Owl Postcard

Owl Outline

This was made for a handmade postcard challenge. The theme was PINK and my partner liked owls. I outlined the stencil first. I used alcohol inks to provide the required pink color.

Pink--First Layer

My partner also liked blues and teals.

Pinks, Blues and Teals

And if one owl wasn't enough. I added a Charlie the Owl stencil on the back in greens, browns and pumpkin colors.

Not another owl

I hope it gets to its destination because there was a little squeak of delight when I delivered it to the post office for postage.

Have a great weekend and Veteran's Day (in the USA).

More Mail Art

I titled this one the love envelope for obvious reasons. The front side featured an Indian inspired stencil. The recipient liked elephants with trunks raised. She also liked all shades of blues and bright colors. After lettering the envelope, I was lucky to find that the only elephant stencil I had was one with a slightly raised trunk. I placed it in the lower right corner knowing that it would not be obscured by the postage and tracking labels used by the post office.

Front detail

For the back, I had this ready made envelope (discussed here). This was an experiment with a stencil within a stencil technique. I placed the heart stencil in place first and outlined it with pencil. I placed the paisley stencil on top and inked the pattern within the heart. I then placed the original heart stencil back on and inked the outline. The solid shapes were colored with Copic Markers and the heart background plaid was done with Micron pens. The blue background plaid was done with Copic Markers.

Back detail

Mail Art

Birds in the mail (front)

I realize that I have been away from blogging for an extended period. With the holiday this past Monday, I just couldn't get things together to post. The biggest problem is that I forgot what I had already posted so I had to review the blog to see what I had already done. I have been sharing posts on Instagram so I get a little confused as to what has already been posted and where.

Today's and tomorrow's post will be mail art that I am sending out. This week it seems that everyone on my swap-bot feed is into birds. This person likes birds and bird houses.

Birds in the mail (back)

For the front of the envelope, I lettered the address and then used a stencil and alcohol inks to decorate. The recipient likes blues and pinks.

For the back of the envelope I did something a little different. I outlined the images with a Micron .01 pen. I then placed the stencil back on the envelope and sprayed alcohol inks to color the images. This was done in three stages. I used brown for the bird and bird house (while masking the bottom of the stencil). I then covered the top of the stencil and colored the pink flowers on the bottom of the stencil. I removed the stencil and sprayed a purple ink over the entire envelope.

Day 29--30 Day Coloring Challenge

Today's coloring challenge is another extra large postcard from the postcard watercolor block discussed here.  I also wanted to discuss some new handmade watercolors that I ordered from Rachel Beth at her etsy store. Disclaimer here: I have purchased these watercolors on my own and I am not receiving any compensation for this review. To get straight to the review of the product just skip to the end of this blog post.

I have started collecting the watercolors and I am working with the ones that I have on hand. I purchased the half-pans which will be plenty for my use. This is the first time that I have used pan watercolors. Normally, I use Dr Martin's concentrate.

As you can see, 14 half pans can fit in a regular sized Altoid tin. Each pan is labeled with the color and has a small sheet magnet on the bottom of each tin. Using a small tin is the perfect way to carry your watercolors when traveling (which was one of the primary reasons I chose Rachel's shop).

When I work on a project and decide on a palette, I get a scrap of paper similar to the paper that I will be using. I then make a color sample to reference the colors used.

Today's color palette

Here is the sample color palette.

Sample palette

Rachel provides you a reference color dot of each color on the outside of each pan. She also provides you a color sheet for each set. In another post next week, I will share with you my storage system for the unused pans and why these color dots are so important.

Water color tray

When I get started, I mix colors in my tray. To get these colors, I add water to the tray and then lift color from the half-pan. If I want an undiluted color, I work directly from the half-pan with water on my brush.

The first step of any painting for me is a color sample on the actual paper that I will be using. Here, I mist the paper to remove any sizing and to get the paper to relax. I also mist the back of the paper so it is easier to manipulate. Usually I will tape down the project but today's project had no margins so I had to work on a loose piece of paper.

Paper and watercolor sample

When I work on the sample, I try to work wet on wet and let the colors blend themselves to see how saturated the diluted color is. I am a big fan of diluted colors. If I had know how well the above sample would have turned out, I would have masked out a monogram or something. Once I know how the materials work with each other, I set up my station.

Today's project

Here is my setup. The tin of half-pans are just to the left of the color tray. To begin, I outlined a stencil onto the watercolor paper with a Micron .05 black marker.

