Artsy Inkers
Stamping => Techniques => Topic started by: Iring on April 27, 2016, 12:58:27 PM
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I posted this in the Sale/Retail therapy thread but thought maybe I should post here as well.
On Craftsy, Watercolor Cards Made Simple, with Deepti Malik (http://www.craftsy.com/class/watercolor-cards-made-simple/5234?_ct=sbqii-sqjuweho-dum&_ctp=4&rceId=1461778877498~9uo6qd3g), is on sale 50% off. I checked just now and it is $14.99
I'm enrolled and about to start working through it. Any other takers? We can follow each other in the Craftsy classroom.
Heidi and Far North have already taken the class. Heidi said she'd go through it again. The instructor lists every stamp and stencil she uses but I plan to use what I have. I did pick up a brush with a coupon a few days ago. She uses pan watercolors and distress inks (at least in the few lessons I've peeked at so far).
If you're not sure about this class but want to practice more watercoloring, please see Connie's post below. There are lots of good suggestions. I'm signed up for the Strathmore Artist Series Workshop that starts Monday, May 2nd (free). What I like about the Craftsy class is that it's geared toward cardmakers, creating backgrounds and coloring stamped images. The Strathmore class will definitely be larger scale, but I'm sure we can learn lots.
See you in class?
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I have had a much busier week than expected and I haven't had a chance to go back to the class yet. I just took a much needed run, and so if I do some housework, then I won't feel badly about taking all the rest of the times to craft. So I am still going to do it, if you were wondering!
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No problem.
I didn't get real far. I practiced washes and a few strokes. I ran out of painter's tape. I used a bit of washi tape and post it tape but only for a few. They are expensive alternatives to painters tape. :o
I told myself I would use what I have ... but today I did a little shopping! I got some painters tape. I was lusting after the board Deepti taped her paper down on. Last night I used the back of a paper pad and the back of a canvas board. I had pieces drying all over the place. Today I found a board that looks just like Deepti's for $5.99 at Hobby Lobby. I didn't think that was too bad. I'm keeping the boards I used last night because for practice it seems like I need all the room I can get. I splurged and treated myself to a Koi travel set of pan watercolors that comes with a water brush. I've been looking at that for years, ever since I worked at an art supply and my boss had one. I got mine at Hobby Lobby with a 40 off coupon. It's on sale for the same price I paid on Amazon (around $21, just in case anyone wants some enabling). Now I'm anxious to play again!
Last night I felt like I got better results with wet on wet washes. My wet on dry washes are streaky. I was using Cotman tube watercolors. I have lots of pieces suitable for die cutting, ha!
Jump in when you get a chance!
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Cindi, that Koi Travel Box is the same one I got for Christmas. I think it is the one Deepti uses in the videos too.
I also had a little trouble with streaky washes. I cannot remember now if it was wet or dry...
I have a plexiglas thing that I used to tape down the paper. It was some odd thing we had around.
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I too have the same travel box. I like the KOI paints a lot but my waterbrush discharges too much water for my ability to control it. I like my results much better with a regular brush.
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Oh my giddy aunt, I am such a putz. I went and signed up for that class and another one by Shari Carol. The Shari Carol one is layers on cards and since I like her videos and it was 19.99 too I signed up. So sign me up for discussions on the watercolor class......
I also own the koi watercolor travel box. I have used it quite a bit. I use a waterbrush sometimes and others I use a watercolor brush. I also do not use the same brushes for watercolor that I use for acrylic paints. So keep that in mind. The acrylics are rather hard on brushes and you will loose the tips faster, you need the tips for watercolor.
I will try and watch the first video while I clean the house this afternoon. Thanks for hooking me up!
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PS. I certainly consider translucent watercolors as "light and airy" which is the challenge element of my new Happy Mail Swap...just sayin' :o
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Hah! Sadie, glad you are joining in.
I would like the idea of the layers class since honestly I have so much trouble with that! I love the look though.
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Yay! Glad you are playing along Sadie!
Jan
discharges too much water
I'm having that issue too. I've used it to re-wet and mix the colors, but then again, I found myself painting with it too.
