H20 Watercolor Tutorial

Hello!  I'm back today with lots of news from FireCracker Designs by Pamela.

First of all, Pamela (owner), sent me the coolest stamp set to show off this month,

Christian Innies and Outties !  It's a sentiment set designed with coordinating phrases for the outside and inside of the card.  This is not the only set she has designed that works like this.  For my first showcase of this set, I chose this sentiment because I thought it would be so adorable with Pamela's Fruitcup set.  Ok, so I know, the last part of the sentiment was suppossed to be on the inside, but I thought it would be easier if I put it all on the outside for photographing purposes.  I promise I'll do it correctly next week, teehee.  So, at the bottom of the post I'm going to list some lengthy info on how I colored the pears.  Just in case your interested.  The short explanation is that I used Twinkling H20's.  But I am sharing some tips, so you might want to read on.  What I really want you to know is that FCD now sales Twinkling H20's.  So check them out HERE.  And Pamela has a tutorial - video HERE.    And tons of other tutorials HERE.

Twinkling H20 Technique / Tutorial

Is it even possible to make "pear jam".  I have no idea, but this all about being artistic, not realistic, teehee.  I couldn't pass up a chance to use this cute pear DP by Basic Grey.  It's part of the Nook and Pantry line.  I had so much fun coloring the pears with my twinkling H20's.  Trust me, they look WAY better in real life.  If you have never used Twinkling H20's you need to give them a try.  I'm not the best water color artist, but it was worth the practice to get this look.  I stamped a full sheet of pears on water color paper with water proof ink (I used Palette Noir).  I found the best way to get the blending that I wanted was to pre-wet the image a little.  The manufacturer recommends that you "spritz" the pot of color with water.  Here's a tip :  use and old bottle of eye drops, empty out the eye drops, fill it with water, and drop 1-2 drops in your pot.  Way easier than spritzing.  The amount of water you add depends on how thick you want your paint.  You can mix it pretty thick but then it can obliterate your stamp lines.  Mine was pretty watered down to begin with because I wanted to blend the colors.  I started out with a damp paint brush and loaded Heavnly Bamboo.  It's like a cedar green but has a slight yellow tint.  I lightly covered the entire image.  Because the image is already wet, the paint kinda spreads out.  Work fast, because I got the best shading when I was able to get all the colors on before it dried.  Then along the sides, I added watered down Cedar Wood (a dark brown with an orange tint).  This one is so dark it did take much.  My brush was damp, but now wet.   I kinda pounced it on with the brush around the sides to create some dimension.  Then I did the same with a darker green, Wild Vine, bringing it in toward the center of the pear.  Let me just say that this is not an exact process.  I had a paper towel wadded up and handy to tap over the image and used this to begin blending.  Then I layered on another coat of the Heavenly Bamboo.  If an area was to dry it would pull some of the previous color up and create lines I didn't want.  That's when I would grab that paper towel and dab it again.  Eash one seemed to be a little different, so on some I had to go back and add a little more darker green then dab again, until I got the shading I wanted.  They were fun to play with and I can't wait to do it again, now that I have a better feel for how to blend with them.  I the past I had pretty muched used them to highlight or added only one color, which is easier and beautiful as well.  But, blending these colors was very cool.  My stamp lines were no longer vivid at this point, so I used a 005 Micron to doodle over the stamp lines to restore them where needed.  I would take the time to do a step by step photo tutorial, but I didn't know if anyone was even interested.  And I'm not a real artist, just an amateur playing around with some great products, teehee.  Ok, so here is my last tip.  It has to do with orgainzing you H20's.  I store mine in a drawer.  I used those little white stickers (they are about 1/2" x 3/4")  you buy when your pricing stuff for a garage sale.  I stick them on the top of the black lid, and then paint the color over it, so I can see the colors easily when I'm picking them out of the drawer or trying to match them to my project.  You can't always tell by looking at the color in the jar what it will look like.

I hope you read something that inspires you to be creative!

If you have any questions about using H20's just shoot me an email.