News, Simple365 And Watercolour Series

Spring Fairy Leaves children's fantasy story art print InkTorrents Graphics Soma Acharya

Purchase Fairy Leaves

 

I have so much to share with you today!  During the past couple of weeks, I have spent a large amount of time into the wee hours of the night fiddling with code, which I enjoy much more than I care to admit. 

Having sold over 5,400 patterns and art prints through Craftsy and Etsy, I have decided to open my web shop right here at the website.

 

I have a quite few international customers and readers.  I am happy to say that along with my US guests, I am also able to welcome my international guests to my shop.

 

 

Inktorrents Shop Greeting Card Soma Acharya Autumn Forest Walk Print Yosemite art Print Fall leaves print Autumn Colors Print Whims And Fancies

Purchase Autumn Forest Walk

 

New Product – Greeting Cards

 

Around the same time, I also worked on creating greeting cards from my prints, now available in my shop.  They can also be conveniently displayed in a small 5 inch x 7 inch frame.

 

 

Simple 365 – Set 3

 

I did surface from the computer every now and then to continue with my Simple365 project.

 

Please Click on the image thumbnails to see the photos.

 

 

Early this year, I started taking daily photos of simple everyday things to remind me to be happy.   This set is full of puffy white clouds with occasional rain, pretty flowers – both wild and tamed and other things that reflect my days and my life.

 

 

WATERCOLOUR SERIES –

WATER & COLOUR MIXING

 

Now, on to the next chapter of the watercolour series.  I am happy to hear that you found the info on the last post useful. 

 

Brush and Paint

 

Learn to Watercolour At Inktorrents with Soma Acharya Whims And Fancies

 

 

Brush – Buy a single good brush instead of a package.  I recommend a size 6 round brush  (round belly with a tip).

 

Paint –  Get a set of paints instead of  3 primary colours to mix other colours.  It can be quite daunting and discouraging.  Plus, who does not like to look at a box full of colours!

Tubes are a must if you are working on large areas, but for learning and playing, I prefer pans.

 

 

Brands

 

I wanted to strike a balance between budget and quality while recommending colours.  So here are three paint sets that I recommend:

Prang  –  Really good for its price and it can be found everywhere.

Sennelier Le Petite – It has the quality of the professional Sennelier brand for an affordable price.

Van Gogh – For a complete beginner, I find them to be too pricey.  However, this is a great stepping stone toward pro grade.  They are one of the best student quality paints I have come across.

 

 

Additional supplies

 

Learn to Watercolour At Inktorrents with Soma Acharya Whims And Fancies

 

This is how I like to set up my work surface.

 

A towel for wiping your brush, and jars for water

Pro Tip – Use 2 jars. Dirty water jar – Use this to rinse out the colour-loaded brush. Clean water jar – Add fresh, clean water to your brush before picking up a new colour.  I save the lids to close up the jars before leaving the work-area to avoid accidental tip-over damage and keep my cats from drinking dirty paint-water!!

 

 

Colour Swatches

 

Learn to Watercolour At Inktorrents with Soma Acharya Whims And Fancies

 

 

Colours in the box look very different than on the paper.  I make a colour swatch for every new  colour I get.

I am really bad at formal colour mixing though.  As you can see, I never even finished it!  I mix colours as I paint and write down the “recipes” in my sketchbook. 

 

 

Colour Mixing

 

Learn to Watercolour At Inktorrents with Soma Acharya Whims And Fancies

 

 

We are going do some colour mixing by painting  SMALL silhouettes such as leaves, butterflies. shells, starfish etc.  Kids can join in by painting fish, dinosaurs, bugs, etc.

Search for “silhouette” on the web and select an image you like.  Then, following the instructions from the last lesson, trace the outline on your watercolour paper.

