Tuesday Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Fingerprints! 

Be extremely careful on how you handle your watercolor paper.  Make sure your hands are clean and dry.

Oily fingers, sweaty hands, recently applied hand lotion, cold clammy fingers can all leave fingerprints on your watercolor paper.  And guess what?  They often don't show up until the paint is almost dry.

This is a great tip, especially for this time of year when the air is dry and you need hand lotion.

I have notice with hand lotion, the color seems to be attracted to it and the fingerprints dry darker.  The natural oils in your hands or the oils from those chips you're snacking on can cause a resist and leave the finger print area paler.

Millefiori Clay Pen

I have been wanting a fountain pen for quite some time now.  I decided that was going to be my birthday present to myself.  After doing a little research and putting some thought into it, I chose to make my own pen.

I ordered millefiori clay canes on Etsy.  I purchased a fountain pen kit that was meant for woodworking projects.  The kit even included a cartridge of black ink, which I chose not use.  I purchased some blue ink cartridges.  Instead of turning wood for the outside, which I have no clue on how to do or the equipment to do it, I covered the pen with clay.

A little slicing, sticking, rolling, baking, assembly and voila ... a pen!

Love it!

Tuesday Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Lost and Found Background

In the past I have talked about lost and found edges, hard and soft edges.

This technique can help you create a very unique and interesting background to your watercolor paintings.

A recent Tuesday Tip from a few months back explains the how to:
http://ritasquier.blogspot.com/2012/10/tuesdays-tips-and-techniques-for.html


Apple Blossoms
by Artist Rita A. Squier
Original Watercolor Painting
11 x 15 inches

Tuesday Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Splatter Away! 

Have you tried the splatter technique?

Wet your brush, swash it around in some watercolor paint, then tap the wooden part of the brush against the wooden part of another brush held firmly in your other hand and let the paint splatter onto your paper.

You can tap one brush against another brush, a ruler, a pencil or something firmly held in your other hand. It's just likely clanking two sticks together.

Practice over a test sheet of paper.  Tap onto dry paper.  Tap onto wet sections.  Tap one color into another.  Vary the amount of paint and water you have in your brush.  Try different sized brushes.  A round brush versus a flat brush.

Before you know it, you'll have a neat abstract painting!

Mahjong Obsession

Mahjong 2013
Fine Art Giclee Prints
by Artist Rita A. Squier

Last summer, I learned to play Mah Jongg at the local library.  I became obsessed with the game!  I love to play Mah Jongg.

I did my research, picked out the perfect new set for myself.  Occasionally, I still love researching vintage sets.  The engravings are amazing.

This brings me to my newest watercolor painting series which I am thinking of calling the entire series of paintings Mahjong Obsession.  Painting one and two in the new series are complete.

My first watercolor painting in the series has been turned into prints!  I received the box of prints last night and finally found time to open the package this afternoon.  The prints are amazing!  I am so happy with them.

Mahjong 2013 is the first print in the series.  If you're interested in purchasing a print, please contact me.  I have them currently available as 5x7 and 9x12 inch prints.

They're printed on Somerset Velvet paper with a one inch border all around.  The 5x7 print is on 7x9 paper and it is perfect for matting and framing with an 8x10 inch frame.  The 9x12 print is on 11x14 paper perfect for matting and framing with a standard 11x14 frame.

Soon they will be available on my website or in my Etsy shop.  If you can't wait, contact me!

Mahjong 2013 - Giclee Fine Art Print 5x7 inch

Tuesday Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Too Many Brushes? 

I would say this is not even half the watercolor painting brushes I own.  These are the ones that sit on my art table.  Okay, so I stuffed them all into one cup for the photo.

When learning to paint in watercolor and being successful at it ... less is more when it comes to  brushes.

Select a few brushes.

Concentrate on learning how to use those few brushes and use them really well.

It's easier to practice techniques with the same brush over and over and over than to figure out how to create it with a dozen different sized round brushes.

Five brushes.  One small round, one medium round, one large round.  A 3/4 inch one stroke flat brush and a 1 1/2 inch wash brush.  Those are the basics.

Let's Sing!

♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸ Happy Birthday to Me!!! ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪

Two Thousand Thirteen

Happy New Year! 

Let's make it a wonderfully creative year!

Twitter Art Exhibit Los Angeles

Dew Drop Trio
by Artist Rita Squier

Original Watercolor Painting
Size: 4x6 inches

This is my entry into the next Twitter Art Exhibit!

The Twitter Art Exhibit: Los Angeles
Exhale Unlimited Gallery
953 Chung King Road
Los Angeles, CA
January 12 through February 10, 2013

For more information: http://twitterartexhibit.org

If you are an artist on Twitter, check out the Call For Artists:
http://twitterartexhibit.org/callforartists
Deadline for Submission is Friday, January 4, 2013

Post Card Sized Paintings will be for sale for $35.00

The charity the sale of the paintings will benefit is Art Division in LA's Rampart District, an at-risk group within one of Los Angeles' most densely populate and underserved communities.

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

The Old Palette

Dig out that old watercolor palette.  Maybe there is a color waiting there that you have not used in a very long time.  Perhaps it will become your new favorite old color.

Here is a picture of a palette I have not used in a few years.  Permanent Violet Bluish is a color that I have had in all my palettes since ummm 1998.  This palette is not that old though, I think I put it together in the early 2000s.  The turn of the current century!

