Friday, July 25, 2014

Making your own Postcards...trial and error...

Making Postcards...the journey begins!

Let's see ...a while back I was majorly into sewing...mainly from necessity...then it was (and still is...my obsession with letter writing and everything that goes along with that)... and then is was  (and still is..learning to play my beloved fiddle!)...then it was (and still is...Latin and Greek studies..)...then it was (and still is...fiber arts--crochet and knitting...)...and THEN I decided it was time for me to get serious about learning  what I could of watercolor painting.  Usually my first step into a new arena is to gather information...as much information as possible!  I begin my new passion with study...for me this usually means books, as I am hopelessly old-fashioned and actually like to glean my information from  something I can hold in my hand ( and I must say, yes you can hold a tablet but I like turning paper pages!). Here is my watercolor painting "library" so far.  These are very basic books, exactly what I need!  My favorite basic book is the  "First Steps" book--pictured in red below. 


Watercolor painting  library!

I don't know exactly why I thought I needed expensive brushes ( I guess I just got caught up in all the excitement of it)...but I got them...now I need to use them! In case you are wondering...places like Hobby Lobby, Michaels, A.C.Moore all have great art supplies at very reasonable prices.



I really want to just do small projects with watercolor painting.  I thought that the postcard size would be just perfect for my little "studies".  Yes, yes...I know that this (above)   is a very amateurish start...but hey!  Whatever!!!

I want to share my beginnings with you all  because many of you are like me...not really an artist,  and definitely not on a professional "artist" level, but still desire to explore  the "artsy" side of  our brains! I already  have 2 people  ( Ha ha! Never mind the fact that they are my sisters!)  that are  ready to do a  watercolor postcard exchange with me, so I am really excited to get started!

 Here are my thoughts for watercolor studies...
1.  Start sketching areas of interest in  my county (Amelia Court House, VA ) particularly old buildings.
2.  Use my Kokeshi doll collection for a definite "series"...(see below for my first catastrophe!)
3.  Whimsies (see above--they look rather stiff, don't they???) no matter...I love whimsical paintings...you can find tons and tons of ideas on Pinterest
4.  I can't think of more at the moment...why not leave me a comment with some ideas??


Here is Ms. Kokeshi...with a rather large, uneven eye there...


Unfortunately...I didn't stretch the paper before I decided to do my outstanding ;-), wash...hmmm...I think that maybe there is more to this watercolor thing than I first thought....


It's ok  if I fail...I have 29 more blank watercolor paper postcards!  Besides that, the folks I'm sending these little "gems" of "art" to,  love me!

Have you thought of trying something new?    Maybe it is watercolors...or Spencerian  writing... whatever you do, just have fun with it...and get out there and do it!  And oh, don't forget to put your very short letter on the back of your postcard!

Write Letters
Write Often

Lady Pamela

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