Spicy Hot Color

Spicy Hot Paisley Beads

I love torch firing metal beads.

Adding coats of glass enamel.

Playing with colors, blending, mixing, torching.

These paisley beads are surprisingly ultra lightweight and rather big at 20mm.

I love them!

On a Mission

Mission Khaki is the last pair of beads I torched.

Yesterday and today, we have been on a mission to secure all things outdoors and prepare for the impending hurricane Irene. At least she's visiting here on a Sunday.

Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. This phrase has been repeated over and over the past few days.

All things movable outdoors have been taken care of and today we're making sure the generator runs. We've got sand bags, actually mulch bags incase we need to sand bag our driveway due to flooding. Hey, it's useable afterwards. What would we do with all that sand?

This morning, I'm baking cookies and cooking up some chicken. If the power goes out for a few days, let's hope not, we've got plenty of cold things to eat.

Enjoy your day and stay safe if you're in Irene's path!

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Clean Your Palette!

It is best to clean your palette when you're done painting for the day.

If you've finished your painting, there is no reason to save the slop on your palette.

It is best to start with a clean fresh palette every time you sit down to create a new painting.

Taking the time to clean your palette at the start of a new painting, may spoil your enthusiasm to paint. You may end up loosing your muse if you have to clean up the leftover slop.

When you're done painting, clean your palette!

Luxury Shopping

A cigar box guitar from our Squier Etsy Shop was featured in Saturday's Etsy Finds in the Luxury Shopping Section.

Check out the guitar:

Cigar Box Guitar No. 32 - Americana

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Side Load Your Flat Brush

Here I have used a flat one stroke brush. First I wet the brush with clean water. Then I load one side of the brush with indian yellow, then carefully dip the opposite side of the brush into a small pool of crimson lake.

With one quick circular swash of the brush, I have created a multicolor flower petal. The yellow and red blend together on the paper.

This is an excellent technique for quick, fresh multicolored flower petals. Works great for leaves too.

Another Fab Feature

My husband got a feature yesterday in the newsletter, today a set of my torch fired enamel beads made it to the front page of Etsy.

Singed Cambridge Blue Torch Fired Enamel Beads

Set of 6

I just happened to be checking my emails, when I received a note from Bacon Square Farm saying I looked fab on the FP. When you get a chance check out their awesome bird houses!

So of course I quickly opened up Etsy.com and grabbed a screen shot to share with you all right here.

Music Lover's Gear Guide

An Etsy Finds Feature

My husband's Cigar Box Guitar No. 31 is featured in today's Etsy Finds - Summer of Love in the Music Lover's Gear Guide section: http://bit.ly/qLCreA

Check out the cigar box guitar right here:

Cigar Box Guitar No. 31

http://www.etsy.com/listing/78756111

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Flat Brush Shapes

A flat watercolor brush isn't just for making square swashes of color. Learn to really use your brush.

• You can make the standard rectangular swash with a quick simple stroke using the wide flat part of the brush.

• You can also make a thin vertical or horizontal line with the tip of the brush and not too much pressure. Excellent for line work.

• Use the corner of the brush and vary the pressure as you swash your brush in an irregular pattern. Start with the corner of the brush and light pressure, applying more pressure and more of the bristles to the paper and then lighten up again. Good for creating leaves.

• Use the corner of the brush, by holding the brush at an angle.

• Vary the pressure as you're creating a swash to make the swash.

• With sticky paint, not so much water, spread the bristles apart, stroke the brush upward to make clumps of grass.

Having Fun

My blog has been a bit quiet lately.

Been spending time enjoying the summer.

I love the weather in July.

I have lots of new ideas for various artistic projects and will be filling you on some of them soon enough.

Have fun and enjoy the summertime!

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Creating Long Smooth Fine Lines

Work your brush back into shape to create a fine line with watercolor paint using a round brush. Mix a puddle of paint in a smooth milky consistency, fully load your brush with the paint mixture. Work the paint into the bristles, you want a fully loaded brush. Then roll the round brush through the puddle of paint and pull backwards across the palette to form the bristles back into a round point. This will help you create a more consistent fine line to do fine line work in watercolor.