I have trouble wanting to control everything, I keep messing with it! So I tried again , to be more flowy, but I think I like my first effort better.
I bought some new brushes Friday. The owner of a local art supply store helped me pick out a few. I brought what I already had and he went through and showed me which are good enough, and which are "done". I had the lists from both Craftsy and Strathmore classes.
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Ok, I'm going to try this one more time!
Nope, I guess not!! My laptop/mouse is going flippin crazy. Can't type.
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Anyway ...
I ended up buying Loew-Cornell golden taklon ultra round brushes in size 2 and 8, and a Simply Simmons #4 fan brush. So far I'm very happy.
I already had Simply Simmons 14 mop (?I think), and a 3/4 flat from a previous watercolor class.
Thanks Sadie for reminding me to keep my watercolor brushes out of the acrylic paint!
Today my wet on wet wash was better ... so maybe I don't have a favorite yet! I tried Deepti's suggestion to tap a damp paper towel through a stencil. I had a hard time controlling how much water. Sometimes it seeped under the stencil, sometimes I didn't have enough to take away any paint.
Off to practice some more ...
Before I go ... does anyone have any tip for mixing paint? In the class, Deepti's paint is already mixed and ready to go. When I try to move paint to a mixing area and wet it, or mix it, it seems all of the paint ends up in my brush with hardly any left on the palette!
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When mixing the paint put a bit of water in the palette and make sure your brush and the colors you are mixing are also wet. I use the Ranger mister, not the sprayer, but the little mister to wet the watercolor cakes before starting. It takes water to make watercolor. Make sure you rinse your brush between colors to keep the cakes from becoming contaminated. Mixing works best if you put one color down and then wash your brush and bring another color down onto the palette and then mix them on the palette. That way you can kind of tell how much of each color you have used in case you need more of the same color. If you are using three colors make three different puddles and bring them together on the palette.
I hope that helps.
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Yes it does Sadie! Thanks you. I'll try it that way tomorrow.
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I watched a couple of the craftsy videos and the first Strathmore mind of watercolor video. It appears that the Strathmore is tradition watercolor painting and the craftsy one is adapting the traditional watercoloring to cards. They are both interesting in different ways. The Strathmore one is more what I have been watching. The craftsy one on the washes is really all one needs for card backgrounds. The leading edge of the paint is the important thing. Almost all watercolor artist stress that. If you can keep the paint flowing from the leading edge your paint will be somewhat uniform when it dries. The craftsy one points out the difference between wet color and dry color which is another thing most watercolorist stress. Watercolor dries lighter then it looks wet. The harsh edge lines are also important, sometimes you want that and other times you don't.
I don't know about the brushes thing. Some watercolorists want the very best brushes (Sandy Alnock I am looking at you) and others say use what you feel comfortable and can control in the way you want to control them. I have the Ranger set and it is fine for some things but not others. The points do not stay nice. The idea is when you wet the brush it goes to a point ( round brushes) Ranger brushes do not have a very pronounced point. I have lots of different brushes and they all work differently. I get them and try them out on watercolor to see how much water they hold and how well they hold their points. If they don't work for watercolor chances are they will work fine for acrylics. I have the prima set and they are a firmer brush and work well with watercolor but I guess I like a firmer brush. If you don't like a firmer brush try a softer brush. The firmer brush is easier for me to use as dry brushing trees and bushes. I think the main thing is that you need a brush you can make work for you which means you need to keep trying them until you find what works for you.
Well that is what I have gotten from watching the first couple of videos.....what have you gotten from watching them? Please share!
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Cindi, that Koi Travel Box is the same one I got for Christmas. I think it is the one Deepti uses in the videos too.
I also had a little trouble with streaky washes. I cannot remember now if it was wet or dry...
I have a plexiglas thing that I used to tape down the paper. It was some odd thing we had around.
I was watching the first video on brushes and brush strokes today and I saw the question (over at Craftsy) I had about this! Hah. Anyhow, I do remember now that I tried to use reinkers instead of smooshed distress inks, and it was much harder to keep an even amount of pigment on the brush, because the reinker is so concentrated, it really depended too much on how much water was in the brush.
