Birthday Birds - Watercolor

I wanted a masculine subject for my nephew's birthday card.  

I needed whimsical because I cannot draw realistic birds.  I did a bit of searching on the web then drew a couple.  

I chose warm colors for the bird with warm background and a sun in the corner.

I traced my pencil marks with black permanent marker once the watercolor was dry.

I chose a Kraft card base with a Coastal Cabana grosgrain ribbon wrapped around the card front.   The ribbon is aligned on the left just off center.

The watercolor was adhered with 3D foam tape above where the ribbons met on the card front.

This card will be going digital as it has a long way to go.

The card above is a couple of small birds in bright colors.  I added spatter to this one and adhered it to a Wisteria Wonder textured card base with a deep purple grosgrain ribbon added around the card and taped behind the watercolor focal element.

I updated the brown bird one with spattering of warm toned spots.

Christmas Card Challenge - Watercolor - Dot Wreath

I chose to use my Stampin Up Watercolor Wonder Crayons for this month's Christmas Cards as that is the card stock that has not been packed.

I used Arches Watercolor Cold Press Paper.

I started with a light pencil circle mark.  I sprayed my crayons. I mixed Always Artichoke and Garden Green for the green dots, Cherry Cobbler and Real Red for the red ones and Not Quite Navy and Night of Navy for the blue ones.  I applied the dots with the end of a cotton swab which I wet then dabbed into the colors. 

I drew a bow towards the bottom of the wreath with a Micron black permanent marker then filled it in with a bit of the red paint.

The greeting was traced with the black marker using the window as a light box.  I just printed several greetings on a quarter sheet of white paper.

I added a few stars with the black marker to balance out the shape.

The piece was then spattered with colors used in the card front but somewhat diluted.

I chose a Not Quite Navy card base.  I adhered the wreath watercolor to the card with double sided tape, added a quarter sheet insert and pressed them to ensure all the pieces stick together.

I am taking advantage of some down time now to get ahead  with this project so when the move comes I don't have to worry as these will be scheduled to arrive on time.

Card Exchange - January - Watercolor Birds

 

I have been busy so my Card Exchange cards are almost late.  I decided to use the small bird image I used for the thank you project I did in December.  This time I wanted to actually paint the birds.   I prepared my pieces of watercolor paper with different background colors.  The paper is 3.5 inches wide and I just applied a wash down the sheet changing the colors as I went. It was taped down and allowed to dry completely.

I trimmed the pieces of watercolor paper to squares roughly having a different color in each square.  I traced the bird onto the center of the square by placing the line drawing below my watercolor onto my light table. I used a permanent black fine Sharpie marker to trace the image.  I then used the colors I had mixed for the backgrounds to color the bird accordingly.

Then I matched the card base to the bird color.  The one on the left is Close to Cocoa and the right is Bashful Blue.  I added a length of Soft Suede grosgrain ribbon across the card and taped the ends under the focal element.  The birds are attached with 3D foam tape.  I spattered the cards with a bit of brown watercolor.

These are off to my partners.