A little sewing - and an experiment -

Another set of blocks is sewn -

For my Upstairs/Downstairs - Gleaned - top -
Gleaned - © Carolyn Friedlander - Robert Kaufman -

So far there are two GREEN sets of blocks -

And two BROWN sets -

I have four more sets to go -

After I finished the blocks -

I wanted to do another little experiment -

I wanted to see if I could make those "Easy Flowers" - HERE -

Again using my watercolor "pencils" instead of watercolor "paints" -

I did it for these -

The one on the left is watercolor "paints" -

And the one on the right is watercolor "pencils" -

Now I wanted to see if I could get a similar "pencil" version of this blue/purple one -

Using only 4 pencils - red - blue - green - brown -
A watercolor paint brush - the #4 that I got with the pencil "kit" -
Water -
A "white-out" pen -
And my light gold paint - because I don't have a gold pen/pencil - LOL - ;))

I accidentally got some pretty good watercolor paper on my first try -

But because I'm just beginning - and don't want to waste it -

I cut the 9" x 12" sheets in half -

9" x 6" is perfect for these little flowers - when I turn the paper side-ways -

So I took one and put it "portrait" -wise -

And put the three dots for my flower - according to the video -

PLEASE WATCH THE VIDEO -
"Easy Flowers" - HERE - for "how to" do the watercolor stuff -
It's TERRIFIC!! - and she explains it wonderfully!! -

She uses paints -
And I wanted to use pencils -
So my version is a little different -

I made the three dots -

Then made a "V" where I wanted my first petals to be -

Then I colored them in -

Made two more petals with a dot and a "V" -

And colored them in -

Added water to "activate" the color -

Watch the video for the "wiggle" - LOL -

And only did the first three petals - skipping two for later -

Then did the last two -

Mostly because I didn't want them to blend together -

Not bad -

So far - so good -

Next flower -

Another three dots per the video -

And again - I drew out the "V" where I wanted the petals to go -

And added the other two "V" for petals -

Remembered that I wanted them to be purple -

And that I had "mixed" the paints -

So I tried to "mix" the pencil colors the same way -

Adding red to the blue -

Filled in with some blue -

Added some red -

And crossed my fingers that I would get purple - LOL -

NOTE TO SELF - paints are easier to mix -
And you know what color you're going to get BEFORE you put it on the paper! -

Added water -

And forgot that the water would make the petals MUCH larger -

NOTE TO SELF - the size of the petal is easier to control with paint -

OK - so on to the third flower -

Made an "oopsie" and used a cotton swab with clean water to clean it up -
NOT MY IDEA -
I saw it on one of the hundreds of videos that I watched the other day -
I call it my "magic eraser" - LOL -

Same drill on the third flower -

When I added the red - I had no idea if it would be the same or darker than the second flower -

NOTE TO SELF - same as before -
it's easier to preview the mixed color using paints -
next time use some purple pencils in various shades -
or one purple pencil making one lighter and one darker - LOL -

So - added water to the first two petals -

Then the other three -

And got a MUCH larger flower than I anticipated -

NOTE TO SELF - scale down the coloring - the water will make it BIGGER!! -

Added the brown pencil color in the middle of each flower -

It kinda faded out - so while it was still wet -
I dabbed the pencil in it to make more dots -

Let all of that dry for a bit -

Used the green pencil to draw in the stems and leaves -

Then went over the green pencil lines with a different #4 which is MUCH smaller than the #4 that I used for the petals -

And - while the stems and leaves were still wet -

Drew over them again with the green pencil to darken them up - 

Close - the color is off -

But that is to be expected - since I didn't know what I was going to get -

Just need the details -

So I got the "white-out" pen that I found in a drawer - LOL -
Pentel - Fine Point - Correction Pen™ - Multi-Purpose -

And my light gold paint -

SIDE NOTE - NOW I know why an artist's palette always looks "dirty" -
You can leave the watercolor paint in the ceramic palette - let it dry out - then spritz it with water again and it's good to go - and considering how much my TINY tube cost - there is NO WAY I'm going to clean it all out every time I use it and throw away all of that paint! - LOL -

All done - with white "center" dots and gold "accent" dots -

And it's not that bad - compared to the "painted" one -

The colors are darker because I got a little heavy-handed with the pencils -
And the flower petals got a little bigger than I expected -
Because I forgot that the water would SPREAD - DUH!! - LOL - ;))

All in all - a pretty successful experiment -

Which do I like best? - pencils or paints? -

Hmmm - I think that will depend on my mood -

But right now -

I think I prefer the paints -

The pencils can be used to sketch something out maybe -

They would probably disappear when I added the water and paint -

Maybe that will be another experiment - LOL - ;))

I think I got bitten by the watercolor pencil/paint bug -

And it must have been a pretty BIG bug -

Because it was a pretty BIG bite - LOL - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -