Watercolor Poppies With Boku Undo ESumi Watercolor Palette

 Hello friends!  It is a lovely day today, so I am heading out to my garden shortly to start my 'fall garden pruning and cleanup.'  But first, I wanted to post this watercolor painting I did in my watercolor journal.

My watercolor journal is a Canson Montval watercolor pad, cold press, 5.5 x 8.5.  I used Boku-Undo E-Sumi watercolors to paint, in the Shadow Black palette. 

First, I created the background by taping the edges of the page with washi tape, then used a large brush to apply water inside the entire area.  This was rather wet, but not running off the page.  

When the background was entirely dry, I hand-drew the poppies and pods onto the background lightly with pencil.  I painted them in layers of color from the palette, gradually building up color to create shading and highlights.  

When dry, I added gold highlights in the stamen area and on some of the petals with a nib pen and gold paint.  

To finish, I spattered with gold paint onto the page.

I was really trying for a loose watercolor look, which I feel I achieved in the background.  However, for the flowers and pods I got a little carried away, and really wanted to see how well these new-to-me paints would work for shading and highlights.

I really like these paints.  They go on easily, and blend beautifully.  The colors are strong, yet not really too bright or too pastel.  They layer nicely, to build up color intensity.  I think I will be using this palette often!

And now to head outdoors, with a nice glass of iced tea to relax on the deck, then onto the garden work.  Or not.  Wherever the mood takes me.  Thanks so much for stopping by.  

Blessings,

Watercolor Azalea Duo With New Paints

Hello friends!  I'm stopping in with a quick post to share a card I made using a new-to-me type of watercolor paint.

I used watercolor paper, and stamped the C.14651.Q Azalea image from Magenta.  This is a lovely stamp image, and I thought it would be a good subject on which to try my new paints.

I painted the image with these Boku-Undo E-Sumi Watercolor Palette - Shadow Black Mei - 6 Color Set watercolors I purchased from JetPens.    The colors in this set are unique.  The shades are not bold and bright, nor are they typical pastel shades.  Rather, they are somewhat muted or subdued, as you can typically only get by mixing colors. 

I decided to paint the flowers in layers of glaze.  This is my first attempt at this, and my initial use of these paints.  I really love the way they blend and layer.  I used a mixture of the shadow purple and shadow green to create the grayish tones for the background.

I used Magenta images with distress inks for the background swirls, and for the verse.

I didn't like the stamens in black, so I went over the black with a white gel pen.  I wish I had left them be, as the pen didn't work well over the black ink, and I had to keep adding more, creating a bit of a smudgy look.  But, I am trying to let go of my perfectionist tendencies, and post it anyways.  Next time, I won't ink the stamens, rather I will draw them in with the gel pen afterwards.  Lesson learned.

I really enjoyed these paints, and I'm sure I will be reaching for them often.  

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Blessings,