Inspiration from my favorite game, Final Fantasy IX. 

I really want to thank the guy who made these pics and gifs possible to come by!

http://dantsukasa.imgur.com/

I used Inktense pencils for the hair. They are great for that and I like them a lot more than water color pencils. The lines doesn't quite disappear when you put water on it so it's great for a lot of things. Especially manga hairstyles! The skincolor is regular water color... a mix of buff titanium and raw sienna. It doesn't show on the picture but I used rose dore for the lips. They say that color is redundant but I really like it so it would be a bother to mix that color on my own every time, even though it is possible.

I am currently struggling with water color paint and I wonder if I will ever be as good with that as I am with regular charchoal. But of course, nothing is more fun to draw than faces! I usually just draw from my head but this time I actually had a model... my boyfriend! It turned out great!

Quaint Town

So I made a square, drawing and painting from my head and it turned out crooked but I do not dislike the painting. It isn't quite finished but I wanted to share anyway. I actually really like the tower in the middle. That turned out good but the rest is hmm...

Kazuo Oga ( 男鹿 和雄 ) - At the Master's Workshop

I've never heard of poster paint before!? To think that such a master uses that kind of (supposedly) low budget paint. I read poster paint is like acrylics but it is not water resistent when dried and it don't have plastic in it... but I am not sure if that info is correct.

I recently ordered colouring pencils from Faber Castell, Polychromos. 

I started with the set of 24.

I used to use these about 10 years ago (when I was about 14 years old) and I liked them very much. I remember I had a really old set which was a hand-me-down from my sister, and she got them from her boyfriend who first got them when he was a kid! So, not to make it seem like something negative, the opposite, really. Because those pencils were still in really great shape! I think I still have them (for nostalgia) in my closet somewhere.

The problem I had, though... was my inexperience, really. I used a too dark/soft charcoal pencil so the colour would smudge together with the grey outlines and also, I DIDN'T KNOW YOU COULD MAKE LAYERS WITH THEM!! I've watched some videos on youtube (although I am skeptic about watching other people draw for my own benefit) and I found one girl which used paint thinner to blend the colours together and also to get it intense. But another artist used a rubber gum, I think... I think it is called a rubber gum. 

. . .

(searching the internet...)

. . .

You know this kind of eraser...

I guess it's called art eraser. In swedish, it is called knådgummi.

Anyhow! You can use this eraser to blend the Faber Castell colouring pencils. Supposedly...

I haven't tried that myself, yet, and there are more ways to blend these pencils so I am going to try them all and find out which one I prefer.

How to Paint More Interesting Green with Watercolor

Mixing Greens in Watercolor Demo

Getting Started with Watercolours - Stretching Paper

There is so much to think about when using water color, it's almost a kind of a turn-off for me. I never stretch my paper (recently found out one should) but I like to put my paper on a wooden board with masking tape before I start painting. That have always worked for me. Buuut, I bet all of the work which involves in painting with water color is so much easier if you have a lot of space, like a big desk or two desks, as I would need. I have found that my small working space is actually the most annoying thing when I paint. The working environment is so important.

Drawing for Watercolours - Put it in Perspective (Part 3)

Winsor Newton Watercolor Marker Review

I want these markers! But I kind of wonder if they are redundant for me...

How to Paint Birds in Watercolor – Simply, Quickly and Expressively.

Simple but fun :)

How I draw an amethyst gemstone

How I draw a copper jug

I SUCK

Everybody feels like that sometime, huh? I felt like I hadn't made any progress with my water colouring and somehow, I even felt like I'd gone backwards!! Like my skills had become retarded or something, but actually, it was my thoughts which were the retardation. Well, well, I know one shouldn't bring oneself down bla, bla. I've read about the effects of optimisms and pessimism have on your mental health so I try a lot more willingly to pat myself on the back when it doesn't go the way I want it to. Like right now, I'm sure my grammar is ridiculously bad.

But, I try to remember the really good pieces I've painted, and I feel more positive but at the same time... The pessimistic retardation which is my thinking power right now, is thinking only one thing...

