Color Lovers Challenge

Posted on September 21, 2021 by Maria - FlowingWatersArt

Last week I entered Jodi Ohl’s Color Lovers Challenge. I posted Day 1 this past Saturday. Since it runs for a full 30 days I thought I would post a few of these together. I’ve been enjoying adding quotes to all of these and I think I’ll continue doing that. Hope they inspire you in some way 💖

I painted the background teal with acrylic paint and made some marks while it was still wet. I painted a piece of watercolor paper bright orange and a page from an old book, green. I cut out all the pieces and glued them in place. I added the quote, “Sometimes you have to make your own Sunshine!”

There’s nothing better than a nice cool night under the stars. I tried something new, it didn’t quite go as planned but I still like it for my first attempt. I added the quote by Vincent Van Gogh “I know nothing with any certainty. But the sight of the Stars makes me dream.”

I painted the background with black acrylic paint and made a few zentangle tiles. I drew in a few doodles and added a quote from Lau-Tzu: “Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.”

This was a tough one for me because I love happy colors. So the only colors that came to mind were all the warm colors like red, yellow and orange. I painted an abstract in my journal and added a quote by Benjamin Franklin “Anger is never without a reason, but seldom a good one.”

Stay tuned, there’s more to come…

Thanks for stopping by!

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Laduree Watercolor Journaling

Posted on September 18, 2021 by Maria - FlowingWatersArt

Laduree is French for bakery and who doesn’t like a sweet treat now then? Anything with chocolate is good with me.

This is a cute painting I made from “The Artful Sketch” by Mary Phan. It’s a beautiful book with detailed step by step instructions and lots of photos. Mary used Copic Alcohol Ink Markers to color her sketches in this book. However, you can easily change it to any medium you like as I did to watercolor paints.

Mary Phan is a very talented artist and if you want to learn more about her, visit her site VeryMaryInspired.com. I highly recommend her book!

This was made in my 5.5″ x 8″ Strathmore watercolor journal. After following the instructions, I felt it needed some Parisian flowers to complete the look. So I filled in the top space a bit with colorful roses.

What’s your favorite sweet treat?

Have a wonderful weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

Share the Happy 💖

Thoughtful Thursday – How Color Affects the Mind

Posted on September 16, 2021 by Maria - FlowingWatersArt

This was a watercolor painting I created as a background for an inspirational quote that I’ll be adding to it. It’s made with bright, fun, happy colors. At least that’s what I intended for the viewer to feel. What does it make you feel?

Color is amazing in the power it has in the mind and it’s affects on how you feel. A painting can be pleasing to look at, or not depending on the colors used. Some colors make you feel happy while others make you sad or depressed. Colors can even impact your shopping and hunger pangs.

Have you noticed how a lot of restaurants and fast food chains use red and yellow in their branding? It’s no mistake, it all comes down to psychology. Red has a tendency to make you feel hungry. While yellow tends to make you feel happy. When you see these colors while driving, you may pull in for a quick bite to eat even though you’re not necessarily hungry. So it’s no wonder that this is a popular color combination for them.

Blue can evoke feelings of serenity and trustworthiness and purple evokes feelings of luxury and romance, while pink is associated with femininity and innocence. I can go into great more detail about color but I think this gives you a pretty good idea of how it affects our minds. So stop and take notice of how you feel when you see certain colors.

Speaking of colors, Jodi Ohl a very talented mixed media artist is hosting a Color Lovers Challenge. It started yesterday and runs until October 15. Every day you have a new prompt to create a piece of art of any kind, no rules using colors of your choice. The link to the list of prompts can be found on her Color Lovers Challenge page. I entered and will be posting my creation for yesterday shortly on this blog, so stay tuned.

Would love to see you join and have some fun!

Thanks for stopping by!

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“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way.” ~Georgia O’Keeffe

Watercolor Journal Angel Ana

Posted on September 14, 2021 by Maria - FlowingWatersArt

Having lots of fun painting angels in my Strathmore 5.5″ x 8.5″ watercolor journal. I named her Ana and thought I’d try keeping her more simple. Love how the colors blended on her wings.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Have a wonderful week!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Angel Daniela – Watercolor

Posted on September 7, 2021 by Maria - FlowingWatersArt

Meet Angel Daniela, my newest angel in my Strathmore 5.5″ x 8.5″ watercolor journal. I really like the bright green and doodles at the bottom in this one. Hope you do too 💖

Have a wonderful week!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Angel of Promises

Posted on August 31, 2021 by Maria - FlowingWatersArt

My latest angel from my Strathmore 5.5″ x 8.5″ watercolor journal, Angel of Promises. I tried a playing with the wings a bit more. I kind of like how they turned out. What do you think?

