Red Riding Hood

 Back in 2020 I was looking for a new creative outlet for my art. I found alcohol inks and explored pouring, blending and textures. I also discovered gelli plate printing and made -media monoprints without a press. Between the two, I kept busy making sheets and sheets of lovely prints, which eventually, I gathered into a handmade book. And there they all sat in the cabinet for years. Until now!

Then along came Tamara Laporte hosting "A Year of Magic and Fairy Tales."  I've always loved  whatever Tamara  offered and so I jumped into the course and found lots of art to work on. Now, I'll tell you about the tutorial by Artist Sylvia Gryczuk, that brought those printed sheets out of that cabinet. It was her lesson on Little Red Riding Hood!

I drew this little girl and the wolf from the reference provided, using a Graphgear 1000 Pentel Pencil on Canson 140 lb. watercolor paper and painted the drawings in Jane Davenport watercolors. I used a Micron Pen for details and enhanced the drawings. I cut the images out and put them aside.

Next, I painted a blended greenish oval for the imaginary entrance with a dark green background using the same Canson watercolor paper and Jane Davenport watercolors.

I cut pieces from those old prints and adhered them to the background illustrating the forest. I partially hid the wolf among those pieces. I put dimensional stickers on the back of Red Riding Hood and adhered her on top.

I love how this piece came together!

Challenges:

 https://allsortschallenge.blogspot.com/2026/04/challenge-847.html

https://avenue613.blogspot.com/2026/04/april-2026-anything-goes-w-optional.html

https://hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com/2026/04/challenge-202604-april-2026-anything.html 

https://paperfundaychallenges.blogspot.com/2026/04/april-2026-challenge-86-anything-goes.html

Girl in 1840s Evening Gown

 

 

 

This "Girl in 1840s Evening Gown" on toned paper is from a tutorial by Karen Campbell for Awesome Art School.

I drew this lovely girl in my Strathmore Toned Tan sketch book. I drew it following Karen's instructions and making use of the reference, she provided. I used a Graphgear 1000 Pentel Pencil. Shading was added with a Blackwing Pencil and a paper stump.

Challenges: 

https://allsortschallenge.blogspot.com/2026/04/challenge-847.html 

https://morgansartworld.blogspot.com/2026/04/morgans-artworld-challenge-99.html 

https://avenue613.blogspot.com/2026/04/april-2026-anything-goes-w-optional.html

https://hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com/2026/04/challenge-202604-april-2026-anything.html 

1840s Evening Gown

 

 This "1840s Evening Gown" on toned paper is from a tutorial by Karen Campbell for Awesome Art School.

I drew this lovely gown in my Strathmore Toned Tan sketch book. I drew it following Karen's instructions and making use of the reference, she provided. I used a Graphgear 1000 Pentel Pencil. Shading was added with a Blackwing Pencil and a paper stump. I used a white Sharpie Creative Marker and white Prismacolor Pencil for highlights.

It was so relaxing working on this gown, I can't wait to draw the gown on the girl!

Challenges:

https://allsortschallenge.blogspot.com/2026/03/challenge-846.html 

https://morgansartworld.blogspot.com/2026/04/morgans-artworld-challenge-99.html 

https://avenue613.blogspot.com/2026/04/april-2026-anything-goes-w-optional.html

https://hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com/2026/04/challenge-202604-april-2026-anything.html 

Blue/Green Mermaid

 

This mixed media "Mermaid" is from a Taster tutorial by Tamara Laporte for "A Year of Magic and Fairy Tales. I followed Tamara's drawing instruction using a Graphgear 1000 Pentel Pencil on a sheet of Fabriano 140 lb. hot press watercolor paper. I painted the piece with Jane Davenport watercolors. The details were added with Prismacolor pencils, Gelly Roll Pen and Holbein Artists Gouache, and Winsor Newton Gouache.

I'm so glad I had the time to go back and work on this tutorial. I love how it came out.

Challenges: 

https://avenue613.blogspot.com/2026/04/april-2026-anything-goes-w-optional.html

https://craftycatzweeklychallenge.blogspot.com/2026/03/crafty-catz-710-anything-goes.html 

https://paperfundaychallenges.blogspot.com/2026/04/april-2026-challenge-86-anything-goes.html

https://hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com/2026/04/challenge-202604-april-2026-anything.html 

Quirky Castle

 I drew this "Quirky Castle,"" by watching Karen Campbell's You Tube tutorial.

The castle was drawn on Fabriano 140 lb. hot press paper with a Graphgear 1000 Pentel Pencil. I used Molotow blackliners for the outlines and additional details. I painted this piece with Jane Davenport watercolors. Shading was added with a Blackwing Pencil and a paper stump. 

I loved drawing and shading this piece!

Challenges: 

https://lilpatchofcraftyfriends.blogspot.com/2026/03/274-march-15-doctor-digis-house-of.html 

https://classicdesignchallenge.blogspot.com/2026/03/classic-design-challenge-03-2026-marapr.html 

https://alessandrasangels.blogspot.com/2026/03/allys-angels-104-anything-goes-theme.html 

https://craftycatzweeklychallenge.blogspot.com/2026/03/crafty-catz-710-anything-goes.html 

Grumpy Granny

 

This is just one of the many awesome weekly sketch tutorials you can find at karensyoutube by Karen Campbell.

Using a Graphgear 1000 Pentel Pencil in my Canson coldpress watercolor book, I drew this "Grumpy Granny," following Karen's drawing and the reference provided.

I went over those pencil lines with Molotow  Pens and painted the granny with Jane davenport watercolors. I used a gell pen for highlights and a Blackwing Pencil and a blending stump for shading. I finished this granny with watercolor splatter.

Challenges: 

https://avenue613.blogspot.com/2026/03/march-2026-anything-goes-w-optional.html 

https://hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com/2026/03/challenge-202603-march-2026-anything.html

https://classicdesignchallenge.blogspot.com/2026/03/classic-design-challenge-03-2026-marapr.html 

https://craftingfromtheartchallenge.blogspot.com/2026/02/february-challenge-2026.html 

Cat and Owl Mixed Media

 

This mixed media piece was inspired by a poem by Edward Lear, "The Owl and the Pussy Cat." The cat and owl, two love-bound creatures embark on a heartfelt journey to find love.

The tutorial is by Eutalia Majia. It's a Taster for "A Year of Magic and Fairy Tales hosted by Tamara Laporte. I loved working on this piece. I needed to change some of the supplies. I generally do not work in acrylic paint, so watercolors will have to do. I used Jane Davenport and Prima watercolors.

The background trees were done in printer paper, not delie paper. They are floating along on Moonlight Bay in Fabriano hot press 140 lb. watercolor paper. The additional supplies include: matte medium, clear  gesso, gouache, Prismacolor pencil and white Gelly Roll pen.

What fun this piece was to work on. I'll look for more tutorials by Eutalia Majia!

Challenges: 

https://avenue613.blogspot.com/2026/03/march-2026-anything-goes-w-optional.html 

https://hereisaplacetostart.blogspot.com/2026/03/challenge-202603-march-2026-anything.html

https://classicdesignchallenge.blogspot.com/2026/03/classic-design-challenge-03-2026-marapr.html