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 

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

Whimsically Cool Cat

 

This wonderful "Whimsically Cool Cat," is from a tutorial by Karen Campbell for Awesome Art School. I used my Graphgear 1000 Pentel Pencil to draw the image on Fabriano hot press watercolor paper. I outlined the image with a Micron Pen and added some shaded areas with a Blackwing Pencil and a paper blending stump. I added the random colors with Jane Davenport and Prima watercolor sets.

I'm so very happy with the way this piece came out!

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://tuesdaytaggers.blogspot.com/2026/07/animals-realimaginary.html 

Magic Mushroom

 

This "Magic Mushroom," is a gouache painting from a tutorial by Lucy Brydon for "Art is Magic." It was an art event with a free 9 day Tempter Session running thru July 19th.

I used a Graphgear 1000 Pentel Pencil to draw the mushroom on a New York Central Art Supply 5 x 7 hot press watercolor block. I followed Lucy's step by step instructions using Arteza Gouache. I added Dr. Ph. Martin's Bleed Proof White for the dots on the mushroom and glowing background.

I always  enjoy working on Lucy Brydon's tutorials. I learned so much in this gouache tutorial.

Challenges: 

 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 

https://creativecrafterschallenge.blogspot.com/2026/07/challenge-102.html