If you’ve been following me for awhile now you may have noticed a slight change in my Instagram and Facebook feed. I’ve suddenly been posting more drawings and even a few paintings – some doll related and some not. If you noticed and thought to yourself, “Hey, what’s up with that?” this is an answer to your question and a fun announcement about where things are headed in the future.
This sudden change has happened as a result of me deciding to finally (after years and years of dreaming) to finally learn how to draw and paint. Seriously, I remember at the age of 7 being obsessed with drawing and deciding that I wanted to grow up to illustrate books. And as a young adult I became obsessed with fantasy art and dreamed of being able to create beautiful masterpieces. I was primarily drawn to work done in watercolor, and I especially liked watercolor when it was accompanied by pen and ink. I tried my hand at this difficult medium years ago and quickly gave up. That is, until now.
Teaching myself how to sculpt and make art dolls over the last few years has given me the confidence I need to learn this difficult medium and pursue one of my life-long dreams.
So, I picked up some new sable brushes, got a few art books, and took my box of paints off the shelf.
My watercolor paints are M. Graham that I picked up from Blick a few years back. The paintbrushes are Vermeer Utrecht Kolinsky Red Sables that I absolutely LOVE and got at a steal of a deal. And I picked up a few books: Light Up Your Watercolors Layer By Layer, by Linda Stevens Moyer, Creating Textures in Pen & Ink With Watercolor, by Claudia Nice, and one of my all time favorite books that a friend sent me a few years back, Draw and Paint the Realm of Faerie by Ed Org.
Once I gathered these supplies one of the first things I did was to create this color chart using all of my paint. How cool is this??
The idea is simple really, you decide which colors you want to use in your color chart and then create the same number of boxes going both up and down. Then you label the boxes starting from the top left corner, labeling the horizontal and vertical rows in the exact same order. And then you start painting, adding the corresponding colors. It has already helped me tremendously in learning how colors interact with each other. Now before I start a painting I look at my color chart, choose the colors I want and then read the top and side bars to see what colors I need to make it. It’s just brilliant! And it looks cool too!
After I made my color chart I experimented with using salt while painting these tree trunks. And I practiced using my dip pen.
I also practiced painting these bushes and trees. Can you tell I love trees??
And I picked up a watercolor tutorial from one of my new favorite watercolor artists, Kelly Mckernan. Her work is absolutely stunning and being able to learn from her was awesome. You can find her tutorial for sale here – trust me, it is well worth the $35!! I used what I learned and mimicked some of her techniques to paint one of my wood elves.
It has a ton of flaws and it’s not really the style I want to go for, but overall I think it turned out pretty good for my first painting. And I learned a ton. Seriously, being able to watch somebody paint something from start to finish and explain their techniques is so helpful for figuring out the basics.
So now that I have the confidence to try, the supplies, and some of the basic techniques I think I’m ready to try to paint some of the ideas that have been in my head. I can’t wait to start this journey and learn more!! It’s been a long time coming!
And since I recognize that none of this is necessarily doll related I’ve decided to start a new Instagram account @Rose_Frazer where I will post sketches, drawings, and paintings. It will be a place for me to document my journey and progress in illustrating and allow me to keep @DarkManorDolls strictly doll related. So, if you wish to see more drawings and paintings, head over to Instagram and give me a follow!! Thank you so much for your support!!