From our diy/craft contributor, Sarah Milne.
I want to push my creativity this year by trying new things, and also dig back into a few hobbies I’ve loved in the past. Growing up, I had a huge collection of coloring books, crayons, pencil crayons and markers. When I wasn’t playing outside, I spent the majority of my time coloring and drawing.
Now, as a mom of 3, I’m known as the walking coloring book. If they want a specific picture to color, I draw it for them with a sharpie. It’s so fun sharing a small talent with my children, and having them thoroughly appreciate it. I don’t draw nearly enough, and it’s something I’d love to do more of this year.
Painting is always a craft that frightened me. When I threw caution to the wind last October and created this piece, I realized I need to let go a little more when it comes to art. Color outside the lines, think outside the box, and let my heart do more of the work rather than my steady hand. I’ve lost a little of that since growing up, being a digital designer you become fixated on pixels and perfection. Painting frees me and creating a perfectly imperfect pieces is so satisfying.
Using this amazing tutorial from Jones Design Company, I wanted to take a stab at watercolor and turn it into digital artwork. In doing so, I think I’ve developed a new hobby. My girls and I sat by the table and painted together, it was quiet and so relaxing.
I began my piece by sketching the drawing out one evening at my desk. The next afternoon, using a beautiful palette of colors from Michaels and a few small pointed brushes, I got right to it. It kept having to remind myself… “add more water” “less saturated color” “less is more”…
Once it was complete, I scanned my watercolor at 600 dpi and cropped the elements in Photoshop piecing them together on a new art board. Once I had the placement right, I added the perfect springtime quote using my text tool. It did take quite a bit of playing and test prints to choose the right font. I saved my final artwork as a PDF and JPEG.
And, there you have it, my very first watercolor + digital print and I’m sharing it with you, free! Download and hang this print in a special place as a sweet reminder warmer temps are just around the corner! Enjoy!
Download the Bring Your Own Sunshine Art Print in JPEG
Download the Bring Your Own Sunshine Art Print in PDF
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