 

 

Amount of Water

 

Learn to Watercolour At Inktorrents with Soma Acharya Whims And Fancies

 

 

Using a clean brush, add water inside the drawing outline.   At the beginning, work in really small sections, no more than 1.0 – 1.5 inch.  As you gain more experience and work faster, you can start working with a larger area.

NOTE –  You never want to have pooling water, just enough water to have a glistening look on the paper.

 

Wet On Wet

 

Learn to Watercolour At Inktorrents with Soma Acharya Whims And Fancies

 

 

Pick out two colours from your box, add a tiny bit of water to them with your brush to pre-moisten them. 

Dip the brush in clean water, then load up the brush with the first colour. 

 

Pro Tip –  If you don’t see paint pigment on your brush and/or water is depositing on your paint pan, you have too much water on your brush.  Wipe some of the water on the towel, and try again.  You should be able to see the paint on your brush. 

 

 

Learn to Watercolour At Inktorrents with Soma Acharya Whims And Fancies

 

Now “drop” paint on paper by touching the paint loaded brush starting on one side of the wet drawing.  You will see the paint spread. 

 

NOTE – Paint will spread less on less wet paper, creating concentrated colour (blue in this example).  If your paper is too wet, paint will spread faster, leaving a more diluted colour (red in the above example).

 

 

Spring Fairy Leaves children's fantasy story art print InkTorrents Graphics Soma Acharya

Purchase Fairy Leaves

 

Rinse your brush and wet it with clean water.  If you see the paper drying up, gently moisten the paper.  Repeat with your second colour on rest of the wet painting.  The colours will spread and mingle with each other.  They might even make a new colour.

 

Once you have added the paints let them do their work and walk away.  Paint will continue to spread even after the surface looks dry to you.  More often than not, it will surprise you in a very good way when it is completely dry.

 

Continue to play with different colour combinations and water amounts and enjoy the wonders of watercolour.

 

 

Weathered Scottish Abbey Ruin Historic Scotland and England art print InkTorrents Graphics Soma Acharya

Purchase Weathered Scottish Abbey

 

Update – I got a few requests for the Fairy Leaves, I added cards and prints in my shop.

 

Have fun playing!
-Soma

 

I am linking up with the linky parties on my Events And Links page. Please pay a visit to some of them.

 

 

 

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Watercolour Series – On The Paper

Learning to watercolor Wonders of Watercolour Series by Shop Whims And Fancies Soma Acharya

 

Hi Everyone! I continue to get comments and emails about watercolour tutorials.  So, I have been toying with the idea of writing a series on “Watercolour For The Rest Of Us” for a while.  I want to approach this from a child’s point of view of learning through playing, since that is how this journey started for me.  I want us to play and dabble with paint on paper;  have fun and relax while learning the basics.

 

 

 

Learning to watercolor Wonders of Watercolour Series by Shop Whims And Fancies Soma Acharya

 

 

Size of Paper

 

I find 5 in x 7 in to be a good size to work with for any sample painting.  It is large enough to add details, but also small enough to not be daunting.  This is simply a guideline.  Feel free to use a size that best suits you.

 

 

 

Learning to watercolor Wonders of Watercolour Series by Shop Whims And Fancies Soma Acharya

 

 

Brand of Paper

 

I really love experimenting with paper.  There are two that are my favorite .  They are economical and good quality.

Strathmore 400 series – Make sure to get the 400 series (with the brown cover) .  I never really liked the 300 series (yellow cover).

Canson XL watercolour paper – Possibly my most favourite paper.

Both of these are 140lb / 300 gsm paper, which is important for watercolour.   I usually get a pad that I can remove paper from.

I use sketchbooks from these two brands as well.

 

 

 

Learning to watercolor Wonders of Watercolour Series by Shop Whims And Fancies Soma Acharya

 

 

Sketchbook

 

Before we get into painting,  we need to draw.   I strongly suggest you keep a sketchbook.  You can make notes in it and it is nice to go back and flip through them.

 

Pro Tip – I almost always start my paintings by drawing in a sketchbook,  NEVER directly on watercolour paper.  Erasing unwanted marks damages the paper, and you can never really get rid of the pencil imprints. 

 

 

 

Learning to watercolor Wonders of Watercolour Series by Shop Whims And Fancies Soma Acharya

 

 

The best sketchbook is the one you will use most.   I have a 5.5 in x 8.5 in sketchbook that I use most frequently.  It is small enough to toss in my bag, and I can balance it on my lap while listening to audio books.  It is the perfect size for small spaces.

 

Pro Tip – I like using a ring binder sketchbook because I like folding the pages over to the back while drawing and it makes tracing really simple.

 

 

Tracing

 

For the next couple of steps you will need a lightboard.  If you don’t have a lightboard, you can always use a sunlit window.

 

 

Learning to watercolor Wonders of Watercolour Series by Shop Whims And Fancies Soma Acharya

 

 

Use a photo instead of drawing from scratch

 

You may often shy away from painting because the thought of drawing is daunting to you.  Tracing from a printed photo is a great way to start.  No, it is NOT cheating!  

As you get more confident,  you can start drawing freehand like I do.  

NOTE – Please make sure that you are using a photo that you took or are using with permission.

 

Tracing becomes super easy with ring binder sketchbooks.   You move all the pages to one side, leaving just a single sheet on the other side.  Place the single sketchbook page on top of the photo and secure both with tape on the lit-up surface of the lightboard.  Start tracing.

 

 

Learning to watercolor Wonders of Watercolour Series by Shop Whims And Fancies Soma Acharya

 

 

Pro Tip – Use a red pencil for drawing/tracing.  When you trace on your watercolour paper with a black pencil, you can easily make out the parts that have not been traced over yet.

 

While tracing,  you are mostly looking to add the primary shape with a few details.  Stay engaged and enjoy the process.

Once you have the basics down on your paper, you can proceed to the next step: painting.  OR, you can play with the lines – add to them, erase the parts you don’t want, etc.   You can play here to your heart’s content.

 

 

 

Learning to watercolor Wonders of Watercolour Series by Shop Whims And Fancies Soma Acharya

 

 

Tracing on watercolour paper

 

Once you are happy with what you have in your sketchbook, let’s move on toward tracing the drawing on watercolour paper.   If you have a ring binder sketchbook, move all the pages to one side, keeping just the sheet with your drawing on it on the other side. 

Place the watercolour paper on top of the sketchbook page and secure both with tape onto the lit-up surface of the lightboard. 

Take care to trace the lines gently with light pressure and try not to erase too much.  A little shift here and there is fine.

 

Pro Tip – Start tracing from left to right to avoid smudging.

 

 

 

Learning to watercolor Wonders of Watercolour Series by Shop Whims And Fancies Soma Acharya

 

 

Getting ready for painting

 

Get a piece of stiff cardboard or an MDF board that is larger than your paper.  It needs to be smooth. 

Watercolour paper tends to wrinkle and fold if not taped down when wet.  That makes paint flow into unwanted places.   Don’t worry about “stretching” your paper.  I will teach you how to flatten your finished painting.

Using masking tape, tape the edges of the watercolour paper onto the board.  I usually cover about 1/4″ of the edge on each side.  Try to make it very flat and taut. 

Now you are ready to paint.

 

 

Learning to watercolor Wonders of Watercolour Series by Shop Whims And Fancies Soma Acharya

 

I hope this gives you enough info to start with watercolour.   Look around you, find something easy.  Try to draw it freehand or take a photo and trace.  Play with the lines. 

Keep it simple!  You are doing this for yourself to unwind and relax.  So have fun! 

If you know anyone who would love to join, I would be ever so grateful if you pass on the website link to them.

 

Next time I will go over paint and brush, and share an easy painting!

Happy Sketching!
-Soma

 

I am linking up with the linky parties on my Events And Links page.  Please pay a visit to some of them.

 

 

 

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