Today I have a video sharing a watercolour inspired by the changing season here in the UK. Not only that but I have details of six new sets from Colorado Craft Company, and I’m going to be giving away these sets to six winners. More information on the giveaway below. I’ve linked all supplies at the end of this post. Compensated affiliate links used where possible at no cost to you.
COLORADO CRAFT COMPANY NEW RELEASE
So here’s a look at the new sets from Colorado Craft Company as part of their October release. There’s a range of different styles this month, so there should be something for everyone. Three of the new sets start a new line for Colorado Crafts entitled Whimsy World that have fabulous handwritten fonts combined with simple, whimsical illustrations. The three sets are Let It Snow based on a snow globe theme, Noel with a lovely snowy village and Tree Town with lots of smaller images making up the shape of a tree. There are three sets which continue the Big & Bold series. I’ll be using this Oak Leaves & Acorns set today, and then there is also the Holly & Berries set and finally, Pine Branch & Pinecones set. Also, there a new Lovely Legs set, Give Thanks.
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VIDEO
Watch below or in HD on YouTube.
AUTUMN WATERCOLOUR
To get the no-line watercolour look, I placed the large oak and acorn image from the Oak Leaves And Acorns set in the misti along with a piece of Arches Rough watercolour card and stamped it in Antique Linen Distress Ink. This light, water-reactive ink will fade into the paints, leaving a no-line look. As for the watercolour card, Arches comes in three texture – hot-pressed, cold-pressed and rough. Hot-pressed is smooth, cold-pressed has some texture, and rough has the most texture. I’m hoping that that added texture in the rough card will help to get texture into my watercolouring with the surface encouraging the greatest granulation of paints.
I added the panel of watercolour card to a board and taped it down with painter’s tape to help prevent the card from warping as I add water. I started with a light wash of a rich yellow, Quinacridone Gold from Daniel Smith. All the paints I used are from Daniel Smith, but this colour, in particular, is one of my all-time favourites. It is a really rich yellow, gold ochre colour when used in a concentrated mix but it dilutes down to the faintest of warm yellows. This Quinacridone Gold base will bring a warm glow to the leaves even when combined with other colours or when I paint over the top of it later on. Watercolours are in the main, translucent and so the underlying layers shine through and affect layers on top. A warm yellow base is a great starting point, especially for the rich glowing autumn tones I want to achieve.
I used a wet-on-wet technique of adding in more paint to the base layers to bring a depth of colour. The paint only spreads where there is water and so will be contained in the wet areas. Only paint one area at a time until the paint is dry unless you want the paint to bleed between areas. In addition to adding depth with more concentrated colour, I also preserved highlight areas by keeping the concentrated areas to one side and if need be by lifting excess paint and water with a dry brush.
Many of Daniel Smith paints are known for their granulating properties, and this means that the pigment in the paint settles in the dips and rallies of the watercolour card to give more texture. It is a property I love, and I think particularly suits autumn leaves. You can see some of the granulation, particularly around the edges of the leaves where I combined Lunar Black in some of my mixes. Lunar Black is a granulating paint and is excellent for adding to mixes to knock them back and create muted shades perfect for the season.
I kept adding more and more light layers until I slowly built up the range and depth of colour I was after. Watercolours can be deceptive as when dry the colours aren’t as rich and vibrant as they are when they are wet, and so you often need to go richer and more vibrant than you want when the paint is wet so that when it dries you end up where you want to be.
I’ve said it many times, but I think a tube a white gouache is a crafter must-have. It is excellent for adding highlight details and in my opinion, it is more white and opaque than any gel pen. Also, it is excellent for splattering too for added interest and texture and starry night skies and so many uses. When I pack to go away, I always take white gouache with me. I splattered over the panel with white gouache and also a solution of Perfect Pearls.
I trimmed the panel down to be just slightly smaller than an A2 card base, and then I added more depth of colour and details with coloured pencils. I like to use Faber Castell ones as they keep a hard, sharp point, but Prismacolor pencils are great too. I used the point of the pencil to create sharper lines for leaf edges and details and then used the pencils on their side and rubbed across the texture of the rough card. It is a bit like doing a wax rubbing of a leaf when a child in that the pencil only grazes the raised areas and so you get more lovely texture.
I didn’t want to mess around with this card too much just a simple sentiment to finish it off. So I took a greeting from the Oak Leaves & Acorns set and stamped it in clear embossing ink on a Black card I’d treated with an antistatic powder bag to help prevent embossing powder randomly sticking everywhere. I then sprinkled with white embossing powder and heat set before trimming to a skinny banner. I wrapped a double length of twine around the watercoloured panel and added it to a Neenah Desert Storm card base with foam adhesive, and then I aligned the sentiment strip and again used foam adhesive to keep it in place.
SIMPLY STAMPED
My first card took me 1 hour 45 minutes to make, and that’s OK by me as I love painting. However, sometimes it is great to stamp up a quick card, and the new Whimsy World sets are perfect for this. I took the Let It Snow set and stamped each of the elements in dye inks on a piece of Neenah Solar White card:
- Fog – snow globe
- Sea Glass – snowy mound and snow
- Orange Slush – deer
- Dusty Sage – tree
- Rose Apple – sentiment
Using a stamp positioning tool such as the Misti makes these sets great for mass production. I stamped each element a few times and used one panel on a Fog card base for the card and one to trim out a simple tag to go with the card.
To embellish, I added a twine bow and a trio of sequins, and you could pair the card with a myriad of different coloured envelopes to match. Here I chose Metallic Audrey Blue, Orange Peel and Burnt Orange envelopes.
GIVEAWAY
OK, so back to the giveaway. Leave a comment below, and I will draw the names of six winners. Leave your comments by Friday 11th October 11.59 pm Eastern, and I will email the winners over the weekend.
SUPPLIES
You can find links to the supplies I’ve used below; click on the picture or shop icon to get taken directly to the product. Where available I use compensated affiliate links which means if you make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you! Items marked with an asterisk (*) were provided by a store or the manufacturer. You can read my affiliate and product disclosure here. I genuinely appreciate your support.
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PIN ME
Summary of the project which gives all the views of the card in one photo :D I’d love if you pinned and called by on Pinterest :D
I LOVE your leaves card and your coloring video tutorials! You are very talented and so inspirational for my coloring classes.
Thanks, thanks and thanks again! ^_^
Beautiful card! Thank you for sharing your talent with us!
I just noticed the date stamp on my previous comment… It is 7:38 pm on 10/11/19… weird that I commented tomorrow?
Ah, that is likely the difference in time zone. I’m in the UK and ahead of the US by 5+ hours depending on your location. However, when doing giveaways I always use US Eastern time as a cut off point
I can’t decide which card I like more. They are both beautiful. I wish I had a 10th of your watercolouring talent.
Autumn Watercolor is just so beautiful and I also love the simple style of the snowglobe card. Really nice!
What a fantastic set. I bought their big and bold desserts a few months ago and they’ve been a dream to color. Thank you for your post and video. They were both delightful.