How the hell did I ever create this!? And will I ever be able to do it again!?

*mad sobbing*

Speed Painting: Loose Watercolor Chickadee

Watercolor Hydrangea Leaf

Well... isn't this just... awesome... *bugeyed*

Greens

Burnt sienna + Pthalo Green makes a beautiful green color!

And these!

Azo Yellow Green + Ultramarine + Umber.

... the mix continues in the same pot....

+ Hansa Yellow Deep + Cerulean Blue.

+ Ultramarine + Burnt sienna + Yellow ochre.

+ Azo Yellow + Ultramarine + Burnt Sienna.

Good tips!

Hookers Green with Ultramarine makes a great color for trees far off in the distance.

How to paint in Acrylics. Terry Harrison

I am not very good with acrylics. I think I can even count how many times I've used acrylics with one or two hands. This really makes me want to though, but I don't really have the money to spend on other things than water color and paper.

Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolour Iridescent Sunstone 022 Series 1

This color makes me think about my mother...

Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolour Iridescent Electric Blue 027 Series 1

I got this color a couple of days ago... it was a nice treat after studying for an entire night. It mixes great with other colors and my favorite blen so far is with W&Ns Quinacridone Magenta. It was beautiful with Daniel Smiths Iri.Gold, that was a very interesting blend. And also with Daniel Smiths Pthalo Yellow Green (which has become my favorite green for mixing colours. It's great with W&Ns Quin. Gold).

Winsor & Newton Artists' Water Colour paint Potters Pink 537 Series 2

I think W&N's Potters Pink looks cleaner than Daniel Smiths...

I'm so excited!! I got an email from one of the employees at www.westersart.com, which is one of the few stores in Sweden which is retailing the DANIEL SMITH brand, and it said that the iridescent electric blue is now in stock again!! I wasn't supposed to buy anything but... how could  I resist?

It's so beautifuuul... and shinyyyy...

She sounds so advertising so it doesn't feel right.

Watercolour Fruit & Vegetable Portraits Three - Part One

It's great tips for other use than painting fruit and vegetables. 

I prefer very smooth paper for detail-work, which this artist is using. 

*Hint* In artist-language, paper with a smooth non-lumpy texture is called a satin grain which is hot pressed for a surface as flat as possible.

Watercolour Fruit & Vegetable Portraits Four - Part Two

MAW GAWD!! This is brilliant!

Watercolour Fruit & Vegetable Portraits Four - Part One

This is probably one of the best vids of water colour painting I've ever seen. I love the turnip.

Winsor & Newton Artists' Water Colour paint

Pthalo Green

I have fallen in love with Pthalo Green. It's a very light and bright green, with a lot of yellow in it. It makes the painting pop, so to speak.

I tried to restore the photos but my camera makes it impossible to show the real look of the painting.

DVD - A-Z of Flower Portraits with Billy Showell

Interesting! You can highlight better (by removing the paint) with a brush for acrylics/oils. They are a lot harder than brushes used for water colour so they can damage the paper but for this, it seems great.

DVD - Trees, Woodlands & Forests in Watercolour with Geoff Kersey

This would feel awsome to look at on my desk. I want it, I need it, I craaaaave it!

http://www.robax.com/palettes.html

Watercolour sky demos

Paint Along with Larry Hamilton - July 20, 2014 - Watercolor - Goose Island

Watercolour Painting Demonstration. Woodland River Scene.

Woodland Stream Watercolour Painting Demonstration.

Art Blog

This is my new blog which I created for sharing my evolvement as a painter. I have been drawing all of my life but I recently started taking my painting with watercolour seriously. I have been painting for a couple of years but not on a regular basis and I can not say I have evolved so much with my watercolours. So I created this blog, as I think it would be fun to keep like a journal for step by step to... better-ness... exscuse me.

This is going to be my first upload. A painting I did some years ago portraying the goddess of harvest from my made up fantasy-religion. It is but one of my religions many gods and goddesses but this painting got the most attention of them all. 

So there you have it! My first entry! 

G'night! ;)