2016 Watercolor Calendar - May

We're up to May in our watercolor calendar and today I have a bit of mixed media going on.  Don't worry if you don't have the exact same supplies...use what you have :)

I wanted to create depth and texture prior to adding the color medium because when you do so you get some really cool pooling of color around the texture.  I used both Creative Medium from IMAGINE Crafts and Modeling Paste by DecoArt Media.  You could also use gesso in place of either.

For this example I taped the piece down...sometimes I prefer to leave it loose so I can manipulate the water/color medium by lifting it up and tilting here and there. 

Apply the gesso, Creative Medium, and/or modeling paste over some of your favorite stencils.  Both of these are The Crafter's Workshop.  Let your chosen medium dry. 

For my watercolor today I decided to use Magenta's Nuance powders but you could also use Color Burst, Bister or Brushos as well.  If you don't have a powdered watercolor medium you could achieve a similar effect with watercolor paints and a brush. You would do so by flooding your paper with water; load up your brush with lots of color and float it around the page as desired.  You can add one or more color but be sure not to go overboard and create mud.

Once it has dried you can remove the tape.

I added a bit of detail by adding a bit of ink through a stencil here and there over the panel.

The calendar page was made in the same way.

I ended up using 4 Nuance colors for the calendar page since it was larger.

A bit of text...

And for this example I added a touch of DecoArt's silver Metallics paint to the harlequin.

Don't forget to use a few tags to sop up the excess watercolor medium.

Are you enjoying this calendar so far? 

I know I am having fun making it...hope you are too.