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Ok, I was wondering how many of you out there use some watercolor paints (the ones that come in the tubes) to paint your stamped images with? I ask because ACM was running a special, so I picked up a cheap set for like $7 and it has like 12 different colors. While I know its hard to match skin tones etc, I DO have to say that they are REALLY kinda cool to use. They do look better than the pencils I had been using, which are high quality. Granted the control is not there like a pencil, but I dunno, I think I might be swayed to the painting world..HA!
Also, I was using watercolor paper, which is great, but I tried to just randomly make a few flowers onto the cheap GP cardstock. REALLY COOL, my mind is thinking..It would be nice to send someone a "one of a kind" painted flower card..they are easy to make, and if I make a mistake its not too costly. I like the fact that the texture is smooth compared to the watercolor paper..the brush glides along. Happy Saturday!
Hi!
When I was younger I took some are classes and I learned oil painting, acrylic and water color painting. I also discovered I like the colors and the relaxing effects of painting, I just didn't like the pressure of coming up with the "painting" basically I just like to color.
So I don't paint anymore, I just color. I use water color paints a lot on my cards. Sometimes I stamp the image on cardstock, sometimes I stamp the image on water color paper. Just depends on the effect I'm after. A lot of times I just stamp images on larger sheets of paper, paint them all at once, then cut them out for use later. Sort of like water color die cuts.
I always stamp with either waterproof black ink or emboss the image to prevent bleeding. I have a palette with tube water color paints, as well as a pan of paints, I like a lot of color choices and I do blend colors. I have found that white water color paint makes a good blender color so it's nice to have some of that around. I do like water brushes, I've taken them on airplanes with my paints before.
Yes, you can just make colored backgrounds with paints. You can use ink pads as paint, just press the lid into the ink, use a wet brush and pick up the ink off the brush. I also fell in love with the sparkle of mica powders and I use them a lot, then they came out with Radiant Pearls (mica powders in a liquid medium). Now there are Twinkling H2O's which have mica powders, but they and the medium are pressed into pans like water colors so you use water color techniques to play. They don't leak like the RP's do and are portable.
Location: Hanging about waiting for inspiration to strike!
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I love the blending of colour that can be achieved with watercolour paints in a tube. I also have used pan paints, WW crayons, watercolour pencils, and re-inkers with some success.
I was a painter long before a stamper...so yes...I do use both acrylics and watercolor paints to paint in images...and sometimes even to create my own images. I find it sooooo relaxing!
__________________ Colleen Schaan - Education Specialist at Imagination International Inc.,/Copic Marker
Blog - Distinctive Touches;My Copic Books!
I currently use Winsor & Newton's Cotman (student grade) tube watercolours. They came in a starter set and I used the 40%-off coupon on it. I love them!!! My whole life, I had only been using pencils, pens, markers - now finally with watercolours, I can achieve the effects that I have always been striving for!!! I never see myself going back.
I just wanted to say that your watercoloring/drawing is amazing! Total inspiration. Can you give me any tips as to how you shade and blend using the watercolor paints? I tend to get hard lines where I want it to shade in. Do I need to layer and let paint dry in-between each coat of paint? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
Hi Hockeyrabbit!
*grin* Wow, thanks for the compliment!
For large areas, I use a large brush to avoid hard lines where I don't want them. Hard lines form at the edges when water dries. If I use a large brush, it covers more area more quickly, so the hard lines are only at the far edges. I only just recently learned that I had to use larger brushes to apply washes with no hard lines.
If you want to avoid all hard lines, dampen the paper first before applying paint. Make the damp area larger than the area you actually want to colour in, so no matter how far the colour stretches out, it won't find the edge of the dampness (no hard lines). Try to experiment inserting colour at different points of dampness to see the different effects.
If I want to shade the cheeks pink on a brown bear for example, I paint the brown paint on, and then I have my brush (or a second brush) all ready and loaded with just the right amount of red on it. Then I tilt the paper until I can see exactly how wet the brown is. At just the right moment (found through many trials and errors), I touch my brush to the paper and the cheek is shaded.
Different papers react differently and have different drying times, and the amount of colour on the brush also affects the final result.
I only barely began watercolouring about a year and a half ago, so am still a beginner myself. I've just started to pore over watercolour magazines, and other watercolorists use q-tips, or their fingertips to get rid of the hard lines, but I am not exactly sure how they are doing that.
