February Love Letters for Oakley

Hello Shimmerz Friends.

Today I sat down and lettered a piece to send to Samantha for her new Baby.  Little Oakley is arriving anytime now and we all welcome this precious little boy into the world.  We have all been eagerly awaiting his arrival, and many prayers have been said for his safe delivery!

This art work is a lovely poem that depicts the joys of being a Mum and the reminder to take it slow, soak it all in and enjoy times spent loving our little people.

See the Video below.

A quick how to....

I used Canson 220 Drawing Paper for this project.
1-I wrote out the poem arranging everything how I wanted it to look.
      Because on my first draft the text did not sit evenly on the page (the final sentence was too low) I       got out my lightbox and traced it a little higher up on the page making it fit better and appear               more central.
2- Using a water brush and several aqua shades of Shimmerz, Coloringz and Vibez, I mixed some             colour's and added others directly to my palette, mixing with water if necessary to thin down the         consistency.  I selected a couple of shades of grey  (Vibez- taupe of the morning and                             Coloringz-a shade of gray.)  I also added a little white acrylic paint to make the aqua colour a              little more opaque.
3- Using a fine tipped water brush I started writing out the words, I dipped the brush in other colours         as I continued each letter to meld the Aqua's and the Greys together.

As with any Brush Lettering or modern calligraphy styles the whole deal with creating the letters is with the consistent 'heavy down,' 'light up' technique, which creates the thick downstrokes and the thin upstrokes giving the text that unique look that is reminiscent of Calligraphy.  This just being done with a regular brush.  (You can, of course get a similar look from Brush markers.)

There are many worksheets on Pinterest that you can download for free, but practice is definitely key!

What ever you do Have fun!!!

See you next time,

November's Love Letters with Shimmerz Paints

Hey there it's November!!!  Can you believe it?

November is going to be an awesome month.  I celebrate my Birthday, (which if I am clever can be a birth-month! :) )  Preparation for Christmas festivities begin, and thinking about gift giving, making plans for holidays and getting into the Spirit of Christmas!  Its all fun!!!

To kick start November I thought I would sketch out a November Calendar Topper.  Look out for the download here on the blog.

I used a water brush and just two Shimmerz Paints that coordinated well together (Purpilicious and Little Boy Blue Aqua Huez.)

Enjoy!

 

You can see that I drew out the basic outline in lead pencil first, so I was sure it would fit and the words sat well together.

Using a water brush (a paintbrush with a refillable water barrel to continuously release water for painting and lettering) and a couple of Shimmerz Paint colours I started painting in the letters.  Keeping in mind the downstrokes should be heavier (fatter) and the upstrokes thinner.  While the first layer of colour is still wet, drop in a little of the coordinating colour to create a gradation type of effect.

I used a fine black pen (a Pigma Micron 01 is my favourite) and the technique I used is a rough multiple line technique where you purposely draw wobbly lines and do multiple passes.  It reduces the need for drawing perfect linework and adds interest.

The Tombow Dual Brush Pen has a brush tip one end and a fine tip the other.  I use a grey that looks good as a shadow and draw in the shadows imagining the light source is coming from the top right, casting shadow on the left and bottom side of all the letters.

Lastly add colour to the banner adding dimension by darkening shadow areas and lightening the centre area creating depth.

A fun little quick project you can use anywhere.....In your planner, on cards, labels, scrapbooking etc!!!  Just add the same techniques to whatever you need for your own project!

Have a wonderful November!