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Watercolor Supplies for Beginners
You have an interest in learning to paint with watercolors, but when you look at the art stores online or in person, you find yourself getting lost in the sheer volume of options. What do you need to begin? You don’t want the watercolor set in the kids craft area, but the professional sets feel like a huge commitment. And why are there so many different brands? How different can they possibly be? Today, I’ll give you a list of basic watercolor supplies to set you up as you begin experimenting, and I’ll try to separate the needs from the wants. You can start dabbling with watercolor and have good…
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Thanksgiving Drawings for Name Cards
With Thanksgiving fast approaching (gasp … next week!), I know that some of you are getting ready for time with family and friends. Decorations, recipes, and little ways to make gatherings special are dancing through your heads. Today I have a tutorial to help those ideas turn into action. We’ll take some Thanksgiving drawings and add watercolor to make name cards for your food celebrations.
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Acorn Drawing
Today is a good day for an acorn drawing ... with a smattering of watercolor, of course! Fall is a bittersweet time of year. The growing season, the warm season slowly ends. And although I'm almost ready to hibernate by then, it still means the long, dark winter looms. We say goodbye to the color and warmth and hello to the cold, bland, endless months. Both seasons have their good points. Fall has its colors and smells like honey. It tastes like apple pie and pumpkin lattes. Winter has its cozy sweaters, warm fires, and promise of spring. I must say, though, I am particularly fond of fall. So, while…
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Maple Leaf Drawing
This time of year inspires me to draw leaves, maple leaf drawings, oak leaves, birch, poplar, sumac. Their shapes and colors enthrall me, and I find myself stopping to pick them up (or jump on the really crunchy ones) on my runs and as I walk to the mailbox. One of my favorite trees is a maple tree in town. Its colors range from red (almost pink actually) through orange, yellow and green … all at the same time. Sometimes on the same leaf. Amazing. As I world around me is painted, I’m inspired to paint and draw as well. So I came up with a quick and easy maple…
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Comparing Yourself to Others – Allowed to be Content with Your Style
Have you ever struggled with comparing yourself to others? For years, I thought the comparison fight was just part of life, something I had to deal with and get over. And in a way, it is. But as I began to pay attention to my wrestle with comparison, I realized its impact ran deeper. It took me down a path that led to a shutdown of my creative energy. And it ended up being more about how I see myself than about the ruler I hold up to others. Comparison leads to discouragement and the feeling that we don't or can't measure up. These feelings then block our ability to…
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Pumpkin Drawing with a Flourish
Fall reminds me of pumpkins and pumpkin drawing. It feels like fall at our house. Sure, there’s a touch of summer lingering, but fall is in the air. The mornings are colder, fall sports have started and the fields around us are starting to show their harvest colors. And I’ve picked my pumpkins for the year. The ones growing in my garden (the ones we eat), not the ones I decorate with. There’s just something about fall that I love to draw and paint. Maybe it’s my way of holding on to the color before the dull browns of winter set in. Or maybe I just enjoy this season and…
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Give Up Too Soon – Allowed to Push Through Hard Things
I have been blessed with a fair bit of stick-at-em (pure stubbornness), to the point of hanging on a little too long. But I still face with the temptation to give up. I do give up on some things sometimes. With creativity and doing something you love, the temptation to give up can become more than a simple frustration. It has a tendency to eat away at your resolve and dissolve your stick-at-em. When you put in the time and give the energy but the results are still slim … and the journey lasts much longer than you anticipated ... you may face a very real desire to toss it…
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Watercolor Background for Lettering
Watercolor backgrounds add depth and character to your lettering projects. Personally, I have a thing for black ink on white paper, and the majority of the time that satisfies my lettering craving. But when I add a little bit of color, the feel of the project changes completely, and I fall in love with the result all over again. Today, I’ll show you how I like to use the wet on wet watercolor technique to create a watercolor background for your lettering.
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Too Busy – Allowed to be Intentional with Your Time
Creativity Killer #5 – Too Busy In creative business, some days come easier than others. Sometimes, we’re focused and on task and cranking things out. Then other times, it feels like slogging through mud while walking uphill in a snowstorm. What makes the difference? Why are ideas exciting and energizing one day but overwhelming and unappealing the next day? What gets in the way of motivation and kills creativity? In this post, we’ll talk about the fifth of seven creativity killers and give ourselves permission to move beyond them. Too Busy Doing All the Things Being too busy can take on many forms in creative business. Too busy can mean…
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How to Paint Letters on Wood
You’ve seen those hand lettered signs all over the place, but none of them seemed quite right. The letters are too fancy or too hard to read. The signs are too big or too small or the wrong color completely. And the quote just isn’t you. Still, you love the idea. If you’re like me, this is the moment you start dreaming of how you can paint your own letters on wood. But where do you start? How do you paint letters on wood? This post will give you a good start, after that, it’s up to you.
