Friday, May 12, 2017

Watercoloring Modern Anemones and Peonies with Dawn

Hello! Today I've got a pair of cards to share with you featuring our newly released Modern Anemones and Modern Peonies stamp sets.

The "Modern" florals series is perfect for all kinds of mediums - markers, watercolors, colored pencils - but today I wanted to focus on watercolor. Of course!


Watch above or watch in HD at YouTube

I wanted to share a comparison of the same painting technique on hot pressed and cold pressed watercolor paper. Hot pressed watercolor paper has a very smooth texture while cold pressed has more texture. (there is also rough watercolor paper - which is exactly as it sounds - but we are just looking at hot and cold today)

First up is the hot pressed paper. I chose to stamp out several of my images onto Fabriano Artistico Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Antique Linen. I like this color because most colors will cover it and virtually make it "disappear". I chose to paint my anemones white, but if you were painting yours a color, like say red, you could stamp in a matching ink color if you wanted. Because we are stamping on artist grade watercolor paper, the ink will not reactivate and lift like we are used to Distress Inks behaving. This is because watercolor paper is cotton not pulp, so the ink stains the paper and remain pretty stable.

Once all of my watercoloring was dry, I used the companion dies to die cut out the images. Tip: die cut all of painted pieces, even if you aren't 100% happy with them. Chances are you'll be able to tuck them in to fill out your arrangement and hide the areas you're not as happy with.

You can see in the close ups below that the hot pressed paper allows us to easily add detail if we want and has a very smooth finish, while the cold pressed has a more textured finish. While either result can be achieved on both papers - I just find it easier to achieve the smooth detailed results on hot pressed and easier to achieve more fluid and loose results on the cold pressed.

Cold pressed paper stays wet longer thanks to the valleys of the texture, which makes it perfect for wet-in-wet painting as you have more time to work before your paper starts to dry. This allows me to let the water do most of the work for me and I don't have to "fuss" with it as much.

For the second card, I did some masking and stamped out a floral cluster using images from Modern Anemones, Modern Peonies and added a few leaves from Modern Petunias.

Once it was dry I hand trimmed the entire cluster and adhered it over two die cut circles. The edge that was hanging off, I trimmed and adhered to the other side of the card. I used a partial sentiment from the Strictly Sentiments 4 stamp set for both cards along with a sprinkling of sequins.

I hope you've had a great week so far, and are looking forward to the weekend...which is almost here!

Featured Supplies

For your convenience, here is a list of the featured supplies used on today's project(s), along with links to purchase. Please note: this list may contain some affiliate links.

16 comments:

  1. Stunning! What a wonderful talent you have!

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  2. I was thinking I could wait a while to get the Petunias and Anenomes, but I placed my order with Simon just a few minutes ago. Your work is so beautiful, Dawn, and I hope I can paint as well as you someday. (Yes I took the Online Card Class but I need a lot of practice)! Your videos are just the very best for watercolor.

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  3. Wow these are so beautiful ! Your coloring is so Awesome :)

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  4. Wow, as always it's like magic the way your work comes together!

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  5. Dawn, this is GORGEOUS!!! I have my Modern Flowers-- Anemones & Peonies coming TOMORROW!!!!! :D I am HAPPY! AND seeing how you did this is SO PERFECT! I CAN'T WAIT to try my new goodies out! (I THINK I've FINALLY FOUND a stamp company that will supply me with the FLORALS I've been wanting! THANK YOU!!!! ;)

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  6. Love, love, love these flowers! I need much more practice, but I want to be able to paint more realistic flowers, like you do. I think I fuss too much... love that Quin Magenta colour--I may have to put in another order for D Smith paints...

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  7. These cards are fabulous - thanks for sharing the video so I can keep practicing �� Wondering if you could tell us what set the sentiment was from?

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  8. Gorgeous cards Dawn and although I couldn't begin to do this I can honestly say I could watch someone paint for hours! Just amazing to watch! TFS!

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  9. in LOVE with both cards..SO Gorgeous!!

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  10. Beautiful cards, Dawn. I thoroughly enjoy watching your creative process, and learn new tips and tricks each and every time. I found it very interesting to see the difference between the cold and hot pressed papers.

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  11. AWESOME video, love these flowers and the way you paint!!

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  12. Absolutely stunning cards. Love them both, you are so talented and make it all look so easy.

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  13. Beautiful cards ... and wonderful watching you paint.

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  14. This is GORGEOUS, I LOVE your watercolor videos please make more!! I took your watercolor class, you made me love it and buy every stamp you make if I have a chance to color it, and all the paints and brushes and paper, and it makes me so so so happy! These videos are absolutely making my day! THANK YOU so much Dawn, you're such a great teacher! Hope you make another watercolor class one day!!

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  15. Loved the instructions you provided as you painted - thanks so much. These turned out so pretty!

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  16. Beautiful!!! Thank you for the video and for listing the brands of paints so we can figure out the pigment numbers involved!! Thank you!!

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