Hi friends! There’s a new release today in the Colorado Craft Company shop, featuring illustrations by the talented Kris Lauren.There’s tons of designers involved in today’s release, so be sure to hop along to see all of the beautiful inspiration being shared. I have links to their blogs listed down below, as well as details on a giveaway.

I started by stamping the Berry Much Slimline image onto Arches Cold Pressed Watercolor paper, using InkOn3 Fadeout ink. I used my MISTI to stamp the image, and ended up stamping three times so I could see the lines. (This is a REALLY light ink, and my favorite to use for no-line coloring.) Next, I taped the paper down onto a clipboard, and picked out Daniel Smith watercolors to work with. I also picked out a small variety of round paint brushes. For most of the painting, I used Escoda Versatil round brushes, sizes 2 & 4, and then switched to Princeton Heritage round brushes, sizes 2 and and 2/0 (super tiny!). The Princeton size 2 brush is smaller than Escoda’s, and really helped with the detail work around the blueberry calyx.

I watercolored in layers, taking my time to get to know the berries. I thought at first I wanted to have blues and violet berries, which is why you see a couple berries violet. I used Mayan Dark Blue for the berries, and mixed in a touch of Quinacridone Red for the violet. I ended up ditching the violet idea by the second layer, though. The leaves I painted with Rich Green Gold, and the branch with Burnt Umber. You can see I did a super light first layer, saving details and shading for later.

My next two layers is where I really started focusing on light source. I was also trying to figure out how I was going to paint the leaves. I’ve not painted too many leaves, so there was an intimidation factor there. I was still using the Escoda brushes, and they’re really nice to work with. They hold a lot of water, and have a gorgeous tip. For paint colors, I used Mayan Dark Blue, Burnt Umber, and Sap Green for both layers.

For layer 4, I started playing around with the leaves. Again, I didn’t feel comfortable with what I was doing, but still made myself push through it, and expanded my greens to Undersea Green, and Serpentine Genuine, and Green Appatite Genuine. I also started adding Neutral Tint to the berries where I wanted shadows, and Sepia to the right edge of the branch.

For my last layer, I just cleaned everything up. It was actually hard to stop. Especially with the leaves. That is something I have a hard time doing, self-editing. What I learned about painting the leaves is… I need to practice painting more leaves. lol… seriously though, I am glad I had this painting session. It’s been a while since I pulled out my paints and brushes, and I’m glad I reached for them. I learned that I need to paint on a more regular basis. Not only because it will give me practice, but also I forgot how much I love to paint.

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope I was able to share some tips with you. If you are a food illustration fan like me, I have another 3C blog filled with fruit illustrations. You can find that blog HERE.

I have two more cards to share on Thursday, featuring another stamp set from this release, so I will see you then!

Giveaway!

Colorado Craft Company is giving away a stamp set at each stop in today’s hop, winner’s choice. Be sure to hop along, and leave a comment at each stop for a chance to win! Giveaway ends May 7th and winners will be announced on the 9th.

Today’s Designers:

Angelica Conrad (you are here)

Caly Person

Jessica Frost-Ballas

Amy Young

Kelly Griglione

Donna Hitz

Joe Sysavath

Kassi Hulet

Traci Jenkins

Jennifer Gross

Jennifer Kotas

Erin Thompson

Nancy Sheads

Amber Rain Davis

Adam Karle

Daniel West

Bibi Cameron

Jenn Shurkus