Hello, Everyone!
Do you ever go through phases where you become “semi-obsessed” with an art medium? Lately, I love watercolor paint. Oh, and stencils are pretty much always on my list so . . . I decided to try the two together. In the past, I did not have a lot of success with this combination, as the watercolor would seep underneath the stencil. Recently I saw an art tutorial by Josie Lewis on YouTube, which showed how she used a stencil to trace the design, and then fill it in with color. Genius! I am not sure why I did not think of this (or maybe I have), but that’s beside the point. Something struck a chord when I saw Josie’s video, so I went with it. You can watch the video here, if you'd like.
I decided to give this idea a try, as I love how Josie’s art looks when she’s done.
I will share a tutorial of what I did, then share my reflection of my experience at the end of this post.
Supplies Used:
Japanese Geometric Series Stencils by Artistcellar
Derwent Graphic H pencil
140 lb. watercolor paper
Various watercolor
Small round watercolor brush (size 2 or 4)
Jar of water
Step 1:
Flip through your stencils and choose the designs you like.
Step 2:
Use an H pencil (a hard pencil, which writes lightly), to trace your chosen designs from one or more stencils.
I used three different stencil designs.
Step 3:
Paint in your traced stencil patterns using a variety of watercolor paints.
Step 4:
Allow the watercolor paint to dry and soak in that beautiful color!
Reflection:
Oh my goodness, did I dislike this process, while I was doing it! That feeling certainly told me something about the style of art I like to create.
I don’t enjoy creating precise art, so I just had to roll with my paint going outside of my traced lines.
Now that it is finished, I do enjoy looking at the result. I had fun creating a lighter value of a color by adding water to my brush. I also enjoyed playing with color and making choices based what I was being called toward, versus following some sort of formula. If I try this again, I will keep in mind that my work will not be precise. I also will try a smaller brush (like the size 2 or 4 round brush I suggested for you).
I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial. Give it a try and see if you enjoy creating inside or outside of the lines!
Sending all good wishes your way!
Blessings,
Briana of OrangeSpiralArts.com