Watercolor Tutorial #2

Good Morning.  Today I'm sharing a watercolor tutorial with you using "Nature's Postage" by Mark's Finest Papers.  This set was discontinued but the technique could certainly be used for some of their other beautiful floral sets.

Let me start with some general information that I had posted previously with my other watercolor tutorial last year.  You can check out the entire post and step by step photo's HERE.

"I used Lyra Watercolor Crayons (12 set), Ranger Distress Ink - Tumbled Glass, and Derwent Watercolor Pencil #51 Olive Green. I got my watercolor crayons a few years back at a local craft store with a 40% off at a Joann's. I'm don't know who carries them these days, but what I have noticed online is that they have 24 set now. I had so much fun doing these that I'm considering finding a good deal on the larger set.

In general I brush on water to the area I'm going to be adding color, before adding the color.   Wetting the paper first helps the color flow. So I want continue to mention that, but make sure you do it. The crayon color are very concentrated, so a little goes a long way. You can always add more. I leave the crayons sitting in the tray they come in, wet my brush and then pick up a little color by brushing over the crayon. Keep a paper towel or napkin handy so you can remove unwanted color.. Just re-wet the area if needed, and blot if off with a paper towel. A couple of times I ventured outside the lines and was able to clean it up a little blotting the color off. Each crayon has a ID # on it. I used green (67), yellow (07), orange (13), and brown (99). Let's get started. "

The colors are the same for this tutorial except I didn't use the green.

After completing this one, I decided that it is better to do your lighter colors first.  Then it doesn't matter so much if you get out of the lines.  So in retrospect, I would have done the butterfly before the flower. 

Sky : Brush water on the sky area. Apply a little Tumbled Glass Distress ink to a plastic surface or acylic block. Wet brush and begin picking up the blue and painting your sky. The distress ink is not as concentrated. I tried to make it a little darker around the edges / corner.

Flower : Brush water over petals. Wet brush and pick up orange #13. I start out light, adding color from the center of the flower outward keeping some area's darker as shown above.  Then I went back a second time and add more concentrated orange to create shadows.

To create move depth, I added some brown mostly next to the flower center, but a little on the area's that have "lines" for shadows. I think you can see the difference in the previous photo and this one and tell where I added it.   I didn't worry about trying to blended it, because I knew I was going over it again with orange.

Add more orange to get the look you want. I also added a small amount of yellow along the very tips of the petals and brushed it inward toward the flower center, bleding it with the orange. That really highlighted some area's and made it pop.

I used brown and a little yellow in the flower center.

I used yellow on the butterfly wings, keeping the color bolder toward the butterfly body.  I added a little brown, very lightly (watered down) in most area's, especially along the outside edges of the wings.

Lastly I added a little orange inside the spots on the wings.

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial and are encouraged to get those watercolor crayons or pencils out!

hugs,

Melisa

You can view more of my Watercolor Tutorials HERE.