Also, the more I practiced, I did get less streaks. And, it was easier to keep that leading line and not move too slowly.
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The first time I did the Craftsy class, I was not super impressed by the brush stroke video. This time I feel like I got a lot more out of it. I now have most of the brushes and can see how I can get some of these effects on my cards more easily.
For example, there is that really popular Stampin Up Stamp that mimics a brush stroke. But I can get that same effect by just using my distress inks and the brush I already have PLUS more effects and shapes of the stroke.
Although you normally to not see people coloring in images with the textured brush stroke, I think that actually could be something nice. I hear the Art Impressions artist (her name is escaping me this second) often repeat that we need to leave some more white space in our coloring so it is not flat and boring. So that type of dry on dry brush stroke might work well for some images.
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Yes, I thought of the SU stamp (Work of Art?) when I saw the textured brush strokes. The dry brush, textured look would be cool on a stamped image (I'm thinking wood grain, or maybe a white wash). It might be easier if it was an image you were going to cut out? I had to buy a fan brush when I saw the marks it made!
I took a local watercolor class and she mentioned that white spots were ok, even desirable. I didn't hear Deepti talk about white marks, or space. I have trouble leaving white. I tend to color like I did as a kid in a coloring book.
Yesterday I worked on a piece with gradients in two colors (like Deepti's roses in rose and gray). I'm not crazy about it, mostly the colors I chose ... but it I think it could make a good ATC if I keep the part I like! Ha! I also tried the color splashed piece. It's ok, but I didn't get the spots to bleed as much. I think I was too slow and my paper was already drying. Oh, and I kept thinking Deepti must have paint on her finger, because I was seeing a smudge on some of her demos. Ha! It was my laptop screen. I got a little wild with the splashes I guess. :o
Sometime soon I want to try removing paint through a stencil using a baby wipe ... I tried a wet paper towel and got one ok result but more often I had too much water and it ran under the stencil, or not enough and it didn't remove any paint.
I know this is supposed to be fun, but yesterday I was kind of frustrated by the end of the day! :-\ I'll try to lighten up today.
If anyone else is interested, the Strathmore Artist Workshop (https://www.strathmoreartist.com/artist-studio/groups/workshop-2-2016/forum/topic/paints/) started today but you can watch anytime. It's a fairly short video, maybe 18 minutes? It's free if you just create a login. Today he began a landscape painting, but I figure I can apply some of the same info to card size (for instance he made a nice sky).
PS. I certainly consider translucent watercolors as "light and airy" which is the challenge element of my new Happy Mail Swap...just sayin' :o
Good to know, Jan! I have a few ideas ...
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I heard one instructor talk about watercolor being 10% talent and 90% practice. I approach new opportunities to learn with a basket of A2 size WC paper cut in half and fourths. Having this at my fingertips helps keep my mind on using my playtime for experimenting with new methods and techniques. For me it feels different to sit down to practice with pre-cut practice size paper than when1 blank A2 sits in front of me.
Removing watercolor through a stencil-For me this took considerable experimenting to learn how dry the WC should be and how much moisture should be used. Moving on to play with other experiments and then returning later is sometimes helpful for me.
Happy creative moments!
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Thanks Jan! I certainly need more practice!
Last night I made 3 skies. I used Deepti's technique in one and Strathmore Workshop/Steve's for the other two.
Tonight I need to finish Mother's Day cards and a birthday card and maybe play with some of the pieces I've already created.
I'm having trouble getting started ... maybe I'll heat up some coffee first ;)
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I think I found my favorite saying from the Craftsy watercolor class 3, "messy is good in watercolors." LOL. I like the cards she is making much better then the watercolor background cards the youtube people make. I am not sure why but her cards are appealing to me.
The Strathmore class is more of what you can find on the youtubes from The Mind of Watercolor. It is interesting and I like to watch him watercolor. I also looked at the sketchbook videos on the Strathmore site. Those are more art journaling without all the expensive product, but interesting.
Now I need to get out the watercolors and try some of the cards from the craftsy watercolor class.