Would love to hear your feedback.

Have a wonderful week!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Save Our Oceans and Turtles Journal Pages (Part 2)

Posted on August 24, 2021 by Maria - FlowingWatersArt

The other week I posted Page 1 of this journal spread. For my focal point on the second page I used a tag that I made a while ago and stashed away for later use. I love this tag because it was embossed with a stamp that reads “My heart is at home by the Sea” which really resonates with me.

I made the little turtles using the same stamp as in the tag, colored them, cut them out and glued them into the journal. I wanted a little texture for the turtle shells so I used Inkssentials Glossy Accents.

I had a lot of fun creating this journal layout and hope you will too!

Supplies

9″ x 12″ Journal
Torn pieces of tissue paper or pages from a book
Gesso
Mod Podge or Gel Matte Medium
Acrylic Paint: Aqua and Royal Blue
Fiber Paste
Wave Stencil
Palette Knife
Assorted ocean themed stamps
Staz On Black Ink
Inkssentials Glossy Accents
Assorted ephemera and embellishments
Ranger Distress Ink – Black Soot
Glue
Scissors

Instructions

Paint your pages with gesso. Let dry.
Tear small pieces of paper and glue them to the journal pages with Mod Podge or Gel Matte Medium. Let dry.
Paint your background in your favorite acrylic paint. Allow the torn pieces of paper to show through the paint a little. Let dry.
Mix fiber paste with a darker contrasting acrylic paint and apply using a palette knife and wave stencil. Let dry.
Stamp sea life images to the pages with the Staz On Ink and add ephemera you have that will go with the ocean theme. You can also stamp or draw images, color them with paint, cut them out and glue them to the pages like I did with the little turtles. I also added a little Glossy Accents for more texture.
Distress the edges with Ranger Black Soot.
Add your quote.
Add any shading and highlights where needed. Add a little sparkly glitter and that’s it!

Thanks for stopping by!

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True Love Art Journal Page (Part 1)

Posted on August 10, 2021 by Maria - FlowingWatersArt

I have a tendency to make little pieces of art, then put them away until I’m ready to use them. I read an article where they made art using coffee. I’m not a coffee drinker but I do love the smell of coffee so I decided to give it a whirl.

I used watercolor paper for my 2.75″ x 3.5″ tile so I could be heavy handed with the coffee and get a nice background color. The trick is to make really strong, dark coffee then paint your paper.

Once the coffee is dry, you can create your art. I used watercolor pencils to make my drawing and activated the colors with water. After the paint dried, I went back over my drawing with Sakura Micron Pen 03. As always, I couldn’t resist adding that little bit of sparkly magic with glitter to the tile. (Note: When painting your tile, don’t be afraid to go bold and bright with the watercolor paints because they become muted and toned down when the colors mix with the coffee.)

For this journal page I used my Strathmore 5.5″ x 8″ Mixed Media Journal. I started by putting a good coat of gesso on my page and let it dry. Next, I used assorted acrylic paints that blended with the tile but at the same time made it stand out. After I was happy with the page, I glued my tile in place, added a few doodles and that was it.

I’ll post the second page of this layout next week so stay tuned as the adventure continues!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Underwater Watercolor Journal Page

Posted on July 27, 2021 by Maria - FlowingWatersArt

I gave myself a challenge to create a journal page in 90 minutes or less and this is what I ended up with. I started with a quick pencil sketch in my Strathmore 9″ x 12″ Visual Journal. Next I used watercolor pencils to paint the page and let it dry. I added detailing and shading with colored pencils, Sakura Micron Pen 005 and a white Posca Pen. For a little texture, I filled in the bubbles with Inkssentials Glossy Accents. And of course, lets not forget the bling with Stickles.

Give yourself a challenge and see what you can come up with. You’ll be surprised!

Have a fantastic week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Share the Happy!!