Lately, I have been enjoying getting out of my comfort zone creatively. Though I studied painting in college, back then we learned to paint with oils. I hated using oils then, and still do. After graduation, as an illustrator, I graduated to acrylics. But I was scared to death of watercolors and ignored them, and the possibilities, until a few weeks ago.
I began painting simple little kitty and doggie caricatures. What a fun, simple pleasure.
For quite some time I have been creating textured finishes and project for Wood Icing®, mostly with Textura Paste. Today, as I was looking through my supplies, I realized that the Wood Icing® Glazes would make the perfect medium to paint my Grandkitty Chuck Norris – or anything really.
I am not into perfectly-painted pet portraits. I love semi-caricatures that capture the essence of personality with lots of squiggles made with black pens and a Sharpie. While I hone my watercolor skills, it’s fun and easy to do.
I know, I know, I can hear some readers saying, “I’m not an artist and I could NEVER do that.” I promise, you can! Here are my steps. If you look closely, nothing is perfect.
WOOD ICING SUPPLIES Licorice, Rusty Nails, Dijon, Really White Furniture Glazes, Grid stencil
ART SUPPLIES Watercolor paper, watercolor brushes, pencil, black pins, black Sharpie, paint palette, water, paper towels
ENLARGE A PET PHOTO AND SKETCH WITH PENCIL
I prefer close-up pictures for these little drawings, so I enlarged a cropped photo on my printer, at 8 1/2″ by 11″. It’s perfect for an 8″ by 10″ frame. I used a sheet of 9″ by 12″ watercolor paper, so before beginning, I measured an 8″ by 10″ crop area to cut later.
Draw in a few basic areas to lay out your picture. Pay close attention to proportion, and getting the eyes and mouth pretty close. To me, they are the most important.
MAKE A WASH OF LICORICE AND START!
Without worrying about perfection, just wash in a few general strokes. I start lighter and gradually go darker. Let dry.
ADD A FEW SQUIGGLES WITH BLACK PENS
You can see how simple my loose squiggles are. I added a touch of Rusty Nails for the nose, and Dijon for the eyes.
I start with a few squiggles, then go back and forth between using the Licorice and the ink, drying in between.
I never sit down and do a drawing at once. I paint a little, draw a little, then walk away for 10 minutes or even an hour. Slowly, Nore’s adorable personality started evolving. Usually, I save using white until last, for accents like whiskers. The best part is when my hubby walks in and says, “That’s Nore!”
To make a simple background for Nore, I used the Wood Icing® Grid stencil to create a little pattern. Normally, I would lay it down and trowel the Texture Paste across it, then peel it up to make a heavy textured pattern. But here I loosely penciled in the pattern.
Then, I just added a wash of Rusty Nails, starting darker in the front, and graduating to lighter at the back. Let dry, and your masterpiece is finished!
You can frame it, or, I decided to add it to my funky collection of rusty boxes with an old, crusty Jeep right on top of the ancient post office organizer on my desk.
What do you think? This technique would work nicely to make gift and holiday cards, too!
Find a Wood Icing® retailer near you to get started!
{This post is sponsored by my wonderful client, Wood Icing®. They allow me to experiment with their cool products, and the ideas and comments are my own.}