Sometimes I glaze too - that is when one lets the first layer of paint dry before putting on a second layer. I still need to practice this a lot 'cause when glazing, it's important to have just the right amount of moisture so that you don't disturb the first layer of colour (unless you specifically want to do that). Again, different papers hold on to the colour with different degrees of permanence, and even the pigments themselves have different degrees of staining, so just experiment with the pigments and paper that you specifically have.
I use Strathmore 140 lb cold-pressed, which lets me lift (erase) any colour I want except for red and blue. I also have a smattering of other brands of watercolour papers including Arches and Canson, but they are so different and I am so lazy that I go back to Strathmore, 'cause that's where I've done most of my experimenting on.
Thanks for the tips, Sophie. I too am wowed by your cards and have been perusing your blog today. You've got me wanting to try watercoloring now. More supplies to buy.
I use several differnt kinds of watercolor mediums: tubes, pencils, pots, and Peerless Watercolor strips. I switch between all of them depending on the color.
I use a piece of watercolor paper for a pallette. I squeeze a little bit of the tube paint onto the pallette or color onto the paper with the pencils and paint awa. When I'm finished, I let it dry and store it away. When I want to use it again all you have to do it add a little water and its ready to go.
I love the Peerless Papers - if you have the Jan/Feb 2007 Rubber Stamper magazine check out the letter to the editor "Hooray for Watercolor" my letter explains them. The site below sell them.
I was a painter long before a stamper...so yes...I do use both acrylics and watercolor paints to paint in images...and sometimes even to create my own images. I find it sooooo relaxing!
Colleen (& others of you who use acrylics), how do you work with acrylic paint? Do you dilute the paint, and if so, what's the ratio? What type of brush do you use? etc., etc., etc... Any suggestions would be helpful! TIA ~Lynn~
Thank you Sophie for your helpful tips on watercoloring. It is always interesting to know what other people use. Last week, I met Margaret Sherry, who is the artist behind the cute Penny Black cats, hedgehogs etc. stamps and she told me that she uses Winsor & Newton watercolor pan paints and tops them up with watercolor tube paints.
Thank you Sophie for your helpful tips on watercoloring. It is always interesting to know what other people use. Last week, I met Margaret Sherry, who is the artist behind the cute Penny Black cats, hedgehogs etc. stamps and she told me that she uses Winsor & Newton watercolor pan paints and tops them up with watercolor tube paints.
For real?!!! I always thought Penny Black was the artist of everything Penny Black!! You actually MET Margaret Sherry?! *envious sigh* The cute cats, hedgehogs, etc. are my favourite Penny Black images!!! All this time though, I had been admiring Penny Black... now I shall shift my admiration to Margaret Sherry!
I've got a tip: paint directly on the rubber and stamp, spritz with water and stamp again on another piece of paper. You will get the look of either a monoprint or a painting here's a link to one of my cards using that technique: http://www.goinque.com/gallery/?acti...=1034&pageNo=3
Also you can dip watercolor crayons in water and color directly on the stamp and do the same as I did here: http://www.goinque.com/gallery/?acti...=1358&pageNo=3
I've been painting for a looooong time and watercolor is my fave medium. I love stamping too so it's like the best of both worlds! Plus if you don't have the perfect color ink you can always just mix up some paint!
Thank you Sophie for your helpful tips on watercoloring. It is always interesting to know what other people use. Last week, I met Margaret Sherry, who is the artist behind the cute Penny Black cats, hedgehogs etc. stamps and she told me that she uses Winsor & Newton watercolor pan paints and tops them up with watercolor tube paints.
Wow, I'm envious, too, that you got to meet the Penny Black creator. Do you know if she does all her own cards we see in the catalogs? They're gorgeous.
Wow, I'm envious, too, that you got to meet the Penny Black creator. Do you know if she does all her own cards we see in the catalogs? They're gorgeous.
I don't think she makes the cards we see in the Penny Black catalogues. I believe that Penny Black have their own DT to make the cards. I met Margaret at a craft show in London and she spent about 30 minutes chatting to me about how she became an artist and what paint and paper she uses. I always thought that she lived in the US and was surprised to learn from her that she once lived in my home town. Her original paintings were on display at the show and it was a privilege to meet such a sweet lady.
and ordered some Russian ones, Yarka, and they are GREAT. Though I have the tubes I am using just the cake or pan style now, just seems to work better for me.
I also love the Twinkling H20's....do they ever liven up an image! I did buy some watercolor how to books, and use the techniques on my stamping, though it is almost impossible for me to wait for one layer to dry before adding another layer of color (glazing) but it is CRUCIAL to let the paint dry. : )
Watercolor paints and stamping
