Frida Kahlo Digital Watercolor - Frida Friday

Time for another spotlight on Frida Friday...artwork featuring the one and only Frida Kahlo. I follow the #fridafriday hashtag on Instagram, and it's inspired me to try to do as much Frida art on Fridays as I can while I'm off school for the summer. This one is a combination of drawing and digital art. 

I really like how she came out. And I love celebrating Frida!!

"I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone,

because I am the person I know best."

~Frida Kahlo

Gilded Turtle Watercolor

I'll start this post by saying that turtles are absolutely not my jam. I've never drawn nor painted one before. Generally, if I'm going to paint some sort of animal, it will be a bird. But my mom loved turtles, and I was thinking of my mom yesterday, so I decided to try a turtle.

I had just purchased some Metallic Accents Watercolors (Prima Marketing) that I wanted to try. I also had just gotten a black Van Gogh Watercolor Paper Pad that I wanted to try the new watercolors on. Metallics always seem to look good on black, so I gave it a go. I don't use watercolors often; I tend to like acrylics or oils more. But I love these metallic watercolors and how they react with the paper. They were really fun to paint with. They really look pretty on this paper too--even though it's difficult for you to see just how pretty from this photo. 

Overall, even though this may not be my most favorite thing I've ever painted, I love how it turned out. And I think Mom would have loved it too. 

Frida Kahlo Angel - Frida Friday

I follow quite a few art-related hashtags on Instagram, and there is one that I so love: #FridaFriday. With this Frida Friday hashtag, you will get to see lots of art--of all kinds (painted, drawn, digital, etc.) that features the one and only Frida Kahlo. I decided I wanted to start contributing to that hashtag once in awhile, so this week I created a Digital Art piece for Frida Friday. 

One of these days I'm going to do a painting of her. She was so beautiful. In the meantime, I'll keep following that hashtag to find lots of inspiration. 

Happy Flowers in Mixed Media

Last weekend I was able to get into my studio for the first time since school got finished. It was so nice to finally be able to get in there and get creative. My mind is 100% focused on school during the school year (OK well, 99.9% anyway), so I seldom make it into my studio until summer. So, I cherish the time when I can get in there!

My first creation of the summer is what I'm calling my Happy Flowers. You all just know I'm a fan of Flowers by now, right? This is a Mixed Media piece that just feels happy to me, since it's filled with bright colors.

I started by covering a canvas with black gesso. Then I used a white colored pencil to draw my flowers. After that, I watered down some white acrylic to paint into the shapes--because it's easier to paint bright colors on a light-colored background, rather than the black. I used acrylic to paint all of the flowers, leaves, butterflies, and bees. I added some details with colored pencil, and then added even more details with a white Posca Paint Pen.

I really love how the colors pop off the black canvas. I have a feeling I'll be using more black backgrounds in the future.