Would ya look at that? I'm blogging at night. That's weird. Usually, I like to get-my-blog-on in the morning. BUT. I finally got my crack in gear and did the Watercolour Pencil Tiplet. Yes, I sure did.
Short-and-sweet-disclaimer: I do not claim to be an expert, a teacher, or an art prodigy when it comes to any of these tiplets or media. I am simply the Goodwill Ambassador for making stuff without fear. Or something like that. I see many, many talented crafters and scrapbookers buying so many off-the-rack papers and textures and all that and I think why aren't they leaving their mark? Sure. Even me - even I buy scrapbook papers because they're so darn pretty. I do. But, I love the way it looks and feels when it's something I made - I left my mark on - totally touched by me. Or you. Or you over there (you know who you are).
So, in the true spirit of CREATING and letting go and being loose - leave your mark. It's beautiful. It's you.
Okay. Go get that dusty set of watercolour pencils and crack 'em open. I will admit to NOT choosing these puppies enough. I find them stiff to work with at first. But, today's the day to reunite and make nice with the WPC. Watercolour Pencils.
Let's get a little wishy-washy. We're starting with a really, really easy one today. It's a smooth and virtually seamless transition from the Pencil Crayon Playgrounds. I'll let you in on the secret of watercolours and watercolour pencils... LET. THEM. DO. THEIR. THING. Relax and open yourself up to the possibility that these little guys sometimes jump ship and just go.
You need a few things to get started here. Watercolour Pencils. Paper; something with a tooth (texture) is best. A nice sketchbook paper is usually good enough - that's what I'm using today. A spraybottle; it doesn't have to be fancy. My bottle is a leftover from hair products and it's PERFECTLY sized to fit in my tickle trunk of stuff.
The Watercolour Pencils. WCP for short. I use Staedtlers because that's what I have. I have tried a couple of different brands and I don't have a preference. Get the cheap ones. Play. SHARPEN THEM. These guys are a little tougher than Pencil Crayons. But, it's still best to give them a short point. I've tried to leave you a little diagram... this works for pencil crayons, too. A = a steep point and a steep point = breakage and breakage = FRUSTRATION. B = a short point and a short point = less breakage but, more sharpening. Patience is required but you'll quickly prefer this point to the A-style=FRUSTRATION. Still not having any luck? Use an exacto knife and be gentle and careful.
Alright - rip a page out of your sketchbook (you don't have to!) and DRAW SOMETHING. Just like before - it doesn't matter. Doodle some shapes. Draw a pear! I drew a loose and doodley tulip because I thought if I drew another pear you might start to think I can draw nothing else. I started with pencil. Hey, I started with the leftover mini golf pencil, but you don't have to be as technical or classy as me.
Throw down some colours. I felt loose and breezy today. You might feel like being in control or being tight or being crazy - I don't care. Do something. Change it up. I put a thicker layer of colour where I want the colours to be more vibrant. Don't stress yourself out. Think like water.
Spray it. Yes, crack out the water bottle and give it a spritz. The MORE you spray - the MORE the colours will run together. The LESS you spray - the LESS the colours will mingle. It's up to you. I like letting the colours do their thing. I usually just LEAVE it to dry. You can take a paint brush and move the colours around if you want. You can use a tissue to sop it up. You can tilt your paper to make the water run. Try stuff. Personally, I like letting it unfold how it unfolds. It always does something cool and it always does it without mussing from me.
NOTE from COMMENTS: I just let it air dry. You can sop it up with a tissue or move it around with a brush if you want. I don't. I don't because it sucks the colours with it. There's nothing wrong with doing it that way though. Or this way. Or a new way. Just to be clear, I let it air dry completely.
Look at how beautiful that is. I call it letting What's supposed to happen - HAPPEN. Just let the magic happen the way it was intended to. I love the randomness and the way the colours spread and root into eachother. So cool.
This is a scan of the finished product. I couldn't resist giving it a little boost with words. Grow and lift your heart. That's what happened to me in this piece. I totally lifted out of a funky mood. AND, I remembered that Watercolour Pencils are totally fun and totally poignant. A wise man once said - you can't push the river... You can't push WCP either. Just be.
A couple of months back I put out an ALL-CALL for starfish... and I got about 35 starfish photos in less that 24 hours. SO cool. I also did about 5 different preliminary sketches and trial paintings with them and I have come to realize that starfish and me - well, we are not all that compatible. And that's okay. Maybe you remember this post and her super cool starfish candle? Well, I was pretty touched and inspired by her story and the photo she sent me pretty much ransacked my brain. Watercolour pencils seemed like a pretty apropos combination. Water. Shells. I thought that was cool... Carla - I hope this helps you with your bad mood. ;)
Alright. A late night post... well. I'm meeting Tammy for breakfast at 7am tomorrow morning and I haven't seen her in ages and we haven't had a chance to be the chair each others needs right now. So, tomorrow will be good. I can tell.
Have a beautiful night. Have a beautiful, beautiful day. Go.
