2013 Art Calendar Challenge - August

Our little garden is currently producing cucumbers like crazy, so I decided to make them the theme of my August art calendar.  I am so pleased with my watercolor cucumbers!  I drew them with pencil (I had a "live" model...hee hee), then colored them using Derwent watercolor pencils and a water brush.  A sepia-colored artist pen was used to simulate the little bumps and ridges on the cukes.

The first layer of these pages consisted of a plaid pattern created with painters tape and spray mists, but I had forgotten to prime the pages with gesso first.  Once I scraped on some white gesso and added some strips of washi tape and rubber stamping, the plaid design was mostly obliterated.  You can still see some of the chartreuse spray mist, especially around the edges.  But the stars of these pages are most definitely the cucumbers.

To see more August art calendars for Kate Crane's challenge, please visit her website The Kathryn Wheel.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!  Have a fabulous day.

Supplies:
Strathmore Visual Journal with 140 lb watercolor paper; blue painters' tape; Heidi Swapp spray mist (chartreuse); Ranger Perfect Pearl Mists (turquoise); white gesso; washi tape; punchinella; distress inks: mustard seed, peeled paint, scattered straw, vintage photo and tumbled glass; Stazon olive green ink; flourish stamps by Inque Boutique; Heidi Swapp polka dot spray stencil; Derwent watercolor pencils; Niji water brush; Pitt sepia artist pen; Pitt black artist pen; large alpha and number stamps by Wordsworth; small alpha stamps by Hero Arts; date stamper; Derwent tinted charcoal pencil (forest pine); matte gel medium.

You Have to Start Somewhere

This past summer I got a great deal on a set of 36 Derwent Watercolour Pencils at a garage sale. I don't usually go to garage sales, but for some reason I looked at the classified ads in the newspaper that day and one ad caught my eye. The first two items listed were rubber stamps and scrapbook supplies, and the sale was only three blocks away. So I decided to go and I was able to pick up quite a few items at rock bottom prices, including the Derwent pencils.

I already own Prismacolor Premier pencils that I use in my art pieces, but I have not done any watercoloring until now. It was a lot of fun to experiment and the Derwent colors are beautiful. They are much more vibrant than I expected.

I started with a small and simple image: leaves with small buds attached. I don't know what type of tree or bush it is, so I just chose colors that I liked. I tried a Koi self-moistening water brush at first, but I switched to a small Loew Cornell paint brush and decided I liked it better.

I'm sure a larger image will allow me to play with the colors even more, but I had to start somewhere!

We're having a glorious fall day here. I hope you are, too. Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies:
Leaf image (Stampin' Up!); Happiness stamp (Stampin' Up!); Strathmore watercolor paper; Derwent Watercolor Pencils; Loew Cornell paint brush; Archival jet black ink; Adirondack espresso dye ink; Bazzill brown and tan cardstocks; green flourish paper by Anna Griffin; text paper by K & Company; oval and scalloped oval punches; brushed corduroy distress ink; old ribbon; antique gold eyelets.