Copic Marker & colored pencil: "Fair Isle Stocking"

Texture, texture, texture...

Fair isle stocking

Most crafters love the smooth blending effects that Copic Markers offer.

But life is full of texture. The first step to adding realism to your images is to admit that smooth blending is not appropriate for every single stamp image you color. Real life is full of lumpy, bumpy, and craggy surfaces.

Knit objects are one of those stamps that look so much better with texture. 

Fair Isle Stocking was a class offered to my live class students in December 2016.

Copic Marker: Food & Photo Realism

Food & Photo Realism

Food illustrations are pretty trendy on the internet now... maybe we're all looking for a little calorie free comfort food?

This time, we'll be studying our photo reference to color white frosting accurately. White isn't white, so we'll discuss my philosophy behind choosing colors for white food (as opposed to coloring non-food white items).

Join us for art based coloring lessons. You'll love the students and the challenge!

Wednesday, Nov 16th 2016 from 1 to 3:30pm

Thursday, Nov 17th 2016 from 6 to 8:30pm

Remember When Scrapbooking in Macomb Township, Michigan. Seats are limited so call to RSVP

Lesson: Food & Photo Realism

Image: "Christmas Cake" by Vanilla Arts Co.*

* Yes, I know it's a plum pudding, not a cake. But when Americans think "pudding" we think boxes of instant custard like stuff.

12 Pages: "In One Acorn" a Kit-Based Art Journaling Class

Join us for a Twelve Pages class in November!

Twelve Pages is perfect for crafters, cardmakers, stampers, and scrapbookers. If you've thought about dipping your toes into the world of expressive art journaling, this class is perfect for you!

NO DRAWING SKILLS REQUIRED!

Beginner to advanced students welcome.

Students work side-by-side with me as we play with color, line, and texture.

The lettering and other important details are included in the kit. Every student leaves with a slightly different and wonderfully unique project!

Thursday, November 3rd, 2016 from 6-8:30pm

Lesson: more color charging, this time we'll use colored pencil to give life to our charged color areas.

Quote: "The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Class fee includes both instruction and the kit. Students must supply their own paints, brushes, and surface protection. Please see supply list for required materials.

SUPPLY LIST EXPIRED

Palette Detective: Watercolor Mixes for "Chinese Lanterns" Botanical

Students frequently ask me what paints I used on a particular project

I understand. You like the finished look and you want to duplicate my results.

But here's the thing: you can be using the same exact paint colors, same brand, same line, same color, same everything and you still won't be able to completely recreate what I've done.

That's because a shopping list of paint colors isn't enough.

The magic is in the mix.

It's not the colors you use, it's how you use them.

This is why I'll be posting palette shots for each of my watercolor classes.

I've given you the supply list but that doesn't tell you what colors I've created from the paints.

Palette shots are a peek into the process. Once you know I've used Pyrrol Scarlet and Hansa Medium to make a coral color, you can then find it on my palette and see the different versions of coral I've mixed.

Chinese Lanterns:

And here's my palette:

This was clean when I started and the photo was taken right after I'd finished the last little bits of touch up work.

Now, be a palette detective-

Coral colors mixed from Daniel Smith's Pyrrol Scarlet and Hansa Yellow Light.

Green colors mixed from Old Holland Sap Green Lake Extra, DS Hansa Yellow Light, and M.Graham Prussian Blue.

Violet mixture of DS Carbazole Violet and Winsor Newton Cerulean Blue (not recommended)

Chinese Lanterns

Designed for Watercolor but perfect for Copic or colored pencil.

This full page digital image is an original stamp used in my H2Oh! watercoloring classes in 2016. It was designed as a full page stamp (8.5" x 11") but can be scaled down if desired.

"Chinese Lanterns" has wide open areas with no texture marks and is perfect for colored pencil, alcohol markers, watercolor... your options are endless!

Lettering is not included in the digital stamp as it was hand lettered by me after the project was completed.

This stamp was taught as a watercolor class, therefore I do not have a recipe guide to include in the stamp package. You can view my “work in progress” photos for this project on Instagram here.