Layering with Watercolor

Remember like forever ago when I said I was gonna do "art lessons" on the blog? Then I did like 4 and forgot about the blog for a while...Well I'm sorry about that and I'm back with another "lesson" :)

If you follow my shop on Insta (@gracelangdonart) you've seen a good amount of new watercolors flooding the feed. I've been trying to branch my shop out to more "artistic" endeavors and watercolor is one of those love affairs I thought I would take to the next level. SO why not share some of my techniques I've been using with y'all!

I've been doing a good pit of animals, started with a portrait of a friends dog and then moved on to animals I just thought where cute. I wanted to take it in a direction that wasn't photorealistic but wasn't abstract either. So most of my pieces have a real fluid layering technique going on. 

Watercolor is great for layering because it can be very transparent while also very opaque. That may make no sense but I promise you, if you practice some you will see what I'm talking about. 

The best way to start any watercolor is with plenty of pale washes. Use a light (and I mean extremely light) sketch to help you with your bearings on the page but then add in your general washes. In my first picture you can see my first wash was a pale pink. I chose pink because I wanted the bunny to have a warm hue all over. Then I slowly added in other washes where I wanted the color to change on the bunny. These first 2 washes are great ways to fill space while making sure the subject remains loose and fluid.

Then I wanted to add in more details so I started adding small brush strokes as fur with similar tons to the first washes. Everything is still pretty light at this stage but it builds up over time so you can start seeing more definition in the bunny. You can change colors depending on the space you are working on. Look at the ears, the tops have a blue tint to them so I chose to use cooler colors up there and warmer colors in the face. This starts adding dimension. 

And for more dimension you need to start adding in your darks. With out some "dark darks" you will never feel like your piece is finished. For this piece the nose, tips of the ears, eyes, and mouth area had some real deep colors. With watercolor the best way to get a deep color is to NOT use much water. I usually mix a really saturated puddle (more color less water) or try and use paint straight from the tube. Just be sparing with this stage. It can get overwhelming really fast. Layer on your darks S L O W L Y!

Watercolor layering is a slow process. You will go through stages that look horrible. For a minute my bunny looked like he had some weird witch hairs growing but they eventually blended in to be variation in the fur coat. Just remember to go slow, and start off with very pale colors, remember, you get the pale colors by using very water downed color. The more water the less saturated your color will be. The less water the more saturated your colors will be and that comes in handy at the very end of your piece. 

Wet on Wet Watercolor Technique

Goodness gracious, I've left y'all hanging on art lessons! 

I've been doing a lot of watercolors on my own this summer. Lots of babies gifts, shower invitations, and even some sweet pieces for friends. Basically, I've been really enjoying myself and not sharing with you (unless you've been on Instagram, then I'm over sharing)! So here we go with another lesson in watercolor, the wet on wet technique! 

The wet on wet technique gives you the fluidity that is so desired in watercolors. It is a much looser technique than other painting styles. What that means is that you have less control over the outcome, which is really a beautiful thing :)

So first off you need to wet your surface. I use a damp sponge and lightly wipe down my paper. (You don't want it wet enough that the paper has a sheen but damp enough that you can feel it.)

Then you simply take your colors mixed on your pallet and drop them in. Depending on how wet your paper is you will have different amounts of control with how the pigment reacts once laid down. You can see in the first photo that I was still able to create shapes but there are no real "edges". 

Once you get your base color down, don't wait for it to dry. Just start dropping in more pigment (image 3)! By not waiting for it to dry you are allowing the two colors to mix naturally together which creates a very soft variation. 

Now I recommend only doing this with colors in the same family, or you may start getting a bit muddy. So you can wait and let the paper dry a bit before adding in some more, if you do this you can start to make more definitive marks (last image compared to second to last image).

Like all techniques it is good to experiment so you can figure out how to use your brush correctly in these situations. You can go back to the post about Brush Strokes and do the same exercises but with wet paper, that will help you see how the pigment moves on the page for the wet on dry technique, and the wet on wet technique! 

 How are y'all getting along with these watercolor lessons? Is it something you are interested in learning more about, or are there other mediums you have questions about? Whatever it is let me know, I would love to help you figure out how to make art on your own!

