It’s that time of year again! Yes, a day after New Year’s, but also the time when Pantone assigns the new Color Of The Year ;). I actually found out what the new color was going to be before Christmas, but just got around to doing my annual themed artwork after the holidays. I hope it means something that 2022’s color is one of my favorite hues!
Sharing this nearly a week later, but my wonderful father at least received his palette knife bird painting on time ;)! I shared earlier how I’d been doing a lot of from-afar collaboration over the last year with my dad over quarantine through using his bird photographs as inspiration for illustrations and paintings. When looking through some of his more recent photos for inspiration for a painting to gift, this little guy stuck out to me. I loved the striking black and white pattern, which meshed perfectly with the already existing abstract background. (Seriously, if you want to paint more often prep a bunch of small canvases with random color blend backgrounds so they are already primed for when inspiration strikes!)
I hope you enjoy this peek into my process. I find birds to be one of the most accessible things to palette knife paint. If you visit my channel I have other videos with step-by-step verbal instruction accompanying the footage.
Flowers more your thing? Check out my Mother’s Day demo.
I’m going to start off by saying I used to be really bad at painting anything outside of my quite narrow areas of interest. I went through a phase where I was putting dragon wings on everything, for example, and only did fantasy or surrealism inspired art. I remember my roommate freshman year of college asking me to paint a picture of a teenage girl holding a cat surrounded by flowers after she found out I was an artist (She was the opposite of me, into all pastel cutesy stuff). Hence, this dead eyed girl and cat with guess what, dragon wings, was born. If I still had it, I’d consider submitting it to The Museum Of Bad Art.
Over the years and especially through teaching, I’ve learned to enjoy the process of creating itself and not just the end result, so that even if I’m making something that isn’t necessarily my go-to aesthetic, I can still harness the therapeutic benefits of creativity. This makes accepting commissions a lot easier, and creating art for loved ones that may not fancy surrealism and oddity as much as I do. I have literally never painted tulips in my life, but my mom loves them and while we were recently out walking remarked on the beauty of a particular variety planted at Dow Gardens. I hope you enjoy this visual walkthrough of the process!
Happy Winter! I know I am already getting sick of the cold, but there has been some beautiful snow and bright blue skies lately which have been nice to admire out my window 😉 … Winter can be one of the most attractive seasons if not always the most comfortable, and winter scenes are so fun to create with watercolors.
These quick tutorials are an easy way to take a bit of time out of your day no matter how busy you are to do something for yourself, relax, and get creative. They are also great practice at blending color and working with white space for beginners to the medium. If you have kids, these simple projects would be fun to do together. Grab a watercolor palette, 3 different sizes of round brushes, and let’s paint!
As always, if you run into any problems or have questions feel free to shoot me a comment or message. I’m always happy to help with troubleshooting! Have fun!
I am a big fan of damask print. I know the design had a big moment about half a decade ago, but I’ve always loved it, especially since under the pattern umbrella there is so much variety. I always thought a snake would lend itself well to the curving, scrolled shape of a damask print but could never quite find exactly what I was looking for. When you can’t find the print you want, it’s time to make your own!
I used metallic ink and prismacolor pencils on black pastel paper that has a visible cross hatched texture to the surface. Since this sort of print only has one element to it that is repeated in an offset pattern, this was a relatively simple one to try for someone who is newer to creating all-over print.
I’m thrilled with how my snake damask turned out, and can’t wait to order a skirt or shirt for myself. To see more of my designs, visit my Redbubble Shop. Redbubble’s products are all reasonably priced and excellent quality – these art-covered wares make perfect holiday gifts. If you enjoyed the video showing how I created my print, please give me a follow! I will be posting some fun palette knife painting tutorials in the coming weeks as the weather gets colder and we find ourselves needing more indoor forms of entertainment.
For all my American friends out there, enjoy your Thanskgiving week, and thanks for stopping by my creative little corner of the world :).
I’ve recently been doing some experimentation with palette knife painting, though for now my forte is mainly just birds! (I tried an octopus recently with disasterous results 😉 ). As someone who was previously very skeptical about palette knifing, I wanted to share how much fun it really is! As someone who is very sharp detail oriented with art, I was worried about not having the control that I can get with a pencil or brush. In the end, I found the expressive process of smearing and marbling colors with the knife incredibly calming and meditative. This is beginner level, so anyone can try it even if you have no painting experience. Give it a go and let me know what you think!
