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How to Use Mixed Lettering on a Fishing Quote
I didn’t grow up fishing, but I did grow up going to the beach and the lake. These trips usually involved swimming, boat riding or skiing. But now I have a father-in-law who loves a good day fishing as well as a husband and couple of sons who enjoy it occasionally too. Me? I love the fishing day feeling … the aura that goes with the idea of a peaceful day on the lake. Whenever I smell salt or lake air, I see the beauty of creation and feel that I’m-gone-and-might-not-be-back feeling. Do you know the feeling too? Where do you go to let your cares drift away? Today, we’ll…
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How to Draw Lavender with Watercolor Techniques
I recently tried my hand at a little soap making. My son was brainstorming ways to make extra money. He loves to make things with his hands and came up with the soap idea. I tried and tried to have time to learn about it to see if it was a good option. We ordered some supplies and gave it a go … months later. We tried several recipes and several scents to see what we liked and what we didn’t like. I am so glad I tried it! We now have soap for the next year (a little overboard? nah!). Homemade soap is so nice on your skin, you…
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Fall Quotes, Calligraphy Styles, and Watercolor Backgrounds
We must have had the perfect mix of hot and cold, wet and dry this summer because we are having one beautifully colorful fall. We needed an amazing fall this year. I needed it as a reminder that good things exist in the midst of difficult times. Today, I want to capture some of that beauty … some of that reminder ... in color and sentiment and style, in other words, watercolor, quotes, and calligraphy. We’ll paint a watercolor background using two different methods. Then, I’ll show you three of my favorite fall quotes, each written in a different calligraphy style. After that, it’s up to you to put them…
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How to Make a Flamingo Drawing with a Splash
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been all about pink, green and blue. Why? I had a request for some artwork, a flamingo and a dragonfly. I love drawing dragonflies, but why had I never thought about a flamingo drawing?! Might as well stay with the pink for a little while longer. So, while I was drawing flamingos in different poses and painting them in different styles, I decided that a flamingo drawing tutorial would be the perfect end to summer drawings. Shall we take one more trip to the beach? It might be the last for a while. Let's get started.
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Letter Z and Zinnia
We’ve reached the last letter, letter Z, the end of the alphabet study (unless I decide to do it again at a later point with lowercase letters). What a time of learning and exploring letters, watercolor, and ink! I’ve enjoyed it, and I hope you have too. Letter Z proved itself as another terrible letter to use for watercolor and ink. And I refuse to use zebra. I have decided to stay away from the usual Z. The end of the alphabet is filled with difficult letters. Letters X, Y, and Z all together. When the study is finished, I’m sure I’ll see options for letter Z all over the…
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Letter Y and Yellow
The end of the alphabet has so many difficult letters when looking for subjects. Letter Y is much less difficult than letter X though. Yams, Yucca, Ylang-ylang, Yarrow, and Yard all came to mind, but in the middle of a snowy winter, Yellow won out. I needed some color, some sunshine, something bright to bring cheer to my day. Aside from the difficulties of choosing a subject to study in watercolor and ink, I think letter Y is one of my favorite letters. Why? Because I love asking questions. Y? I love to learn.
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Letter X and XOXO
Do you know how hard it is to find an object that starts with the letter X (already difficult), is conducive to a watercolor study (how can I make X-ray look good in watercolor?), and understandable in regular everyday vocabulary (rather than names derived from long ago unspoken scientific languages)?! It’s almost impossible without cheating (aka dropping letters like this Xample and Xtreme).