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Creating Long Smooth Fine Lines

Work your brush back into shape to create a fine line with watercolor paint using a round brush. Mix a puddle of paint in a smooth milky consistency, fully load your brush with the paint mixture. Work the paint into the bristles, you want a fully loaded brush. Then roll the round brush through the puddle of paint and pull backwards across the palette to form the bristles back into a round point. This will help you create a more consistent fine line to do fine line work in watercolor.

Tuesday's Tips & Techniques for Watercolor Painting

A Repeat Tuesday's Tip from 2009

Clean your brushes!

It's a good idea to clean your brushes ... oh at least once or twice a year. :)

Check out this old post:

http://ritasquier.blogspot.com/2009/07/tuesdays-tips-and-techniques-for_21.html

I'm on a brush roll aren't I? :)

Use them and take care of them!

Etsy Front Page

My Bakers Dozen Torch Fired Enamel Beads made it to the Etsy Front Page on Sunday, July 24th at around 1 pm eastern time!

The Bakers Dozen set did not sell, but a few other sets of beads have sold, which does make me happy.

Check out more of my beads for sale in the Boho Chic Beads section of my Squier Etsy Shop.

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

The Fan Brush

Along the same lines as last week's post. The fan brush is yet another brush I purchased and rarely use. I haven't used it in years.

A fan brush is great for creating clumps of grass in one swoop.

For me, I find it easy enough to fan apart the bristles of a round brush or even a flat brush wet with sticky watercolor paints to create a similar effect, the clumps of grass blades.

Let's turn the table ...

How do you use a fan brush in watercolor painting?

8x10 Print

Purple Passion Drops

Print Size: 8x10 inches

Paper Size: 10x12 inches

A fine art giclee print of my original watercolor paintings from my popular Dew Drop Series.

My new prints are professionally printed on somerset velvet paper with epson ultrachrome archival inks.

It is hard to tell it from the original!

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Second Chance to the New Brush

My favorite brushes are all made by Winsor &Newton.

My two most favorite flat brushes are the 3/4 inch One Stroke and the 1 1/2 inch Wash Brush with the short house painter style handle.

I do plan on giving the 1 1/2 inch Series 680 red handled brush another go this summer. I have recommended it to my students as a lesser expensive alternative to the slightly pricier wash brush. As you may be able to tell by the photo, I haven't used the red brush all too much. The bristles are still practically white.

I do have my favorite standby brushes, but now is the time to set aside the old favorites and perhaps give the newer ones a chance.

I bet you are like me, you have a few brushes you've purchased but do not use all too much. You keep reaching for the old faithfuls. You bought new brushes, maybe you have never used them. Perhaps there's a special technique or flick of the wrist the new brush may perform better or differently than the old brush. You won't know if you don't give it a go.

Let's pull them out and get those new brushes wet and sticky with paint!

Long Awaited Product

You've chanted, "We want prints!" over and over.

The long awaited product is here! Now available in my Squier Etsy Shop is a special set of prints from my Dew Drop Series.

This time around, I'm keeping all the originals for myself and making the prints available to you for purchase.

Currently there are five different images available.

Peach Keen Drops

Aquamarine Drops

Irish Spring Drops

Cool Blue Drops

Purple Passion Drops

Print Size: 8x10 inches

Paper Size: 10x12 inches

Mix and match to your heart's delight!

They will look awesome matted and framed and grouped together.

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

The Pitt Pen

For my pen and ink watercolors, I always use a Faber Castell's Pitt Artist Pen. It is an india ink pen which is also waterproof.

Waterproof is important when drawing with ink and then painting in watercolor over the top. If your ink is not waterproof when dry it will bleed and look messy.

The Pitt Pens can be purchased as a set or purchased individually. They also come in different sized pen nibs:

S - Super Fine

F - Fine

M - Medium

B - Brush Tip

Etsy Front Page at Midnight

Foggy Blue Too

My torch fired beads were featured on the Etsy front page at midnight on July 3rd in this awesome treasury.

The beads sold on Friday, July 8th.

Double yay!

Thai Watermelon Carving

Watermelon Rose Baskets

Every summer picnic or party should have a nicely carved watermelon fruit basket.

This is the start of one I carved for my nieces graduation party last weekend. I ended up carving two that were pretty much the same. I forgot to take pictures of both and pictures of the finished basket. The fruit salad was delicious!

Time to head to the grocery store and carve one for the Fourth of July.

Yes, I carved it myself!

Summer Holiday

Summer Color

Have a fun and colorful Fourth of July Weekend!