ABSTRACT WATERCOLOUR

 Since I've been getting a bit more into various watercolour techniques, I have managed to acquire a few different brands of watercolour paints. I love the dark moody colours of the Boku-Undo E-Sumi Shadow Black and Shadow Black Mei colours, the gorgeous transparency of the Daniel Smith watercolours, Gansai Tambi paints tend to be more opaque than transparent but the 6 set of the Gansai Tambi Starry colours are my go-to for golds in various shades. I also use a variety of white, black, and gold gel pens to add further detail. So this class is all about abstract shapes on 300gsm watercolour paper, how the colours can bleed into one another and then the embellishing when it all dries. I've seen quite a lot of these shapes and styles on the socials but wanted to add words to mine and found handwriting around the shapes didn't detract from the flow as much as a stamped word would. I hope the girls agree. 

"Balance"


"Like the moon"

"Something you find"

"Expect nothing"

"Going for a walk"

"Life is short"

Here is a card I made using the same technique.
"Life is better with friends"


These are a few of my favourite pens that I have used to
do the extra embellishments. That DecoColor Premium

Paint Pen in Gold is just absolutely wonderful!

WATERCOLOUR BOTANICALS

 I've had a set of Tombow water brush markers for so many years but I have a limited colour palette. Whilst in Kmart (Australia), I found a set of 12 colours of water brush markers for only $8. After watching a few Youtube videos I had an idea of how I wanted to use them and they worked SO well and did exactly what I wanted. I wanted to expand from the Kmart set of 12 I bought, so I purchased a set of 36 colours of Ohuhu water colour brush markers from Amazon Australia for a pretty good price (around $31AUD). This expanded my colour palette and worked beautifully. 

The girls in my class can be a bit put off if they have to draw or paint free-hand so this is really the best of both worlds, a pen style marker to do your initial laydown of colour, then a watercolour brush (I used a #4 round brush) or an aqua brush to get the colour to spread and form the shape you like. I love the various ways of doing botanicals with these markers. 

"Bloom and grow"
(The silver speckles are from the Ranger Foundry
Wax in Sterling mixed with a little isopropyl
alcohol to make a runnier consistency, then
splattered on with a paintbrush. After heating
with a heat gun, they shimmer like nothing else!)

"Bloom and grow"
(This is a better picture showing how sparkly
those silver speckles are.)

"Collect moments"

"Dream big"

"Don't count the days"

"Simplicity"

"See beauty"

These are samples that have not been completed and turned into atc's. They'll probably end up being cards but I wanted to include them here, because, why not. 😊