Learning to Watercolor.

This summer I made it a point to try my hand at new mediums of creativity. I originally wanted to take some classes at the local community college, but it didn't work out. The truth is that I haven't really taken as much advantage of my free time as I would have liked to this summer. Today I realized that i'll be back in Utah in 51 days! So basically I only have a few short weeks to really dive in and find a new source from which to let my creativity flow.
A couple weeks ago I painted some wall art for my future roommate and began another painting (that I have yet to finnish... although it's almost done). I really enjoyed painting! I have always wanted to take a class, but it hasn't happened yet. A few of my friends asked me to paint them some wall art and I thought, "Why not?!" So today I went back to the store to buy more canvas. I saw a set of pretty watercolor paint. Thats when I realized that I wanted to try watercoloring! I called my mom and asked if she had a set at home, and she did!
When I arrived home I found out that there was a neighborhood power outage. It was hotter in my house than it was outside, which by the way... was lingering around 100 degrees. I know. This Texas heat might be the death of me. So I filled up my bathtub with cold water and sat in it for an hour. When the electricity came back on I got to work watercoloring.

The "love" painting was the first, and the "girl with umbrella" was number two. 

I love the way watercolors look. I had some trouble getting the color to do what I wanted, but I feel like it will come with practice. I want to experiment some more. I am thinking about going to the library tomorrow to check out some books on it!

If you have any tips, pointers, or friendly constructive criticism for me please comment or send me an email! I really want to learn! If you watercolor I would love to see some of your work too, so, again, send me an email or comment.

Carli

P.S. If you don't want to search for my email... carli.randolf@gmail.com

P.S.S. Next I will be experimenting with leather. Then maybe metal work. It looks like I have a few busy weeks ahead!

DIY: Wall Art

This coming fall I am going to be rooming with an amazing girl and yesterday was her birthday! We have been talking a lot about all the amazing things we are going to do and getting very excited about decorating our apartment! A couple weeks ago she, and another friend, made me a yummy cake for my birthday and since I can't bake anything... I decided to make her some room decor! She is such a sweet girl and last month when I was feeling really unsure about my future she said something that really stuck with me (you can read about this HERE). She said "Carpe Diem. Seize the Day!" So I made her this:

You will need: Canvas board (I got a set of three at Walmart on sale!), pencil, scissors, a variety of paintbrushes (I used an angled brush for most of it, but used a really small brush for the tight corners), paint (black and any other colors you want), something to pour your paint on, cup of water, print out of lettering (you can freehand it, or use stencils), and some good jams. 

Lay your words on the board to see where you want them.

Circle the areas that your words will be in.

Pour your paint.

Go crazy with the paint! This was the funnest part.

Cut out the letters while you wait for the paint to dry. Lay them on the canvas.

Trace them with a pencil.

Paint everything but the inside of the letters black and you should get something like....

This! I also added a scalloped border to mine because I thought that the edges needed a little something. 

The entire project took me about 3-4 hours. Painting around the letters was a little difficult so using a stencil might be a million times easier, but I enjoyed the process. I am looking forward to making another one for myself with maybe a Beatles quote on it! 

Also this project was inspired by THIS from A Beautiful Mess. I have searched for a long time trying to find a painting that was not too pretty to paint over and just colorful enough to let show through the lettering and have failed so far... so I thought why not create my own! 

If you try this out I would love to know how it went and see some pictures too! Good luck!

Carli