Good morning beautiful people! It is so good to be back.
It has been a very uncertain last few months in our world, but I don’t really want to go into all that negativity right now. I am just doing my best to enjoy every moment and memory that I make, as well as pairing it with a new outlook on life. Positivity is key. The joy of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts 🤍
Last week, the newest stamp set I designed for Gina K Designs called “Graceful Greenery” was released. Your positive feedback on my art is always so wonderfully overwhelming. You guys are incredible and your support means the world to me!
Today I will be sharing three greeting cards I made using the illustrations in this set.
First, I used the large greenery frame illustration and stamped it in Warm Glow Amalgam Ink onto Arches Watercolor Paper.
*Quick Tip – For very detailed stamps like this one – and when I use such a “toothy” watercolor paper like Arches – I always stamp the image on the opposite side of the paper. It is much less “toothy” and it makes it so much easier to see the illustration to watercolor it. It is sort of like Hot-Pressed Watercolor Paper at that point. I don’t know if any of you have that problem, but I am legally blind and it is very hard for my weak little eyeballs to see the drawing among all the little hills and mountains that the amazing Arches Watercolor Paper contains. Those little “hills and mountains” make it so easy to paint incredible detail on larger scale drawings, but on smaller scale detailed illustration, I tend to prefer this method.*
I used my Mijello Mission Gold Watercolor Paints and a Winsor and Newton Paint Brush to paint the frame.
*Quick Tip – Use a small sized paint brush to paint detailed illustrations. I used a size 3 brush for this painting, and even pulled in a size 5/0 for the small detailing and lines on the leaves. It makes it so much cleaner, as well as making the various characteristics of the drawing a lot more realistic and noticeable*
I then used my Misti to stamp the greeting “Kindness Goes a Long Way” in the center of the painted frame.
*Quick Tip – Always stamp your greeting BEFORE you paint the entire frame, in case you accidentally create a huge black smudge onto the frame you just took so much careful time in painting. Yes, I’m speaking from experience. And no, I must not have learned from said experience because I did exactly what I’m telling y’all NOT TO DO. And always let that crisp black ink dry COMPLETELY before starting to paint. Yes, I’m speaking from experience again.*
To finish it off, I used some Fresh Asparagus Cardstock for the back of the greeting card to accent the various watercolored greens in the painting.
For my next sample, I used the same exact image, but I stamped the frame differently.
*Quick Tip – See how the greeting is very splotchy? Stamps often have a hard time stamping clearly on toothy watercolor paper, no matter how much ink you use. To fix this, I take my size 005 Micron Pen (any small size waterproof multiliner will do the trick) and just carefully draw over the greeting with the pen to fill in all the empty ink spaces.
See? All fixed! But don’t forget, let this DRY completely before starting to paint, and make sure your hand doesn’t rest over the greeting before it’s entirely dry. You could even use a heat tool if you’re impatient like me 😁*
Then I finished the painting, but added more pinks and purples to create some variation from the last greeting card I made.
There are so many ways and orientations to use this frame stamp! You don’t even have to color it if you don’t feel like it!
And yes, I did paint only my thumb nail for the sole purpose of this photo… don’t judge.
Now, for my final sample, I decided to use the florals from this set to create a simple watercolored background.
*Quick Tip – When painting watercolor backgrounds with illustrations on it, I always paint a loose, light colored brown/yellow paint layer on the background BEFORE I paint the florals. It just makes it so much easier than going in at the end after all the flowers and leaves are painted, and trying to paint in between each of them. The yellow brown paint compliments the pinks and greens very well, so it doesn’t matter if you can see through it in the end. I think it just adds color and detail to the florals.*
I just kept going, painting each floral, bud, and leaf various colors of pinks, purple, and green.
Then, once the background was finished, I stamped a greeting on ivory cardstock and put the finished piece on ivory cardstock as well. I love the warm tone of Ivory, and Gina K’s Cardstock is so thick and luscious 🤍
I splattered some dark brown paint on the background at the end for a little added detail.
And there it is! My three watercolored card samples using my brand new illustration for Gina K Designs called “Graceful Greenery”.
I hope you all enjoyed my post today, and I hope you get a chance to check out my new website! I will keep creating a lot more content on here, so please subscribe and follow me on instagram, @hanlynart, to see more from me.
Until next time! And don’t forget to stay positive! Spread more love and happiness, smile at a stranger, paint or create something, be nice to yourself, and always treat people with kindness.
xoxo,
Han
*Don’t forget to comment below to be in the running for a $50 Gift Certificate at Gina K Designs! Up next on the blog hop is the talented Lisa Hetrick, so go check out her beautiful artwork and samples!*