Elf Painting...

   Hello guys! I know that it's a little early to be thinking about Christmas, but I have to get some cards ready to sell at an event in November to support Elinor's Cow Project. Therefore, I was practicing for some Christmas cards that will need to be made between now and November. Even though this Elf painting will not be able to be on a card (due to several errors), I still thought I'd share it with you...

Step One:

I painted a small circle to be my elf's head... I should have placed it up a little higher. Later (as you will soon see), my Elf's legs interfered with the writing of "Merry Christmas" along the bottom of the card.

Step Two:

I painted a hat, shirt, and arms on my Elf. I probably should have shaped the top a little differently, because it ended up look a little too box-y. I also painted the words "Merry Christmas" on the bottom of the card.

Step 3:

I added a skirt and mouth to my painting. I also put red embellishments on her outfit. This was about the time that I realized I should have painted her a little higher up and made the words a little smaller.

Step 4:

My painting really came to life in this final step. I gave her hair, eyes, a nose, legs, shoes, and fingers. As you can see, however, her legs were far too low and messed with my "Merry Christmas". 

The only reason I painted this was really just to test my abilities and see if I could paint people. I hadn't really intended to put it on a card, which turned out to be good because if I had, I would have been quite frustrated with the numerous flaws. She turned out better than I thought she would, though! And that made me smile.

Watercolor Card and Bookmark!

   Hello! Elinor recently made a bookmark for our friend Cheryl from the blog Simply Shoe Boxes. Cheryl reads our blog, and seeing that Marianne loves watercolors, she asked her to paint a gift-card that would match the bookmark! She asked for the items to be Amish-themed and this is what we came up with! If you are interested in purchasing a bookmark please go to Elinor's Blog and read the details.

Marianne: 

After selling that card to Cheryl, I decided to make a few and put them in the same gift shop that my sis sells her items in. I'm just waiting to see how they do, but if you're interested in possibly purchasing one, please e-mail me at this address:

thedashwoodsisters68(at)gmail(dot)com
I would be thrilled to help you! I sold the Amish one for $5.00 (plus shipping), and they are 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

These are the cards that I have just made to use as "trial cards".

I made them very Spring-ish and used bright colors, but I would be glad to make you one however you'd like!

The front of all the cards has a painting done by me and the inside is blank so that you may write whatever you want to inside! They also come with an envelope that matches the background color of each card. (I only have black and brown right now.)

Although I'd be thrilled to make you one with whatever image or theme you would like on it, 

please keep in mind that I am an amateur so I may not be able to do something extremely detailed or extravagant, but I will do my best! Thank You!

Painting by Marianne #4

   Hello! I have recently finished a new painting! This one is of a horse, and while I don't feel that I captured the movement perfectly, I would probably say that this is one of my favorites I have shared with you so far!

Step 1: I sketched my subject and background paying very close attention to the textures of my horse's mane and tail.

Step 2: I added washes to the sky and ground. I also painted the mountains in the background and some clouds.

Step 3: I added another layer of paint onto the ground, except this time, it was a shade darker. Then, I painted the first layer of on my horse.

Step 4: I painted another layer on the horse and ground.

Step 5: I painted the very last layer of paint on the horse and my painting was DONE!

My favorite part of the painting - my horse's head!

Which of the paintings I have shared is your favorite?

Painting By Marianne #3

Hey everyone! So, I noticed that my painting posts have been getting a whole lot of page views therefore, I am going to do my best to write more and more of them! I got my inspiration for this next one from this site: http://diy-projectss.blogspot.com/2013/07/painters-tape-art-diy.html   

Step 1: After choosing the colors that would best match my room, I began painting differently sized portions of the canvas in different colors.

Step 2: I finished painting the entire canvas, making sure that all of the white areas (or most of them anyway) were completely covered.

Step 3: After the paint had dried, I put painter's tape on it alternating diagonal directions, and painting white paint over it.

 Step 4: After the white paint dried, I removed the painter's tape (don't worry, no matter how hard and fast you yank, it won't chip your paint... believe me, I experimented :D).

Then my painting was DONE!!!!

 This wasn't my usual painting, but I'm very glad I did it! Mine was a little bit sloppy, because there in the beginning I was having trouble figuring out how and where to place the tape, but, I still love it! 

Thanks for Reading!

Painting By Marianne #2

Hello again! I recently finished a painting and I wanted to share about it! My mom asked me to re-create a picture I had made for her when I was younger, except, this time on canvas.

This is the old picture:

I instantly began thinking of small improvements that I could make, including an actual setting instead of just loose vines. I chose for the setting to be a picket fence, with a house in the background. 

Step 1: I sketched all of the main parts of my painting except for the butterflies.

Step 2: I painted a soft green for the grass and a soft grayish blue for the sky.

Step 3: I painted a darker green on the vines, a reddish brown on the house, and black on the roof , door, and stone path of the house. After that I painted the butterflies. I did this by pressing my flat brush into the pink, blue, yellow, or orange paint, getting both sides of the brush covered, and then dipping the end into black for a nice edge.

Step 4: Then, after painting the sun and clouds, my painting was done!

 

After that I had to clean up my mess... it was a big one!

But, that's part of painting, I guess! Anyway, I had a really fun time making this and my mom loved it! 

Thanks for reading!

Painting by Marianne

Hello again! Today I would like to tell you about a painting that I recently completed. I have a large interest in watercolors and I wanted to show everyone step by step pictures of my painting.

 

Step 1: After many uses of my eraser, I sketched the main parts of my painting. If you look closely, you can see the used-to-be pencil marks on the paper.

 

Step 2: I stroked the first layer of paint onto the paper, really only painting the wall, lace and shadows. Shadowing is my weak spot so please forgive me if they look more like little gray lines on the table cloth than actual shadows. :)

 

Step 3: I painted more washes and graded washes on the pitcher, tulips, leaves and saucer.

 

Step 4: I added another layer onto the wall and some small details like the rim of the teacup.

 

Step 5: I added yet another layer to the wall (getting darker with each layer), and shadows to the lace.

 

Step 6: I added the last layer to the wall and tulips,  added a very, very light blue wash to the pitcher, and painted all of the details on the teacup and saucer. Then the painting was DONE!

 

One of the details that I was proudest of: My teacup.

So, I was really pleased with how this painting turned out. In the end, it was worth the almost three hours I spent working on it. Besides I enjoy painting so spending almost three hours on it was fun.