End of Summer – Freely with Watercolor Pencils
This week is about coloring freely with watercolor pencils. Let’s ponder about the change of season and how to process it through art-making!
New Season – New Colors Are Calling!
Even though the weather has been warm, I find that my thoughts are already turning to fall.
When I open the box of watercolor pencils, my eyes immediately go to the brown shades.
In the summer everything is bright and clear, the fall is darker and curlier.
When Coloring Freely, Art Can Be Your Friend
10 years ago, I started as a full-time artist. At that time, art was a queen who I placed on a pedestal and looked up to. Today, art is not only my colleague but also my friend. We look at each other eye to eye and smile like-mindedly.
“It’s such a sad feeling when summer is coming to an end. There is only a dark autumn and a cold winter ahead” I told her last week. “Don’t worry” she said, we have recorded the summer and there are many wonderful things in the fall too.
Indeed, summer is recorded. In July, I started working on the course Joyful Coloring. Now when I edit videos, I devour them like comfort food. The sun really shines there. Happiness can be heard in my speech and can also be seen on paper.
Everything indicates that I want others to have art as a friend too, not just on a pedestal.
Seasonal, But Freely with Watercolor Pencils
The watercolor pencils I bought in June (Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelle) are already very dear. Because the color can be spread quickly with water, time is saved for details.
It is important for me to keep not only painting but also drawing. By drawing freely, we create a bridge between the outer and inner worlds. We can break the glass and travel between what we see and think.
I gave this piece the title “End of Summer.”
When I look at it, I get the feeling that an end can also be a new beginning. A joyful thought!
Joyful Coloring – Sign Up Now!
Start with blank paper and create freely with watercolor pencils!
The new online course Joyful Coloring will begin on Sept 16, 2024.
>> Sign up Now!
Coming Up – Joyful Coloring!
It’s exciting to announce that a new online art course is coming up! Joyful Coloring will begin on Sept 16, 2024. This course is for watercolor pencils. It has many fun projects – I hope you will love it! >> See more!
The early-bird registration has opened. >> Sign up here!
The early-bird sale will end on August 18th, 2024, at midnight PDT.
Four Art Mediums – Four Projects in Progress
Many Mediums – Many Versions of Style
I am not overly excited about the word “focus.” I have one artistic vision, but I don’t limit art mediums much. I think my style is evident in whatever I do. This year I have allowed myself to stretch even further than before, and embrace the challenges that different art mediums bring to me.
Cross Stitching – A Cat in Progress
Do you remember this cat from the course Magical Inkdom? In April, I asked what drawing should be my next cross-stitch design, and you voted for the cat.
I have now made a design based on the drawing. To make sure that there are no errors in the chart, I have been stitching it myself first, going through every detail. The stitched piece is nearly finished as you can see in the picture!
While stitching, I came up with the idea of including different colored versions of the cat to the final instructions. Maybe a black cat at least. What do you think?
I hope to get the chart for sale before December. This is a project I have been working on in the evenings.
Oil Painting – A Big Painting in Progress
My main medium – oils – were on a break for a few months so it was really nice to get a new painting started in July.
I work slowly from one layer to another, letting the painting dry between the sessions. Here’s where I am now.
In the photo above, I am wearing a patchwork skirt sewed from the fabrics that I designed many years ago. The motifs are based on my drawings and knits.
I have still quite a lot of work to do with the painting. I hope to get it finished in October.
Digital Art – A Virtual Artwork in Progress
Transferring my painting style to digital three-dimensional modelshas been a year-long project. Watch this video to see what I made last spring for the project. The project is now coming to an end in September. I still have some things to adjust and add, but most of the things have been done.
Sadly, the photos are nowhere near the overall experience that can be watched with VR glasses.
There’s a lot of movement. but also interaction: a user can move around, open a flower, create new objects etc.
Still images are not the same as seeing everything in moving 3D, but at least you get a glimpse of the atmosphere. I will make a separate video in September where I will share more of this project.
Watercolor Pencils – A New Course in Progress!
I am super-excited to announce that a new course will begin in September 16, and the registration will open next week! The course is called Joyful Coloring, and it’s about using watercolor pencils for colorful happy art.
More about the course next week. I hope you will join!
Summer Break in July!
Dearest Gentle Reader,
this is my summer letter to you.
Last weekend, I finished watching the new season of the Bridgerton drama and then went to look at my little meadow in the back garden.
My husband sowed the seeds this spring and watered them regularly. And now, the meadow is a delightful little spot, a blooming salad as some laughingly call the flower beds that are mixed and wild-looking.
While I have watched women dance and the meadow grow, I have realized that I need a summer break from blogging. I want to use that time to sow some creative ideas and nurture them well. It will produce flowers for you later this year, I promise.
So, this blog is on a break for July, but to make it up to you,
all classes are 15% OFF for the whole month.
Let’s keep creating!
Päivi