started by sketching my pumpkins. My little sister told me to make them like this, and so, I did. I find it easy to think of them as different sections as I draw, so that might help you. Just remember to do the one farthest back first, and to draw lightly.
So, next draw the little berries and cotton. (I found this one of the most enjoyable parts of the whole art project. 😂)
Continue drawing all over the page. I decided to put a leaf at the very bottom. I will admit, I now wish I didn’t…But I guess it’s too late now, isn’t it? I stuck with little leaves, berries, and cotton, but this is where you can make the picture your very own. What if you did Indian corn? Or gum balls? Or lavender sprigs?
Now, you can take your Hooker’s Green, and start filling in the leaves with your smallest brush. Make sure you put a liberal amount in each leaf so that you can mix in some other colors later on.
Now, take the brown, and make a stem, but make sure it’s not a continued line. Also, mix some of the brown with half of the green on the leaves, making the colors blend slightly.
Now, do that to all of the leaves you’ve drawn.
Lastly, mix some yellow in those leaves, making the yellow more distinct than the brown.
Now, move on to the berries. With the same brush, grab a generous amount of red, and fill in those little circles.
Now, grab some more yellow, and put a little line on the undersides of the berries. Don’t mix it in very much.
Now, I think I forgot to take a picture of the next thing. 😐 But, I will tell you! Make the stems of the berries the same way as you did the leaves. Then, mix a good amount of the red with the yellow to make a very strange orange. DO NOT do the leaf first. That was my mistake. (Hehe.)
Next, add some white in a few places, a dab of black in the middle, and lots and lots of brown. Once you’re happy with the results, add more paint and give the pumpkin a textured look.
Now, work a bit on the stem. Make a big blob of brown, and mix white with it at the top. Then, traced a bit of black around it, and voila! The orange pumpkin is done.
Now, ignore what I did with the leaf, and pay attention to the small pumpkin. Grab a bunch of settler’s blue, and slather it on there.
Now, grab some white, and accentuate what you want to accentuate. I had fun doing that. And then grab some brown to make the ridges.
Now, mess around with the yellow, brown, white, and grey coloring for a LONG time. XD At least, it took me a long time to get it where I was sorta happy with it.
Now, grab the white and make it nice a FLUFFY. And grab the grey, and give it a swirl, but only on one half of the cotton.
Now, for the stem make the little three point flower of brown, and mix in some white.
And then add little white dots, and the cotton is done!
Now, just grab some of the yellow, and paint the leave before doing brown for the stem. Don’t do too much, because the eye isn’t supposed to be attracted to the leaf.
Now, sign you’re name, and you are done!
Do you enjoy art? What is your favorite “fallish” thing? Have you ever seen a field of cotton?
The Art Lab 