All color added

The above image are the shapes with all of the colors from this particular palette. Each color was used in some way or another.  The image below shows the differences in colors from the half-pan (undiluted), those from the color tray (diluted), and those colors that were blended (two diluted colors layered on top of each other, wet on wet). If there is no designation, then the colors fall into the third category. See below for the designations.

Pure vs Diluted vs Layered Colors

Once the colors were dried with a heat gun, I decided to add color to the background with water soluble crayons from Caran d'Ache.

Finished Project

PRODUCT REVIEW
I can't explain how pleasant of an experience that I have had when dealing with Rachel. The dedication and presentation of her product cannot be overemphasized. The colors are amazing and a dream to use. Usually when product lines are in this amount (I think she has nearly 100 color choices), many times there are so many similarities in colors that it is hard to distinguish one shade/color from another. This isn't the case here. The blues aren't interchangeable. The greens aren't either. The colors have a creamy consistency that make them easy to remove them with your brush from the pans. The colors are colorfast and blend beautifully together. More importantly, for me, is that I tend to layer colors rather than blend them. This product is perfect for that and then when they are are the page they are easy to feather into one another. Because they are so easy to layer, this product is perfect for creating shadows similar to those available with blended colored pencils. Several of the arcs above where done with this procedure: base color (often diluted), layer of shadow color (vanilla frosting), third color. Once excess moisture was removed, I feathered the colors into each other with a dry brush. In closing, I can't recommend this product any more highly. Great product, great shop, great seller/owner.

N.B. Please disregard any fault with my watercolor technique. My lack of technique should cause no adverse critique of the product.

Day 28--30 Day Coloring Challenge

For today's coloring challenge, I wanted to complete the Women in Orange series and my experimentation with masking fluid. This is similar to yesterday's masking technique in that the same areas were masked. You can see the original color wash in the open areas (the areas under the crosshatched areas). In today's postcard, the red box wasn't added until after the top color wash was added. Different today was the application of the masking fluid. Yesterday's masking fluid was painted in the open areas. Today, the masking fluid was applied with a credit card over the stencil. Because some of the fluid gets under the stencil you can see a more distressed effect when the dried masked areas are removed.

Also, yesterday, the top color wash was only added within the red box. Today, I applied the second color wash over the entire card. I added the crosshatching and the red box after the card had dried.

Similarly, I wanted to do something different on the reverse of the card.

As you can see, I was a little heavy handed with the Sharpie marker when making the box and the marker bled through to the back side. I decided to glue a second piece of scrap paper to cover the bleed through and to give the card an extra heft.

I have been trying to come up with alternatives to alcohol inks for use of the reverse side. For today, I used a stencil and used pastel colors to fill the card. Although a strong dark pen would work, I was afraid that any writing would be hard to read.

Pastel Copic markers

I needed to make the card a little more translucent so I used my Zyron machine to apply a piece of vellum to the card. This would provide a smooth surface for writing and would mute the design/colors underneath. I have to say that this turned out better than I expected.

BTW, the mottled look of the markers was intentional. I wanted a watercolor effect with some of the white base paper showing through. I thought the mottled effect would be amplified by the vellum.

Markers with vellum overlay

Tomorrow is a different project and product.

Day 27--30 Day Coloring Challenge

Today's coloring challenge is the third in the series of Women in Orange. I am still experimenting with masking fluid and watercolors. Today's session including masking all of the negative space and then adding a water color wash to just the lines in the stencil.

The first step was to apply the general color wash to the post card. The second step was to outline the image with a red extra fine tip Sharpie. The third step was to apply the border with an extra wide chisel tip red Sharpie. The next step was to apply the masking fluid to the open areas of the stencil thereby leaving the thick border lines available for the second color wash. The final step was to apply the top color wash only to the area within the boxed area. If you look closely you will see that the thick lines within the red Sharpie marker lines are a reddish solid color to contrast with the reds, yellows and orange colors of the background.

I also wanted to do something different on the reverse of the card. I wanted to play with stencils and shadows. I didn't want to do another alcohol ink treatment but I needed something that was translucent enough so that writing can be read on the card. I found a fun geometric stencil that I outlined in a black Micron .01 pen. I then used shades of grey to color in the arrows. I designated the address area by a zigzag line in grey.

Day 23--30 Day Coloring Challenge

Just a little coloring

Today's page is yet another page from my Art Journal. This was a last minute project since I was struggling with something to do. I was flipping through my quote books and this quote spoke to me. I did a simple color wash on the page and let it dry.

