Tea Towel Catz

 This "Tea Towel Catz" painting is from a tutorial by Karen Campbell on Youtube. She was inspired by a tea towel she found in an antique shop!

I drew and painted this piece following Karen's step by step instructions. I painted it on Fabriano hot press watercolor paper, mostly using Jane Davenport Watercolors. The one exception is the black cat. When I painted him like the others in watercolor, the whole picture looked really dull. As soon as I painted that cat, a second time, using Bombay Black India Ink the whole picture woke up!  

The catz are detailed and outlined in Molotow Fineliner. The white white whiskers and highlights are in Gelly Roll Pencil. I used a Blackwing Pencil and a paper stump for shading.

I showed this painting to my husband this morning and he loved it!

Challenges: 

 https://avenue613.blogspot.com/2026/08/august-2026-anything-goes-w-optional.html 

https://hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com/2026/08/challenge-202608-anything-goes.html 

https://allsortschallenge.blogspot.com/2026/08/challenge-855.html 

https://tuesdaytaggers.blogspot.com/2026/08/make-it-colourful.html 

Six Wee Wing Things Pages 1 and 2

 

 

I'm working on Karen Campbell's book "Wee Wing Things," from the "Whimsical Watercolor and How to Draw Series. These winged characters are a delightful challenge. There are 18 lessons in this book and I plan to do them all. As I finish the pages, I'll show them two pages at a time.

Here are the first six characters on two sheets of Fabriano 140 lb. hot press watercolor paper. I drew each one with a Graphgear 1000 Pentel Pencil, following Karen Campbell's direction. They are painted with Jane Davenport Watercolors and are shaded with a Blackwing Pencil and a paper blending stump. The black outline and details were done with Micron Pens and the highlights were done with a Gelly Roll Pen. 

I followed Karen's step by step details for each image. Page 1 characters are Howdy Hal, Baby Beaky and Buzzy Betty.  Page 2 characters are Oh Hey, Blue Jay, Loopy Larry and Sweet Baby Screech.

They were a delight to work on. I'm looking forward to working on the next six!

Challenge: 

https://avenue613.blogspot.com/2026/08/august-2026-anything-goes-w-optional.html 

https://hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com/2026/08/challenge-202608-anything-goes.html 

https://creativefingerschallengeblog.blogspot.com/2026/07/challenge-327.html 

https://sendasmile4kidschallenge.blogspot.com/2026/08/sas4kids-anything-goes-4-kids.html 

The Lassie and Her Godmother

This mixed media piece was inspired by "The Lassie and Her Godmother," a Norwegian fairy tale. The tutorial is by Angela Kennedy for A Year of Magic and Fairy Tales.

I drew this piece with a Graphgear 1000 Pentel Pencil in a Canson XL watercolor 140 lb. sketchbook. I followed Angela on the video and used the template provided to help me draw the window and door frame. I used Winsor and Newton and also Jane Davenport watercolors to paint the inside of the frame. I used salt while the watercolors were wet. When the colors were dry, I used Daler Dowey Acrylic Ink to paint the frame. After the frame was dry, I added the sun and moon in Fine Tec Pearlescent watercolors.

Again I watched Angela on video draw and paint the girl as I drew her on a piece of 5x7" Canson watercolor paper and used a blending stump for shading on her facial features. I painted the girl in watercolors and used a Micron Pen for the hair strands. After I cut her out, I used a Prismacolor Pencil on the edge of her hair. Then I adhered the girl to the painted background.

I was so surprised that this piece came out so well. The thing that helped was using the frame template for my reference! I hate drawing straight lines and using a ruler and was sure I would mess it up!

Challenges: 

https://avenue613.blogspot.com/2026/08/august-2026-anything-goes-w-optional.html 

https://hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com/2026/08/challenge-202608-anything-goes.html 

https://creativefingerschallengeblog.blogspot.com/2026/07/challenge-327.html 

https://sendasmile4kidschallenge.blogspot.com/2026/08/sas4kids-anything-goes-4-kids.html 

Boy at Easel

 

I'm always happy to see my grandchildren working in the creative arts. My granddaughter recently went to a one day painting camp. She enjoyed painting with some new friends and pizza for lunch!

I've been collecting child artist digital files from Etsy. I enjoy the poses and love to make the piece my own in my Canson Watercolor Book. The inspiration for this painting is one of many lovely images in a digital file from Epitomie Co. I know I'll get to use more.