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I didn't watercolor last night but I finished a few pieces in tocards (http://www.duhnproductions.com/Pics/displayimage.php?album=lastup&cat=0&pid=2630#top_display_media).
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There is a nice watercolor tutorial (http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/vintagewatercolor/?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign=) on Splitcoast today, using distress ink, watercolor pencils and the Elegant Writer (black calligraphy pen that bleeds out a little bit of color when you add water, very cool, Jan I know you've seen this!)
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Cindi, I loved that tutorial. Heather Telford does lovely watercolors!
I finally got to play with my pan Watercolors. At first, I tried my distress watercolor paper, since I had recently bought some and it is precut. I did not like how the washes looked on the textured side. That is probably just my preference. I did get a nice really flat wash on the smoother side. The other problem I had with the distress watercolor paper is that it tore very easily when I took my low tack tape off the edges.
The I tried a little with the two colors of watercolor gradient. I wished that I had done it corner to corner instead of top and bottom, but I think it is usable.
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Is anyone still working through the classes?
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The other problem I had with the distress watercolor paper is that it tore very easily when I took my low tack tape off the edges.
I found out with the low tack tape that you need to wait for the watercolor to be completely dry before taking it off or you need to pull at an angle slowly so it doesn't rip the paper.....I just assumed it would not tear the paper and the first time I pulled it off willy nilly and it tore the paper. I saw a video (sorry do not remember whose it was) that showed that you need to let the watercolor completely dry or remove the low tack tape carefully at an angle. It makes a difference.
Well, I finished watching all the watercolor videos at craftsy and I did enjoy them, I am not sure that I learned anything new but I liked the way she used the principles of watercolor on cards. Her cards are very pretty. I have made some backgrounds and painted some more flowers so I really should put the cards together. The backgrounds using the stencils and then wipe away some of the watercolor is so very similar to using distress ink that I kind of shook my head at myself. I like both the watercolor backgrounds with the stencils and the distress ink backgrounds using the blending tool, there just isn't much difference to me in looks. I don't think that watercolor is any more forgiving then distress inks because if you don't like the distress ink background you can spray water on it and get a softer look that way.
I am not sure that making those kinds of backgrounds in watercolor is a draw for me. I like the watercolor on flowers and girls and things like that. And I do like the puddles of watercolor backgrounds but they can be done with the distress ink too. But then isn't the distress ink also considered a watercolor medium? Only I use a distress tool instead of a paint brush to apply it. Or smoosh it into the craft mat, add water, and put the paper into it. So really they are both so similar.
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Sadie, I agree that the technique with the stencils didn't work for me either. It could be worth a try on any backgrounds that you don't really like anyhow, though. I think it works better with sponged distress ink too.
Thanks for the tip about letting the paper dry. I was taking the tape of right away instead of waiting.
I think sponging distress ink gives a little different look, with less "flowy" looking edges.
I really like the technique in the video where you make the wash for the background, stamp, and then paint in the outside.
I haven't watched through all the videos again yet, but I hope to do some more watercoloring soon. I ruined a lot of the stuff I did the other day with the stencil technique, so I need to do some more that I can actually share!
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I think I've seen all of the videos, but not practiced all of them. I caught up on reading this thread a few hours too late! I tore a background a little taking off tape this afternoon ... I finished more carefully, at an angle and it was fine after that. My watercolor was dry, I guess I was just a little too rough with the tape, and it was 140lb watercolor paper either Canson or Strathmore, so I don't know if that makes a difference. My background just got cut a little smaller and now has a mat!
I had the same experience with the stencils ... trying to remove paint with a damp paper towel was very tricky. Too wet and it seeps under the stencil, not wet enough and you're not removing paint! I want to try a baby wipe, can't remember if I tried that yet or not?? Seems like it would be the right amount of damp.
The Strathmore Artist Workshop (Mind of Watercolor, lesson 1) had a wet on wet technique for painting a sky that I like. It's free, you just need to create a log in and register.
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Here (http://www.duhnproductions.com/Pics/displayimage.php?pid=2644&message_id=2ad2f60a5510553c63dbb075e98dc178&message_icon=info#cpgMessageBlock) is a card I made using the Ombre technique. I did the wet on wet.