Next, I searched through my stencil stash to find something that resembled a sun shape. I knew that I had some larger mandala stencils and stumbled across this one. I outlined the partial mandala in black .03 Micron pen. After letting it dry, I filled in the shapes with Copic markers. I added crosshatching with red and orange gelli roll pens. To take off some of the sheen, I used Ranger Distress Oxide inks in Orange, Pink and Amber (or Spiced Marmalade, Worn Lipstick, and Fossilized Amber)--see N.B. below.

I added the quote using a newly discovered letter guide (and I now realized why it was hidden for so long). I should have just inked in the quote myself. I found some stickers that were applicable but they had disturbingly white backgrounds so I used the same distressed inks to make them blend more with the page.

Finished page

While I am not totally 100% happy with the result, it is respectable. The beautiful thing about an art journal is that you can always append, fix, change at a later point. I might gesso over parts and start again. Or I might tint some tissue paper and cover the quote and try again.

N.B. I hate the cuteness/girly level of color designations in the crafting world. I understand that most of the crafters are women but there isn't a need to cater to this audience. Pick color names that truly reflect the color. Variations of pink are fine (hot pink, coral, etc). But "worn lipstick" just doesn't reflect the real color. Plus when I demonstrate, I just can't let the words "worn lipstick" tumble from my lips. I always use the base color designation much to the chagrin of my students. We always get a big laugh out of it and by the time I get to the end of the demonstration we have made some really funny name designations as we try and outdo each other.

During my last class, we came up with "CSI New Orleans stabbed to death three hours ago deep purple dried blood red."

Day 17--30 Day Coloring Challenge

Today's coloring challenge is the reverse of the envelope I shared with you  yesterday. Another stencil from my collection, I colored with with Copic Markers and then added the background plaid with Micron pens in .03 (orange and red) and .05 in orange. Another quick and easy envelope.

Day 15--30 Day Coloring Challenge

This is the back of yesterday's envelope. I love sunflowers. I needed a nice large image so I could get this in the mail quickly. This was outlined in a Micron pen which allowed me to work quicker. When I use a Sharpie to outline something, I wait at least a half day before coloring it in (unless I use another Sharpie product). If I plan on using Tombow or Copic markers, I wait a day.

Of course, I can't do anything simply--even if most people will never realize. The seeds were done with three colors that were layered. I am still learning how to blend colors but these manila envelopes do not provide a good blending surface.

I used two colors for the leaves and three colors for the petals. Overall, I really like the way that this turned out.

Here is a little trick I have learned since I decorate a lot of envelopes. If I need to test colors, I use the underside of the envelope flap so see how steadfast the colors are on that particular style of envelope. Since it will be sealed, no one will ever see the color swatches.

 I usually send out white envelopes but since I knew that I was going to use this sunflower stencil, I decided to let the envelope color work in my favor by provide a good base color.

Day 14--30 Day Coloring Challenge

After finishing yesterday's coloring book page, I needed to send the coloring book back to it's owner. If you have been following me for any length of time, you know that I can't send a plain envelope through the mail. I thought these hummingbirds and trumpet flowers would be a nice surprise to those who touch this envelope along the way to Mississippi.

Day 9--30 Day Coloring Challenge

Today, I decided to combine both of the 30 Day Challenges that I am completing in September. One is the 30 Days of Happiness Quotes that I have been doing in my Hobonichi. The second is the Coloring Challenge that I have been already sharing with you.

Today's quote is a play on words. I was searing through my envelope stock because I will be making some more handmade envelopes very soon. I ran across the image of Monet's home and gardens which I thought would be funny with the word impress vs impressionism in today's quote.

Once I found the picture, I decided what I wanted to do.

Monet's home and garden.

I decided to use vellum as an overlay and to letter the quote on the overlay. I used a Sharpie Brush Marker for the lettering. I outlined the letters with a Sharpie fine tip marker in maroon. I didn't realize how bold the colors have to be in order to work through the opaqueness of the vellum. On the front, I used a .08 Micron liner to outline the pansy stencil.

I then decided to reverse color the stencil from the underside much like they used to do reverse glass painting. I used Tombow markers to apply the color and a Micron marker to add the details. I then applied two used postage stamps to the front to finish the top layer.

Vellum Overlay

Still not thoroughly pleased, I added dried flowers to the underside of the vellum to add interest. These are pansies and verbena.

The underside of the vellum overlay

One of the goals of the page was to question what was real and from where the images were coming. Very much like the Impressionists, you had to look several times to see all of the images and the component parts.