Painting a butterfly collection

I have a collection of boys truck wall art that is a best seller in my Etsy store and as I have watched the truck collection grow, I've realized how much I enjoy painting children's wall art. I also wanted to work on something for little girls and so began my butterfly collection last month. How can you not be happy painting butterflies?

Butterfly Print on Etsy

1. I drew my butterfly freehand onto watercolor paper. This is art for kids so the less perfect, the better.

2. I used an Ultramarine Derwent watercolor pencil to draw squiggles on the wings, hatch marks on the body, and I outlined the edges of the wings, too. Then I carefully painted clear water over each section. I like a little messiness so I paint water over the outer edges and let them blur. I also spray water on them and spatter more color into it. Then I use a hair dryer to speed things up.

3. The pinkish color is Winsor & Newton cobalt violet which is a pale sedimentary color which means the pigment will separate a little bit and leave a pretty texture. I also spattered more
cobalt violet into the wash to encourage this effect.

4. The quote was added in Photoshop. I love painting traditionally, but I also love what I can do with my art in Photoshop!

The Verdict is in!

Omaha was getting ready to shut down on Monday night but Snowmageddon didn't happen. I think we got about 6 inches total, but we did get 2 snow days = 2 nice long uninterrupted work days for me.

Football Player - Watercolor Portrait Work in Progress

Last month a friend of mine commissioned me to paint her grandson who is a star football player and he's only a sophomore in high school! He's a nice kid and very big. :)

Made a couple of changes here. The boy on the right needed to be African American with a mohawk and I flipped the kid on the lower left.

I painted AJ's face first thinking I'd tackle the hard stuff right away but that was actually the easiest part for me. The background was painted wet in wet and I used a spray bottle to get that cool orange streak.

AJ finished painting

Need Some Fresh Painting Inspiration?

I've been saving color swatches from Design Seeds on a color board I have on Pinterest for a while and today I decided to use one as inspiration for a new butterfly baby painting to add to a collection I'm working on.

I know designers make inspiration boards all the time and I've made a few when I have designed scrapbook paper collections, but I think this is a great exercise if you need some fresh painting inspiration.

As you can see, I went for really simple and I got lucky. My butterfly reference is very similar to my  inspiration palette, though I'm not convinced that this is a real butterfly species. I think someone may have tinkered with their butterfly photo. Anyway, if I hadn't found the right color, I would've just used my reference for the drawing and then painted it with my inspiration colors.

This was a very satisfying little experiment and I hope this gives you a little encouragement if you're ever stuck on what to paint. Just go to Pinterest or Design Seeds and find some inspiring color palettes and reference photos. You might want to set a timer though so you have time to paint. ;)

Pink & Yellow Butterfly Inspiration Board

The finished baby butterfly

Illustration Friday "Soar"

Hello! This is for this week's Illustration Friday theme - SOAR

Special Holiday Sale - .99 on digital watercolor clip art sheets until 12/14

I'm having a special holiday sale on all of my digital watercolor clip art.

It's available in my Etsy store here.

I don't plan on having another sale on clipart for a while so get it for .99 per sheet while you can!

Sign up for my newsletter here if you would like to receive special discounts for my subscribers.

Recap of Southwest Iowa Art Tour

Inside the new gallery, Fine Art on Fifth

This past weekend was the second year of the Southwest Iowa Art Tour which included ten communities.

I had the pleasure of being in Malvern, Iowa for the second year and all of us displaying were in both the Classic Cafe, a local restaurant, as well as at the new art gallery, Fine Art on Fifth. We were so thrilled by the number of people who came through Malvern to see the art and make purchases for their homes. There was a steady stream of enthusiastic people the whole weekend. The people are why I love living in the Midwest (it's definitely not for the cold!) 

This weekend was the soft opening of the new gallery which has lived many different lives from housing junk to being a laundromat and a chicken hatchery! With rustic walls of brick and up-cycled barn wood, it is being transformed into a charming creative space. A group of us whipped it into shape last Friday filling it with paintings, prints, and 3-d work by a dozen area artists.

One of my good friends, Marge Boska, is going to be the proprietor and we are all excited by the enthusiastic support from Malvern residents as well as those in surrounding communities. The grand opening is scheduled for early November to coincide with Malvern's beloved local artist, Zack Jones' holiday open house at his Art Church. I plan on both showing in the gallery and offering watercolor classes. I will keep you updated.

I'm calling SWI Art Tour 2015 a success. We had perfect weather and this introvert thoroughly enjoyed her weekend visiting with everyone who came through Malvern on the Southwest Iowa Art Tour. And warmest thanks to those of you who purchased artwork from me and signed up for my monthly newsletter. I wouldn't be here without your continuing support. ;)

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