Friday, April 29, 2016

Mix-Ability challenge: Loose Florals

Today's Mix-Ability challenge was definitely a challenge for me - Lydia wants us to create loose watercolor flowers. I tend to work from photos and work into details, so 'loose' is not really my forte... but... I tried. :)


I started with a wash over my whole panel, then dotted in purple where I wanted the lilac to generally be, and let that bleed into the water. (I use QoR watercolors - love them! The paper I'm using here is a Fabriano Medioevalis watercolor card.) As it dried, I continued to dot in paint, a little darker each time, to add depth. I filled in with a light background, and let the panel dry completely.


Over the dried lilac base, I created some negative flowers by painting an outline and then pulling the paint outward instead of in, and also used a Distress marker to sketch a few flower outlines. The leaf and stem are also painted in the negative.


I wanted to add some texture to the card with a technique I've done on canvas, and it didn't work as I had planned, but as usual I like it better this way. I used a palette knife to spread some thin layers of matte gel medium onto the card, and pressed an embossing folder into the medium while it was still wet. It looked really cool before it dried... but when it dried it disappeared! The texture was still there, so I lightly rubbed white acrylic paint over the texture with my finger and I like that look - it breaks up the color in the painting a little, and gives it a worn, vintage look.


My second card did start out as a loose painting... but as I added layers, it got less loose. :)


Here's how it turned out - there are several layers of detail and shading - I still like it, just not sure how it will fare with the challenge police! I used the same technique for adding texture, so my mediums here are watercolor, ink, and acrylic. The verse stamp is one of my older ones from Our Daily Bread designs - not sure if this one is still available anymore.


Hope you'll give this a try! I might do some more just for practice... I definitely need to loosen up!


Thanks for stopping by!

3 comments:

  1. WOW both cards are stunning!! I love the soft water coloring and the added texture is beautiful :)

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  2. I loved them both. You do this better than you think. Brenda West

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  3. Perfect! Kudos to you for trying 'loose' - I think that would be impossible for me to do - LOL!
    Paper Hugs,
    Jan

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