I used a Graphgear 1000 Pentel Pencil to draw in my watercolor book and painted the image using Jane Davenport Watercolors. I outlined the piece with a Micron Pen. The butterfly is from an old stencil. 

I look forward to painting some more of these in my book and seeing whatever my grandkids are doing! What fun!

Challenges: 

https://avenue613.blogspot.com/2026/08/august-2026-anything-goes-w-optional.html 

https://creativefingerschallengeblog.blogspot.com/2026/07/challenge-327.html 

https://sendasmile4kidschallenge.blogspot.com/2026/08/sas4kids-anything-goes-4-kids.html 

https://aperfecttimetocraft.blogspot.com/2026/08/a-perfect-time-to-craft-open-challenge.html 

 

Pot-Belly Dragon

Here's a mixed media piece, that I almost skipped working on. I thought my skills wouldn't be able to get thru the complicated piece! But somehow I did and this is "Pot-Belly Dragon," from a tutorial by Karen Campbell for Awesome Art School.

I had gone to visit the kids in St. Augustine and found that my 9 year old granddaughter worked on a film at camp using dragons for her theme! So in honor of my granddaughter I painted this piece.

I followed Karen's step by step instruction drawing the mage on Canson 140 lb. watercolor paper and painted the dragon with Jane Davenport Watercolors. 

I used a ruler to draw a 7" square and a Micron Pen and a Posca Markers for outlines. I used a white Gelly Roll Pen for a few highlights.

I hope my granddaughter will like to see this piece, as a memory of a great summer at camp, on my gallery wall.

 

 Challenges:

  https://avenue613.blogspot.com/2026/07/july-2026-anything-goes-w-optional.html 

https://hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com/2026/07/challenge-202607-anything-goes-wopt.html 

https://allsortschallenge.blogspot.com/2026/07/challenge-854.html 

https://lilpatchofcraftyfriends.blogspot.com/2026/07/282-july-19-polkadoodles.html 

Whimsical Victorian Miss

 

 

I'm so proud of the way this "Whimsical Victorian Miss" came out! She is from a Karen Campbell tutorial for Awesome Art School. I drew her using a Graphgear 1000 Pentel Pencil in m Ohuhu Marker Pad. I watched Karen's videos and used a print out she provided for a reference. I outlined the girl with black Molotow Markers and colored her using Ohuhu Markers. I used a black Pitt Pen for the black lace trim on her dress, as well some black accents. I used a white Gell Pen for highlights.

This "Whimsical Victorian Miss"  in 4th of July colors brightens up my Ohuhu Marker Pad!

Challenges: 

 https://avenue613.blogspot.com/2026/07/july-2026-anything-goes-w-optional.html 

https://hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com/2026/07/challenge-202607-anything-goes-wopt.html 

https://allsortschallenge.blogspot.com/2026/07/challenge-854.html 

https://lilpatchofcraftyfriends.blogspot.com/2026/07/282-july-19-polkadoodles.html 

The Magic of Home

 

This fun "The Magic of Home" is from a collage tutorial by Eulalia Mejia for "A Year of Magic and Fairy Tales."

Back in 2020, I discovered Gelli Plate printing and I made a lot of sheet of mixed-media colored card stock to make colorful mono-prints. I stored these prints in a cabinet for years. Now in 2026, I combined these prints with pieces of printed scrapbook paper and colored card stock to make this colorful scene.

Eulalia used acrylic paint for the background. I don't paint with acrylics, so I used a sheet of dark blue card stock instead. I used Eulalia's templates to cut the printed papers, scrapbook paper and card stock into pieces that make up the mushrooms and the other pieces. I loved putting this scene together.

I embellished the cut paper pieces with a variety of fineline pens and some Carandache Crayons. The dots on the mushrooms were done with white gouache.

This is my third piece using a collage tutorial by Eulalia Mejia, they are a pleasure to work on.

Challenges: 

 https://avenue613.blogspot.com/2026/07/july-2026-anything-goes-w-optional.html 

https://hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com/2026/07/challenge-202607-anything-goes-wopt.html 

https://paperfundaychallenges.blogspot.com/2026/07/july-2026-challenge-89-anything-goes.html 

 https://classicdesignchallenge.blogspot.com/2026/07/classic-design-challenge-07-2026-julaug.html