Saturday, November 30, 2024

Helen's Pencil and watercolor tips

Pencil Markmaking for watercolor 

Helen Shafer Garcia


This is a great tip for details and repeat patterns for watercolor. I used this technique when I was an illustrator for Resorts and Hotels. It's great for small details. 

  



You will need 1- 10 or 12 round watercolor brush, a 2B pencil, a set of watercolors, and a small sheet ( I used a 7” x 7”), of 140IB hot pressed or cold pressed watercolor paper.  

 




Print out some patterns shapes that you would like to practice on. If you are timid about drawing directly after the paint is on the paper draw out the designs before the paint in pencil.





Using lots of water on your brush, pick one base color to wet the paper and start the dropped in watercolor process described in my online classes. Make sure the paper remains shiny wet. 





Continue to drop more colors on the shiny wet paper, allowing the paint to flow naturally. 




 While the paper remains wet, draw some of the pattern shapes with the 2B pencil. ( You will be tracing if you already drew the shapes) Press down hard into the paper so that it makes an indent. You can use a small spray bottle to keep the paper wet. 

  



The top two shape pencil lines are acting as reservoirs to hold the paint and water. The paper started to dry by the time I started to draw the lower shape. You can still see more graphite from the pencil when it’s too dry. Allow your paper to dry if this happens. 



Once the paper is dry, you can now re-wet the paper with more colors. Go over the lines that you want darker or brighter.I love using this technique for small details. Have fun practicing! 




Saturday, April 6, 2024

Saddleback Wanderers in print!

 I'm very excited that my ceramic series "Saddleback Wanderers" has been published by 

Passe-partout Art Zine Magazine from the Netherlands. 


Take a look here! Passe- Partout Zine









Saturday, December 30, 2023

 Happy New Year! 

New Workshops are up and all info is here

First ones up are in warm and sunny Palm Desert at the Artists Center at the Galen in February. Canceled ....

Concertina Nature Journaling

Watercolor Block Prints





Friday, December 8, 2023

The Gardener


 I'm very honored and pleased that my  Sculpture 

"The Gardener" 

was accepted into this Oceanside Museum of Art exhibition in January 2024. 

a few more views.....






Friday, November 24, 2023

Block prints, watercolor journaling...learn all about it

 Hey Kids! 

My online courses are on sale only till MONDAY November 27th at midnight! 15% off.....Check out all the details of each course here. Links go to Create Arts Online to sign up. 

Discount code GRATITUDE15

Learning to See - Drawing in Journals.   

Poetic Watercolor Journaling- painting and poetry never felt so good!

Watercolor Florabunda - learn my signature watercolor techniques









Tuesday, November 14, 2023

revitalize

 I'm back home from San Miguel de Allende ...exhausted but revitalizing new ideas and directions. 

Our retreat in the heart of Mexico was a beautiful experience for all of us. Here are a few pics during the week. 

We will return next year! the end of October...dates will be posted soon. 





















Wednesday, August 30, 2023

Good News

 Good News for my paintings..."Clarence in the Wind" was selected for the San Diego Watercolor Society September Virtual Members Exhibition and won Honorable Mention

Clarence is a dog that resided in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. He deserved some bling with his colorful scarf. 



and

"What Do You See?" 
is currently showing in the San Diego Watercolor Society gallery till the 16th of September. 
I was in Portland, Oregon at Cargo..an amazing store full of all things international and saw these pondering figures in the window. The back light cast a glow on the edges that just prompted me to paint. 




Tuesday, July 25, 2023

a Summer tutorial and some sleepy kitties

 a hot summer day tutorial today. I started this demo several weeks ago. Demos are quick and my reactive time is on edge. I've hardly ever finished a demo in all of my classes...my students can relate to that! I had some time this afternoon while the kitties are sleeping and trying to stay cool (read through the end of the tutorial to see our hot kitties)

A bunch of colors were dropped in with some abandonment to get a full spectrum on this succulent. 

I started identifying the darker values towards the center and adding glazes to the shadows to darken and enrich the colors. 


The flower heads and stem needed color and shape identification. Warm to cool is my usual route with layers/glazes. Greens were added afterwards. 


Dropped in color...Quinacridone Red first, then Purple

glazed the flowers a bit more ..still needs more adjustments but you get the idea.

and here you go...its for sale!  12" x 16"      DM me for details


oh yea.. our  hot kitties