MaimeriBlu's Avignon Orange, Dragon's Blood and Garnet Lake.  I love these colors!  These are three colors I chose based solely on their names.  Yes, I am guilty of this.  It's gotta a cool name and I want to try it.  Garnet because it's my birthstone.  Dragon's Blood, it's a mythical magical color.  I will be incorporating these colors in upcoming projects.

What colors are on your old watercolor palette?

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Take Notes! 

It is an excellent idea to take notes of the colors your are using in a watercolor painting.

This is a great thing to practice if you are new to watercolor painting.  It will help you remember your colors and color mixtures.  You can always refer back to your notes in the future if you want to know "How did I mix that color?"

If you are working on a project that will take more than a few days, having color notes to reference over a period of time is very helpful.  Especially if you have several reds or blues that look the same in the palette but paint very differently on paper.

Paint a swash of color and write down the name of the color.  If you have that color in more than one brand, remember to add the brand to your notes.  If you're mixing two colors together, make note of the two colors you mixed to achieve that color.

I love to take notes and I save them for future reference.

Christmas Ornaments

It is so much fun creating Christmas ornaments from my hand tipped, torch fired enamel beads.  The large 20 mm balls are perfect for miniature Christmas Ornaments.

I have been busy adding more ornaments to the Christmas Ornament Section my Squier Etsy Shop.

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

My favorite mixture for creating the perfect color for rocks with watercolor is burnt sienna and ultramarine blue.

Mix the two color equally and deeply and you can achieve a rich black, water it down a bit for the perfect neutral grey.

Add more burnt sienna if you want browner rocks.
Add more ultramarine blue if you want a blue grey rock.

Both burnt sienna and ultramarine blue are sedimentary colors.  They have heavy pigments that will sink at different rates within the water.  You can achieve neat sedimentary or granulating effects for rocks by mixing these two colors together.  It creates a cool textured effect.

I love this combo!

Dreaming of Pastries

Just finished painting my Christmas Cards!

This is a record for me.  I usually plan to do them in August, then hope to have them done before Thanksgiving.  Then tell myself I will paint them Thanksgiving weekend.  Thanks goodness Thanksgiving came early this year.  I was able to get my Christmas cards painted this week ... after the weekend.

Now I would love to show them to you, but that would spoil the surprise to those who are on my Christmas card list.

Each year, since 1995, I have been hand painting my Christmas cards.  Except for maybe 2 years when it was just impossible to do so.  And yes, I got complaints from those on my list!  Can you believe it?  And from people who just sign a store bought card and stuff the envelope and at least half of those use computer printed address labels.  What nerve!

While I was painting my cards, this afternoon I started craving M&Ms.  You'll have to wait to see the card in a few weeks, I'll post a picture.  Then you'll see how the M&Ms fit in.  After handwriting, yes handwriting the verse on the inset and signing my name I started thinking about Napoleons.  On November 3rd I baked for the very first time Napoleons for my husbands birthday.  I started at 10 am and was finally done with them at 5 pm.  They were awesome!  Someday, I will bake them again.

And for non-believers, here's a few of my step by step photos.  It all starts with a square of homemade dough.  The secret is that it is not really hard, it just takes a bunch of steps with a bunch of waiting in between steps.

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Wet Your Brush First 

A super important thing to remember when watercolor painting is to always always wet your brush in clean water first before dipping the brush into the paint.

Wetting the brush first will help your brushes last longer.

This is super important if you have the very nice and very expensive sable brushes.

Wet the brush first, even if you have a puddle of color on your palette.

Cigar Box Guitar Video

Last week we learned how to create videos using the iPod touch.  It's short and simple.  But you will be able to hear the sound of some of the cigar box guitars and amps found in our Squier Etsy Shop.

Click here to see and hear more of our CBGs on YouTube.

Cyber Monday Sale

Today in our Squier Etsy Shop

Our Cyber Monday Sale

25% Off select Rustic Tea Light Candle Holders

Click here to get to the Rustic Candle Holder Section

Prices have already been reduced!

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Twist Drag and Roll

Need to form a point with your round brush to paint a nice fine line?

Dip your brush into your color.
Twist, Drag and Roll the brush backwards across your palette to get the brush back into its pointy shape.
Paint your line.

Cigar Box Guitars

My husband Michael builds cigar box guitars he calls them Country Boy Guitars.  There's a new batch of new CBGs for sale in the Cigar Box Guitar and Amp section of our Squier Etsy Shop.

The neat thing is ... we have figured out how to make videos with out little iPod touch.  This will give you an idea of what the cigar box guitars sound like.

Here's where you can find the videos on YouTube:
http://youtube.com/squierdesign

If you want to see a sampling of other CBGs Michael has built check out this page: http://squierdesign.com/country_boy_guitars.html
It also includes an awesome sound clip and is linked to a few videos on YouTube.

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Pale Pale Wash 

Have trouble seeing where you put the clear water when creating a wet into wet background?

Use a super pale pale color when creating your background or sky to dampen the paper before adding in your colors.  This way you can see where you have painted already painted the wash and where you need to go.

The super pale color will dry back and almost disappear when dry and you will have a guide as to where to place your wet into wet colors.

Miniature Christmas Ornaments

Look what's new in my Squier Etsy Shop!

Miniature Christmas Ornaments
Made from my torch fired enamel beads.

Perfect for that little Christmas tree.

These little ornaments would also make a great hostess gift or grab bag gift.  I have them in sets of three and sets of five.

Look for the ones shown here and more:
Squier Christmas Ornaments