Watercolor Washes

Woot woot 3rd art lesson is here!! And yep it is more on watercolor, geapers I never thought about how much went in to a watercolor before you could just make a painting. But writing these posts for you are sure helping me hone my techniques and create better end products! So thanks for the reminders ;)

Watercolor washes are used when you want to cover a large area with a single color. You typically use a large, flat brush that can hold lots of pigment. There are a couple different types of washes, including a flat wash, and a graded wash, which are the two I'm sharing with you now! 

I started off sketching a square for me to fill in with my pigment. It gave me an even starting and ending point, obviously, I didn't care to cut in the final edge but I still got the gist of covering a large surface. But you can always just wing it if you want :)

Once you are ready to start fill your large flat brush with a dark pigment. (Using a darker pigment allows you to see the variations in the wash easier). 

Line your brush edge up with the edge of your painting surface and pull across with your brush at an angle that allows most of your bristles to touch the paper. 

After your first line is laid, quickly refill your brush and start your second row by overlapping the first just a bit. By overlapping you are opening up the pigment from the first line to allowing it to blend smoothly with the new line. continue this until you fill your box!

Then allow your nicely painted box to dry. Once the pigment is dry you will be able to see how "flat" your wash is. If you had puddles of pigment or high spots you will see a variation, keep trying until you get a smooth service, sometimes it takes lots of practice! 

For the graded wash I started off the same, by drawing a box for myself to fill in with pigment. However, instead of loading up my brush and hitting the paper I first puddle 4 different variations of my color. You can create variations in your color by adding white or by simply changing the ration of pigment and water. The less water you have the darker/brighter your pigment will be, the more water you add the lighter and softer your color will be. 

Once you have your 4 colors puddled you can start just the same as when doing your flat wash. 

By pulling your pigment across your square and overlapping each line. Just remember to refill your brush from a different puddle each time. 

This will create an ombre affect down your square. You can use water to go in and help smooth out your edges if you can still see the transition from line to line.

Once your pigment is dry you will have a smooth gradient from light to dark to start your painting! 

So there you have it! 2 simple ways to cover large amounts of paper! Be sure to play around and see how your washes will butt up to other colors and how you can combined some of your strokes from the previous Brush Strokes post on top of these washes. Just remember if your pigment isn't fully dry before going over the top it will muddy up with other pigments! 

Basic Watercolor Supplies

Last week I shared some of what I've been going through as far as finding what I want to be doing, here. It has been a long process but basically it all boils down to me missing my artistic roots. I've been creative through out this year, but it's been fun little DIY projects around the house and nothing that I've really used my knowledge of art and design for.

So, to solve this issue I decided I wanted to pursue fine art and its techniques and history with YOU! I'm not sure how long this will last, or how good I will be at it but I do know that I will be doing what I enjoy and hope you enjoy it too!

For my first lesson (hahah yeah right) I figured I could chat with y'all about all these watercolors I've been sharing on my Instagram feed and adding to my shop. Watercolor is something that I've always LOOOVVVVEEEDDD but didn't get a chance to do much of in the past 4 years. Watercolor is so naturally pretty that sometimes the best pieces are when all you do is drop in color. It's amazing!

This post is going to be kinda boring. But if you are interested in pursuing watercolor these are a few basic things you need to know before you dive in. These tips should help you have a smoother transition between regular (acrylic) paint to the world of water color.

Lets talk about brushes. There are all kinds of brushes with all different purposes. The best brushes are pricey, so as a student I obviously went for middle of the line. The high end watercolor brushes are made of Red Sable (type of mink) hair, yep just like a fur coat. So these have become super expensive because of the nature of the material. There are other types of hair (like squirrel) that also make great brushes, but they still remain on the upper end of brushes. I have synthetic brushes. I am NO PRO but do enjoy my brushes. 

Something that is really important is that you keep your watercolor brushes separate from all your other brushes. Watercolor reacts to oil so once you mix brushes with other types of paint (or even just handle them too much with your hands) they can deteriorate quicker and give you not so pretty lines. 

Next up is obviously the paint. Well with watercolor you have lots of options. If you aren't confident in your painting ability (you don't need to be, and I will touch on this later!) then go for a watercolor crayon or pencil! This allows you to get the pigment down on the paper and then blend with water. It is a great way to introduce yourself to how watercolor will move on the paper and even better if you are really interested in details. 

