Today's Art: Watercolor and Derwent Inktense, Happy Halloween!

 Happy Halloween!

First time using watercolor in over 18 years

I am so happy with the way this painting/illustration came out!  I used my new Winsor & Newton Cotman Field set for the background, and Derwent Inktense ink pencils for the foreground.  I also used a white gel pen for the eyes and stars and signature.  It was a lot of fun, but wow, does it ever take longer than using procreate.  I waited for the first background layer to dry naturally, but then after I added more color, I used a blow dryer to dry the second layer. So funny to need water and blow dryers to make art, lol.  

I had a lot of fun and I followed a tutorial by Draw with David, on Youtube to make this. You can find it here: Halloween Cat with Spooky Tree

Today's Art: Procreate Halloween JackO'Lanterns

Hanging Jack'O'Lanterns

Made with Procreate

I found this cute tutorial for a watercolor illustration and decided to try it on procreate first, lol.  Here it is; I really like it.

You can find the tutorial here: de Winton Paper Co

 Dad's 83rd Birthday

Here are some pics taken on my Dad's 83rd birthday.  We started the day with a special brunch Mom made Dad's favorites; pancakes, eggs, bacon, and toast.  Then we went for a nature walk. That was followed by Chinese takeout, and a small party at our house with pizza.  Mom also made Dad his cake and apple strudel.  It was a lovely day and Dad was so happy.

Dad's 83rd Birthday Walk

Mom

Mom, Dad, and Judy

Chinese takeout for supper

Lucy & Judy

Pam, Andie, and Michelle

Kelly, Pa, Andie, Michelle, and Jonnie

Dad's birthday cake.  The big candle is tradition, lol.

Pam, Kelly, & Michelle

Group photo; our first birthday party since covid started.

Group photo with me (behind Dad)

Dad saying "What the heck is this?"  LOL

Dad loved his Austria cookbook

Today's Art: Watercolor Pencil Fish Birthday Card for Dad

 Tomorrow is Dad's 83rd Birthday

So I made him this watercolor pencil card.

Birthday Card for Dad made with Arteza Watercolor pencils.

It was fun to make but it's pretty basic. I am not happy with the sun or the colors but I was trying to do a more masculine thing, lol.  I also kept looking stupidly at the watercolor paper for AGES, searching for the undo button, lolol. I'm too used to digital art on Procreate.  I love the watercolor pencils but boy, I sure do miss that undo button, lol.

Crocheted Gnome: made for Dad's Birthday

 Cute Gnome Crochet

Cute Gnome, #Mufficorn

I Love This!

I found this pattern on Etsy, by Mufficorn, a super talented, creative lady who has loads of amazing patterns.  I made this one for my Dad.  They are supposed to be small enough to sit in the palm of your hand but I didn't have any thin yarn so used worsed and he's huge, lol.

#Mufficorn on Etsy

Here he is, sitting on my bed, and about the size of a pillow, lol

I made him for my Dad's birthday, and I think he'll get a kick out of him.  My Dad loves gardening and just finished preparing his garden for next spring.  This is just part of of his gift. 

He even looks cool in black and white, lol.  You can find the pattern here .

Arteza Watercolor Pencils: Halloween Pumpkins

 Halloween Pumpkins/Arteza Watercolor Pencils

Areza Watercolors #DrawSoCute tutorial

I am LOVING my Arteza Watercolor Pencils

They are so nice to use; creamy and smooth and the tips don't crumble and break, like the AGPTEK set or the Artist's Loft set.

However, the other 2 sets still give great results and possibly even more vibrant colors, so I'll be getting use out of all of the sets.  Also, the harder sets stay sharp longer for details.  

Having said that, I like the way the Arteza brand works better.  

I found this cute drawing tutorial on Youtube, by Draw So Cute: How to draw easy pumpkins

Watercolor Pencil Beta Fish (Today's Art)

 Beta Fish in Watercolor Pencil

First Try: AGPTEK Watercolor Pencils

AGPTEK Watercolor Pencils, try #1

Second Try: Arteza WaterColor Pencils

Arteza Watercolor Pencils, expert, try #2

So, I saw this tutorial on Youtube by the talented Emily Olson Art. 

I watched the tutorial and it was great, but Emily gave us the link to the reference photo she used so I just looked at the reference photo and tried it myself.  I may go back and try it with the actual tutorial, lol, but I'm pretty happy with my fish, but need to learn how to do a better background.

The Arteza watercolor pencils have a much nicer feel to them than the AGPTEK; they don't crumble or break and they feel creamier.  However, the AGPTEK look good, and have lovely colors too.  I do enjoy using the Arteza better, but it's just that they feel better, and also, they have color names and numbers, whereas the cheaper set does not.

I had fun doing these, and although I'm happy with my results,  I'm hoping I'll get better over time.  I have loads of tutorials to watch on Youtube, which is great.   

Procreate art: Pumpkin Farm

 

Pumpkin Patch Farm on Procreate

Pumpkin Farm Procreate Art

I was in a fall mood today and decided to try my hand at pumpkin patch. I googled for images of pumpkins, pumpkin farms, barns, and ended up looking at at several photos in order to put this together.

I love painting without a tutorial because I enjoy the creative process, but my art always looks so much nicer when I use tutorials.

I accidentally switched art styles part way through this, lol.  I did the fields and fence and pumpkins in a sort of story book illustration style before supper, then took a long break and suddenly switched to more realism with my trees clouds, and the roof of the barn.  The base of the barn is more cartoony so it looks weird, but I love the colors and am happy with how this came out. Using these colors makes me very happy.  I hope you guys like it too.

Queen Elizabeth 2 Pop Art on my Ipad with Procreate

 

Queen Elizabeth 2 Pop Art, my first try at this style of art.

I wanted to try Pop Art

So I watched a bunch of videos online and then looked for images I wanted to try to recreate in a pop art style. I found a pretty photo of Queen Elizabeth 2 when she was young. She's been on my mind since she passed and I thought I'd give it a go. I'm a total newb but am so happy with how this came out. It was fun to do and so different from anything else I've tried so far. I am loving my Ipad and Procreate. Digital art is so much fun.

Watercolor Pencils: Maple Tree Painting

 

Watercolor Pencil Painting: Maple Tree

Maple Tree, Watercolor #paintacadamy tutorial youtube

I am really enjoying my watercolor pencils.  I drew/painted these maple trees, once with my AGPTEK set, and the second time with the Artist's Loft set.  

The first time, I did a pencil sketch first, and the second time I just used the watercolor pencils.  The first time I just used one red pencil crayon for the leaves, and a few browns and black for the trunk, and two greens and brown and black for the base.  The second time I used two reds and two oranges for the tree and blended the colors.   I like the trunk on the first tree better.  

The cheaper Artist's Loft pencils did just as good a job as the more expensive (but still budget) AGPTEK set.

Maple tree, #paint academy

I followed a tutorial from Paint Academy on Youtube. You can find it here: Maple Tree