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Another botanical ATC (6,4 x 8,9 cm), and the first attempt to actually use my new selfmade watercolors. Turns out they work as expected, with textures and everything, which is a relief, because otherwise I'd be stuck with a year's supply or so of green paint I hate. XD Of course, I had to use some other (store-bought) greens on this as well, but that's okay. (It's perfectly clear that only two greens are not nearly enough.) I'm just glad I didn't botch things.



Used watercolors:
Michael Harding: Titanium White, Pyrrole Red, Bright Green Lake, Phthalocyanine Green Lake, Dark Morellone Earth
Schmincke Horadam: Dunkelrot
Isaro: Magenta
Nila Colori: Ocra Violetta Armena
My own paints: Living Tree, Living Forest



I didn't need the blue and the brown for this picture (come to think of it, I almost never need blue), but test paintings with those (and, ugh, they really look nicer than in this photo; sorry, bad lighting here) will follow soon.

My most recent ATCs. (6,4 x 8,9 cm)





I didn't take pictures of my art supplies this time, but it was again a mix of fineliners, watercolors, acrylic pens, gel pens, and a lot of glitter. :)

Another ATC! This one took forever, but I'm kind of happy with the result. It was inspired by finding a shimmery dark green in my advent calendar, and, well... What to do with that? Old glass was my first thought. Also, two different light sources (one cold, one warm), just to make my life difficult...



In the end, I actually managed to use all the four different types of shimmer and glitter from my advent calendar in the picture! (Shimmery transparent white on the window and the glass parts of the thermometer-weather-thingy, shimmery green on the bottles and the leaves (because why wouldn't those shimmer? XD), golden gel pen (on the jewelry, thermometer-thingy and fire-thingy), and silver gel pen on the rock samples - I guess those are ore minerals, then...) It feels kind of decadent to have a designated old-glass-watercolor, but hey, I love drawing old technology and lab equipment (and old glass often does have this color - not because people dyed it but because they had no way of removing the iron impurities), so I absolutely needed that one, I just didn't know it yet!

( List of art supplies behind the cut. )

Another postcard for someone on postcrossing - this time, it's a combination of drawing, painting, and papercut. It has transparent windows! The book page, inkwell, ink blob and large leaves are see-through.



Materials:
Watercolor paper: Florence watercolor paper, smooth, white, 200gsm. This was a bit of a compromise: it's the thinnest possible paper for watercoloring, but the thickest possible paper for reasonable papercutting. (Still: not much detail possible.)
Transparent paper: Folia, 115 gsm (I chose the thicker variety, for obvious reasons), light green.
Fineliners: Staedtler, different sizes.
Acrylic pens: FlySea, white and black.
Watercolors: various brands, no idea which was what. It was not my watercolor box. I'm not at home and didn't grab the box in my bag when there was a perfectly good one open on the table.
Knife: snap-off utility knife. Cheap but good. XD Seriously, it performed really well (as in: non-wobbly, good angle, and ergonomic in my hand) but it's a no-name thingy, no manufacturer printed on or anything.
Varnish: LUKAS spray varnish, satin gloss. (Added to protect the watercolors before gluing everything together.)
Spray glue: Ghiant Hightac, an ancient can. Oh well, it came out a bit yellowed and blotchy but it still worked... Somehow.

More pictures (of the papercutting and of what the card looks like with backlighting) behind the cut.

( Pictures! )

I'll definitely make more cards with this technique. It's so much fun! :D

The next (very very very) poisonous plant, I'm afraid. We have so many of those here. XD



Materials:
- suuuper awesome sketchbook; a red page (I'm using those up disproportionately) this time
- Acrylic pens: Flysea Acrylic Painter Extra Fine in black and white; Amsterdam Acrylic Marker in Yellowish Green; Liquitex Acrylic Marker in Cadmium Red Deep Hue and Phthalocyanine Green blue shade; Uni Posca PC-5M in white
- waterbrush

Another page in the lovely chess sketchbook from antaresnox got filled today! I love oleander, it smells so nice. Of course, it is very poisonous, so even touching the stuff is a very bad idea, but... :D



Materials:
- suuuper awesome sketchbook; a light pink page this time
- Acrylic pens: Flysea Acrylic Painter Extra Fine in black and white; Amsterdam Acrylic Marker in Yellowish Green, Permanent Green Light, Permanent Red Violet Light, and Ultramarine; Uni Posca PC-5M in white
- waterbrush

...for people on Postcrossing. Very different techniques, because I enjoy some variety.



This tree is a classic fineliner sketch painted with watercolors. Most of the drawing was done in the park during lunch time, but I did the last color layer later. (Had to let things dry!) Of course, I used spray varnish in the end, so the thing is sort-of-safe to mail.



And this little underwater scene is a combination of acrylic paints (mostly smeared with my fingers, because that gives me more control than paintbrushes, and besides, it's fun!) and acrylic markers.

Fern, and fun with backlighting. So much fun!



Materials I used:
Stillman&Birn Zeta Series sketchbook (270 g/m²)
Watercolors: Turner Permanent Lemon (PY109), Mijello Bamboo Green (PG36), Daniel Smith Jadeite Genuine, Schmincke Horadam YInMn-Blue
White gel pens (Pentel and Sakura)

I was not actually trying to produce an ATC in primary colors only - it just happened, and I only noticed when I was going to start coloring the branches (I do dark colors last so they don't smudge and ruin the whole painting) and said to myself, no, I'm not going to add another pigment in the last minute... Instead, I followed the Second Law of Watercolors: anything you mix will sooner or later turn into muddy brown. This time, the principle actually proved useful.



Materials I used:
Stillman&Birn Zeta Series sketchbook (270 g/m²)
Watercolors: Turner Permanent Lemon (PY109), ROSA Gallery Magenta Rose (PR122), ShinHan PWC Cerulean Blue (PB35)
White gel pen (Pentel)

This is such a funny coincidence - not just one but two people decided to send me samples of their selfmade watercolors over Easter! :D I was soooo happy to find these in my mailbox! (As you probably know already, I make my own paints, so I also almost always appreciate what others produce.)

Tarabel sent me this lovely set of five colors that looks like a forest theme or something...



...and Nil sent me ten different dots, mainly fascinating earth tones, and some of the colors also glitter a bit. :D



I'm soooo happy and I can't wait to do something with the new paints!!! :D Actually, I have a plan... XD