WAVES OF EXPRESSION

Hi everyone, I hope you enjoyed my previous blog post on the creative processes of overcoming artist block. Unfortunately, this is my last blog post with The Smiling Hippo. The last three months have been such a fun adventure of sharing fun tips and tricks, with watercolors and using Holly’s fun paints. This has been a unique experience and I have learned so much about the art industry and myself while doing these blog posts. 

So I wanted to paint a thank you card, for all of you who have read and kept up on these posts, liked the reels on Instagram, and liked and commented on them. A huge thank you to those of you who have also chosen to follow my Instagram page. 

I started this thank you card, by searching the phrase thank you and looking at different fonts online. Once I found one I liked that I can add my own flare to, I sketched out the words in pencil. I also wanted to add some flowers to the side as well.  I choose lavender flowers because I’m a Taylor Swift fan and the song Lavender Haze has been on repeat in my head for the last few weeks. That and purple can have a nice variety and range to bring out more details and have a comforting feeling for the card as well. 

Once I have all of the details sketched out in pencil, I went over the pencil with an alcohol pen. I used a thicker alcohol pen for the lettering, and a thinner pen for the flower details, to give it a dainty feel. I also wanted the flowers to have a sketchy feel, so I did multiple fine lines over the flowers, and in the leaves. 

Once the ink dries, I pull out my paints from the Smiling Hippo and painted a light purple on the flowers, then a light green for the leaves. Once the purple had dried, I added some light pink to the flowers, and honey-based purple to the flowers as well. I add different colored paints to the flowers, to help build their dimensions. I then added small dots and a little light green line under the thank and under you.

After the paint is dried I go over the small details in the alcohol pen, to help bring out the little details. Then I have a thank you card.

I once again want to say thank you to Holly, and to all of you who have found my page and have supported my art for the last three months. I appreciate every single one of you. If you’ve enjoyed my art, and want to see more detailed pieces make sure you follow my page at watercolors by Courtney on Instagram. And as always, stay safe and be kind to one another.