Hello, artsy people! Anjali here from The Letters of an Architect and I’m back with this month’s project: DIY Watercolor Postcard with a Moon in a Night Sky for the ‘Masculine’ theme for March. This is my fifth project for PPSUAE and if you haven’t already, check out my past projects: How to make a set of Watercolor Bookmarks, DIY Watercolor + Lettering Card, How to create a Holiday-themed watercolor wreath and Step-by-step watercolor tropicals.
As always I have used my favorite wet-in-wet technique to paint this postcard.
March DT Kit
Here is the list of supplies required for this project:
- Prima Marketing Inc Odyssey-Confections Watercolor
- Winsor & Newton 4“X6”-Bound Watercolor Pad
- Princeton Artist Round 4-Select Brush
- Princeton Artist Rnd Blnd 6 -Select Brush
- Sakura of America White-Gelly Roll Pen Med
- Princeton Select Synthetic Brush Round Size 8
- 3M Painter’s Tape
I received the Prima Watercolor confections Odyssey Palette in my DT kit this time, and I just couldn’t wait to try out the colors. For the ‘Masculine‘ theme, I decided to paint the moon, which is different from my usual floral paintings. I also felt that the moon would be perfect for this theme along with the muted tones against the dark night sky. The “London” pigment was the perfect color for the sky in my Postcard, and it is what I used the most, along with Black and Grey from the Classics palette from my previous DT kit.
The paper used is the Winsor and Newton watercolor Postcards in 4″x6″ size and they have a wonderful texture and are really thick and hold water for long, hence it aids the pigments to ‘bleed’ during the painting process.
I first started by taping the paper to my work surface, leaving just enough to form the white border. Then I drew the circle outline of the moon using a pencil and painted a wet wash with clear water around it carefully. I used the Princeton Artist Round 4-Select Brush to do this since the small size allows for better precision. The paper absorbs some of the water so dab on till it’s moist enough for the paints to spread.
Now, apply the blue “London” pigment from your previously misted palette. The misting helps activate the paints easily. Also, add the black pigment in some areas and blend the paints in a circular motion.
It is important to do this quickly enough such that the paint doesn’t dry up completely before you add the layers. Wet the rest of the areas as well, at first with clear water and then using paints, alternating between black and blue, with the black paint intensifying towards the corners of the paper. I used the Princeton Artist Round Blend 6 Brush for blending the paints.
After the paint dried, I added a few more layers until I was satisfied with the pigmentation of the colors. Wait until the outer paint is fully dry then proceed to paint the inside of the moon.
The paint has fully dried here.
Again apply a wet wash along one side and dab on the Grey color from the Classics palette. The color bleeds beautifully thanks to the texture of the paper. Apply the grey in all the areas first then before it dries dab on very little of the black in areas where you wish to show craters.
Add more details using the size 4 brush and wait till dry then saturate your brush with a white opaque paint (gouache or acrylic work well)- I used Dr. PH Martin’s Bleedproof white– and tap it to spray some of the stars on to the sky.
After the stars dried, I lettered in a motivational quote using Sakura of America White-Gelly Roll Pen. If it isn’t visible enough at first because of the colors underneath, don’t worry, just wait until it dries and letter again on top of it and it becomes opaque.
And there you have it! Ready to post in the mail to a friend. There’s space for address and stamp on the backside of the postcard so it’s as simple as that.
I hope you enjoyed reading about my Postcard-making process! Do leave your comments and queries below. Until next time… Happy painting!
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You can also join the Pretty Paper Studio Monthly Challenge through the following easy steps:
1. Create a project with this month’s theme in mind.
2. Upload your project photo to “March 2018 | Theme – M is for Masculine.
” Photo Album in the Pretty Paper Studio Facebook Group.
3. All entries are due by March 31, 2018.
4. Challenge winner will receive a prize pack worth AED50.
Note:
A winner will be announced only if we have THREE new submissions.
All projects submitted for the challenge must be NEW and created AFTER the challenge went live.