But if you are interested in the most common form of watercolor then you probably have a pallet of paint with either tubes or cakes. I prefer tubes because I can lay out my pallet exactly the way I like. But that doesn't mean tubes are any better for beginners!
Obviously there are different brands of paints and as a beginner it is hard to tell what you need. So I would say stay with student grade paints until you decide if you really wanna pursue watercolor. These paints will give you everything you need to learn from watercolor while not breaking the bank.
I have 2 sets of tube paints one is Reeves and the other is Windsor Newton, I prefer my Windsor Newton pallet but that is because of the colors that came in the pallet pack.
When you purchase watercolors remember that it is better to buy the basic most natural colors possible so you can mix with out making muddy colors. My pallet consists of Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Alizarin Crimson, Cadmium Red, Cadmium yellow, Viridian green, ultramarine, ivory black, and Chinese white.

Finally, lets talk about paper! Paper is soooooo important with watercolor, it literally can make or break a painting. If you know you are going to be doing lots of washes then you need to find a thicker/ heavier weight paper. Similar to this Strathmore 140lb pad. The weight is important because the heavier the paper the less likely it is to warp when you add your washes.

But I also have a smaller pad that is only 90lb. This pad does warp when you use washes, but if you are interested in adding inks or other dry media lighter weight paper can be the way to go.  You can also have your personal opinion on paper, I really love paper that can rip nicely. I feel like watercolor is such a natural process that sometimes the edges need to be a bit natural too.

I know this was a lot of technical information packed in to one post. And if I'm honest this isn't even close to all the detail I could have shared with you. This is just the basic of the basic information. I hope this will give you a little help when you walk in the craft store and are overwhelmed with the selection of beginner paints, papers, and brushes. If y'all have any other questions about how to find your starter set let me know! 

The Little Drummer Boy

My all time favorite Christmas Carol is The Little Drummer Boy. I mean, who doesn't like it?! It has like the most catchy beat to it and you get to sing a fun drum beat :) I found (what I think) is the best version of this song last week. It was a video going "viral" on my Facebook timeline. But boy I am so glad I chose to listen to this because it has been playing non-stop.

So here is the best version of The Little Drummer Boy by Pentatonix.

Now that all of y'alls minds have been completely blown by that unreal musical talent I have another reason for talking about this song :)

I think, other than the pure awesome-ness of this song, that the reason this song has been on repeat for about a week is because it is how my heart feels. No I don't play the drums and I'm not a little boy. But I do understand the feeling of wanting to come before the Lord and give Him gifts that are worthy of His praise. Sadly, as humans our attempts at gifts will never really be worthy. It doesn't matter if they are gifts of frankincense, gold or myrrh they will never be better than the gift of eternal life that the little baby in a manger gave us.

I've been focusing on this a lot this season, I love giving gifts and want to show my friends how much I honor them. But with out having a steady income it is hard to feel like anything I can do is worthy. I know this is a earthly example but boy does that line "I have no gifts to bring" resinate. I want to give worthy gifts so badly.

So despite the fact that we are poor little humans that have no gifts worthy of the Lord on our own, I think we can learn a lot from the poor little drummer boy. He said he was poor, had no gifts, but asked to play his drum. He wanted to share his talent with the Lord and bless Him in the only way he knew how. I think this song embodies so much of what our attitudes should be all year long. We should be constantly wanting to bring gifts to the Lord. I think Mary would nod constantly if each of us offered up our God given talents in praise.

I hope that I have been able to do that. I may not have a job, or money to buy "worthy" gifts this season. However, God has blessed me with a creative mind and has given me the resources to share it with others! I'm not just talking about my art, or ETSY shop. I've had so much fun with this blog through out this Holiday season. I think he gave me this platform for a reason and I plan on playing it for Him as much as a can :)

Blogging, painting, or building may not be as catchy as playing the drum but I sure do think that it is a way I can praise, and honor the Lord. As long as I play my best for Him I am fully confident that He is smiling at me. 

Now go listen to the song again cause its awesome, but this time really listen to it. Listen to the boy that is giving the only gift he had all to honor the little baby boy that would save the world.

Come, they told me, pa rum pa pum pum
A newborn King to see, pa rum pa pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring, pa rum pa pum pum
To lay before the King, pa rum pa pum pum, 
Rum pa pum pum, rum pa pum pum
So to honor Him, pa rum pa pum pum
When we come

Little baby, pa rum pa pum pum
I am a poor boy too, pa rum pa pum pum
I have no gift to bring, pa rum pa pum pum
That's fit to give our King, pa rum pa pum pum, 
Rum pa pum pum, rum pa pum pum
Shall I play for You, pa rum pa pum pum

Mary nodded, pa rum pa pum pum
The ox and lamb kept time, pa rum pa pum pum
I played my drum for Him, pa rum pa pum pum
I played my best for Him, pa rum pa pum pum, 
Rum pa pum pum, rum pa pum pum
Then He smiled at me, pa rum pa pum pum
Me and my drum
When we come

House Project #1

Once the house was officially flea free Reed and I started really moving in. 