What do you think I should try to palette knife next?
Ok, so I must apologize for going MIA for the last couple months. Quarantine had a weird way of giving me more time than ever yet making me simultaneously less motivated and productive than ever as time went on. Also, the weather was beautiful especially in the last part throughout June, and I was spending a lot of time outside either at the beach or playing sports badly.
I did continue to work from home and part of my duties for the arts program I direct was creating virtual lessons. I’d been talking about starting my own YouTube channel for over a year, but was overwhelmed by the process of learning filming and video editing. Choosing to dive into this for work and help my teachers I work with do the same was the push I needed to get going, and once in-person worked resumed there was no reason I shouldn’t just start my own channel. It won’t be perfect off the bat, and I am operating off of a phone for the time being – no camcorder, no microphone, using a free editing app. I definitely plan to upgrade at some point, but I’m starting simple and seeing how things go before I invest in new equipment. This first video is an introduction to myself, my art, and what you can expect to see from my channel. I will also be collaborating with an artist I work with often, Emiliano Vega, for content.
Be sure to subscribe to see more! I have some more demos already filmed and am excited to post throughout the coming weeks. What do you want to see? Let me know! I love suggestions :).
Hope you all are staying safe out there! This easy do-at-home illustration project is inspired by all the happy heart art I’ve been seeing in person as I walk through my neighborhood and in photos and videos online. It is a difficult, unfortunate situation we are experiencing across the globe, but we can always turn to creativity to make connections to others even when we cannot be in close proximity, and to create joy in our own life in uncertain times.
For this project, you will need only paper (obviously watercolor paper is ideal but if you don’t have any on hand, any heavier paper that will take water a little better can work), an assortment of brushes, a permanent fine liner pen (Sharpies will work), watercolor paints, and water soluble markers (classic washable crayolas work if you don’t have traditional watercolor or art markers).
This is a fun illustration to try for all ages, and you can really get creative and make it your own. You can even make it a self portrait to express how you are feeling! Give this simple project a go, and if you have kids in the house encourage them to join you :).
Sending love <3! As always, if you try this out at home and have any issues feel free to shoot me a comment or message, I’m here to help!
If you enjoyed this, check out my other watercolor tutorials:
So, I promise I have been continuing to make entertaining quarantine content to keep hands and minds busy for those spending a lot of time at home, but have just gotten behind on posting it here. I’m excited to share a popular project that I often do with my watercolor class at Creative 360 Studio and Gallery.
For this project, you will need:
Watercolor paper (or a heavier paper that can take getting wet)
Water soluble markers (I use Tombo brush markers, but if you don’t have art markers on hand washable Crayola markers can work too)
Pencil
Round brushes in a variety of sizes
This tiger combines both drawing and painting techniques, and is fun for all skill levels, even those who never do art. Join the fun and give it a try!
If you find you have some questions or need advice, feel free to leave a comment. I’m always willing to help! 🙂
Hello all! I’m still keeping in the spirit of encouraging quarantine creativity since here in the US we are kind of locked down until this virus situation is under control. There is no better time to try something new because time is something a lot of us have an abundance of right now. I wanted to share one of my favorite watercolor lessons today.
This watercolor tree can be done in so many different shapes and color schemes, and is the perfect way to practice blending with watercolors.
Some tips for along the way:
You will want your paints to have a wash consistency for this project … which means you are adding a decent amount of water to your paint so that it is quite runny.
If you find yourself getting too much liquid on the paper at once to where it is creating a pool, after dipping your brush in paint tap it on a nearby rag or paper towel first. Also remember, you can always use a rag or paper towel to blot extra water off your paper and try again.
If you are still seeing a line in between your two colors as you blend, you can wash over the transition with a damp brush dipped in plain water to encourage the colors to bleed together more seamlessly.
Remember, if two colors are wet they will bleed into each other when they touch. This is great for blending, but not so great for different color sections located next to teach other in our tree. Don’t fill in shapes in your tree branches that are right next to each other one after the other. By jumping around, you will allow time for drying.
Any permanent pen or marker works for the outline – like a basic Sharpie.
HAVE FUN! Practice really does help. You will probably see that you like your blends that you do later in the game better than your first couple. That’s ok, you are learning! Don’t worry about perfection just enjoy the process.
If you try this, feel free to share a picture in the comments! Enjoy a creative Sunday!
Allise Nicole's Artistic Explorations 