Art

Autumn Watercolour

Huge excitement hit my house yesterday when my brand new Moleskine watercolour journal arrived. And, of course, like an energised kid, I had to try it out immediately.

I drew inspiration from the colouring and falling leaves here in the north – something I’ve always wanted to try painting. At the same time, I wanted to do a tutorial for you. You won’t believe how easy it is to get this effect!

So let’s get to it.

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Colourful Watercolour

This isn’t a tutorial as much as a photo-diary of the steps I followed to create this painting. It’s really very simple, so I’m tagging it as beginner.

Honestly, the most difficult part is getting the violin symmetrical! If that’s something you struggle with, you can always try to find a stencil or print out a violin to trace (though I don’t know how well you’ll be able to trace through watercolour paper). If you’re not feeling the violin, I bet this kind of thing will also work well with flowers, skylines or whatever else blows back your hair.

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Easy Watercolour Feathers

Since my feather banner is so popular, I figured I’d show you how I made it.

This tutorial is super simple, anybody can paint feathers! What makes it even better is how fast this process is. I painted these in less than half an hour, they dried for about an hour, and the outlines took about another half an hour to draw.

The paint does all the work. Well, not all the work, but takes care of the pretty-making on your behalf.

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Watercolour Pencil Tricks

Yay, a tutorial, inspired by my friend Tallulah. 🙂

Before we get started though, a disclaimer. This is how I use these things. Some other, more experienced artist will probably tell you not to do what I do, and that’s OK. Like everything in life, we all need to find our own personal hacks to make what we do look like magic.

If you’ve experimented and found simpler ways to do things, please drop me a line! I’d love to learn too.

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Rocket Girl

My apologies for ending another week with a doll repaint, but I’m so excited about her I can’t contain myself. This, by the way, is what it looks like when a writer doesn’t write.

I shared a preview of Kjersti with you last week, but I’ve since finished her. She’s got brand new hair and the outfit is entirely hand-made, except for her shoes, which I customised. I have no idea how many hours went into her face-up and outfit, but I will tell you the total is much more than I’ve spent on any doll. She was supposed to be a quick project, with a tribal outfit.

Instead, she became a steampunk rocketeer.

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Meet the Girls

This hobby found me in the weirdest way.

I’ve never learned to paint with watercolours. For a control freak like me, watercolour is a difficult medium – it’s got a mind of its own. I’ve always preferred pencils, oil and acrylics, because I can decide exactly where each brushstroke will go on the canvas. And by extension, where it will stay. 🙂

Watercolour is more fluid and less easy to control. Still, I wanted to learn, so I went to YouTube, the Knower of All. (And the Keeper of Tutorials.)

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Weekend Recap

I’d call it a Weekend in Pictures post, only I took too few photos for that. I don’t understand how the picture-drought happened, to be honest. We got up to SO MUCH, I just didn’t think to snap the events. Those moments I did shoot fall off the other side of the spectrum.

I have 32 photos of fish. THIRTY. TWO.

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The June Report

My… month in pictures? The monthly recap? As far as alternative titles go, these aren’t the best. Sorry. 🙂

Since I didn’t do a single post with photos from this month, I thought I’d give you an overview today (all my WIP posts were of adventures from past months). I’ve been toying with this recap post idea for a while, since so many of our photos taken in the week are share-worthy, but never get featured because they weren’t taken on weekends.

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Review – Farber Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolour Pencils

A lot of my art-loving friends have asked me how I find these pencils and, since you want to read about art related stuff, I figured I’d do a review.

I got these puppies last Christmas and have been using them at least twice a week since. Without spoiling the review, I love them. I’ve had other brands of watercolour pencils before, including the budget range from Farber Castell, but these are my favourite by far.

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YouTube Artists I Love

The other day, I asked you what you want to see on the blog. The answer was pretty strong in the art-direction. (By the way, if you have more suggestions for the blog, don’t be afraid to share them. 🙂 )

I thought I’d kick this off by sharing some of the artists that inspire me. I might do a separate post of this nature for those folks I follow on Instagram (be a dear and follow me too) since so many of them don’t have YouTube channels. That I know of, anyway. 🙂

BeFunky Collage

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The Random Post

This is the end. We had a blast, saw amazing things and bonded with our tribe. We miss them terribly. The house is still quiet. Going through all of these photos somehow amplifies that.

But, before I get too soppy, let’s get on with the post.

While I shared all the main events with you, I have hundreds of photos taken on the in-between days. You know, those ones that didn’t involve buying tickets to enter tourist hot-spots. That’s what I’m sharing today.

anigif

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Cologne 3.0

There’s a feeling that fills your chest when you round that corner, or take that step out of the train station in Cologne. The first and most undeniable structure in the heart of the city is the Cologne Cathedral – majestic, impossible and awe-inspiring. It claims your every thought and emotion with its sheer size, then slams its hooks into your heart with its gothic spires, stained-glass windows and grotesque gargoyles. You’ll always kind of shiver when you recall this place, never fully capable of wording what it is you felt in the cathedral’s shadow. And an enormous shadow it is.

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Fanart Feb Results

Because February wasn’t hectic enough to start with, you know. That’s why I figured I’d do this thing. Like with Inktober, the idea was to make art every day of February, sticking to the fandoms you love.

In the end, I failed to draw every day, but at least I had fun making those artworks that I did.

BeFunky Collage.jpg

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Artist Focus – CaptainNutmeg

I haven’t blogged about an artist who inspires me in way too long. Considering Wednesday’s post was such a serious topic, I figured I’d share some beautiful art with you today.

I discovered CaptainNutmeg‘s art when one of his/her artworks were featured on DeviantArt’s daily deviations. I totally fell in love with the style, especially since I’ve been easing back into traditional art after my tablet powered down for the last time. *tears*

These artworks make me feel something. I adore the desaturated colours and flowing lines, paired with the uncluttered backgrounds. I hope you’ll like it too. 🙂

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The Things That Repeat in my Mind

It’s been ages since I updated you on any of my obsessions. Today, I’m going to fix that.

As many of you know, I’m currently revising The Physician’s Apprentice. My editor‘s advice was to flesh out some scenes, so I’m adding words. This means a particular kind of madness has come over me. You know how I get. 😛 At this point in time, it looks pretty much like this.

typing

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