I have been looking forward to decorating our house for ever and I finally get to start it! 

First let me tell you about this sofa! Reed and I found it on Craigslist for $100!

Its a two year old micro fiber queen pull out sofa. 

We needed something that was small but not too small. Our living room is only 12x16 which means we don't have very much room at all. We love having people over so we needed a sofa that would provide enough seating with out taking up the entire room. Because we are both poor college students we couldn't just go shopping for new furniture so we had to really dig deep and search hard. I was fully prepared to end up with a well used "retro" sofa that desperately needed a slip cover. But! Again, God has blessed us with another amazing deal! Finding this super nice sofa that acts as seating annnnnd can help when family comes to visit as far as sleeping arrangements was a HUGE blessing. I mean really, I think $100 bucks is a steal. We also have a love seat and chair in Columbia, hopefully the next time I get home I can bring those back! 

So with only having a TV stand, sofa bed, and a few kitchen chairs the only real decorating I could do is hang stuff. 

I set out everything on the floor so that I could rearrange it as much as I want with out putting holes in the wall. These are all things that Reed and I had around the house. 

-The Deer was Reeds first ever buck from Edgefield when he was 13. 

- The "washed by the water" painting was one I did the other night just for fun. I'm thinking about doing a few more and selling them on here. What do you think?

- The dog drawing next to it is one that was Reeds parents, they gave us two beautiful pieces that we now have in our living room. 

-The long painting between the deer and the dogs was done by The Chicken Man in Columbia. His paintings are so quirky and fun, they are pretty popular around the Midlands. He is a interesting character. He paints on scrap wood and has his "roaming studio" in random places around Columbia. JB (my brother) found him one day and bought a few different pieces for a great deal and was generous enough to give me 2! This one and then a Clemson one that I think is gonna go up in the kitchen!!

- The round butterfly plates were given to Reed after his Nanna passed this past August. Reed has always been a big bug collector and has a beautiful collection of butterflies from numerous different places. These just have a little more sentimental value to them so we decided to hang these instead of his personal catches.
-And finally the beetle, butterfly, and snake paintings are all gifts I gave to Reed back in 2009. They are watercolor and color pencil drawings of his favorite things. I can't name them for you anymore but I do know that he has the beetle and butterfly in his bug collection and  the snake was a pet that he had for a long time, sadly she is no longer with us. She didn't make it through the cold winter of 2011. 

Reed is always such a generous helper. 

I called him in from the yard to get him to help me hang the Deer because I didn't want to risk messing it up and he told me to step back and direct him so that I cold get it just right on the first try. 

He really is so great, I love that he is willing to help decorate around the house even if I get picky with how close the dogs are to the chicken. 

Looking around the living room today I realized that we are going to have a pretty good amount of animals in it. I'll have to share more when I get pictures of the other projects in the room. But just beware, if you ever visit our house you will be greeted with a deer, raccoon, bass, and possibly a duck all as soon as you walk in the front door :)  

Lets Get Started!

So I just want to warn everyone, I am NEW to blogging and don't really know what to say or how to say it. So please excuse me if this first post is a little rough :) 


Basically, what I want this blog to accomplish is to put my art out in to the world. I enjoy creating. I have a flare for fine arts, crafts, interior design and fashion. So, this blog maybe a little random at times. 


This summer has been a real learning experience for me. I have started to sell art work to family and friends and have been working with an interior designer who has also commissioned art work for clients. I want to share my projects with you as I do them and a blog seemed the best way to share my work with everyone around me. 


Without further adieu, here is a sampling of my work!! 

"Fruta Ducle" Watercolor -2009 

"Dinoplasti" Charcoal -2010

These next pieces of art are done on tin from the old Smith barn in Pontiac. These pieces have been selling like candy! If you are interested in any of the ones posted, or have an idea of your own please contact me so we can work something out! 

Alrighty everyone! I hope you enjoyed the first post on my blog!! Tomorrow I will be posting more of the tins that I have sold in the past month so keep your eye out!