Watercolor Painting Demonstraton: A Sunset View of the Blue Ridge Mountains in a Narrated Time-Lapse Video Tutorial

Sunset in the Blue Ridge Mountains, A Watercolor Painting Tutorial

This week I recorded a time-lapse video while I created a landscape watercolor painting step-by-step, from beginning to end. During each step of the tutorial/demonstration, I narrated my process to help you learn how to paint better watercolor paintings. The demo covers creating a watercolor sunset glow in a landscape, painting layers of mountain ranges, painting a figure into a landscape, and using shadows to make your painting stand out. 

I set the mood with some relaxing piano music so you can feel soothed while you learn to paint with watercolors, or simply enjoy watching the painting come to life.

To take things a step further, I also included a note at the end of the time-lapse (and at the end of this post) with the names of all of the paints that I used while painting this demo, including brand names and pigment codes. Why do I include brand names and pigment information? Because watercolor pigments often vary among manufacturers. That's not to say one is better than another, but they are different and will look and behave differently. Sometimes brands will sell the same pigment under different names, as well, so I've learned to always know what pigments are in my watercolor paint tubes, and not just the name of the color!

 

This painting is available for sale in my Etsy Shop.

Colors Used in this Painting

Cobalt Blue – PB 28 – American Journey

Ultramarine Blue – PB 29 – American Journey

Joe's Red – PR 254 – American Journey

Pyrrol Crimson – PR 264 – Daniel Smith

Quinacridone Gold – PO 49 – Daniel Smith

Transparent Red Oxide – PR 101 – Daniel Smith

Sepia – PBk + PBr 7 – American Journey

A Watercolor Time-Lapse Video—My first!

Last week recorded my first-ever watercolor painting demo video and uploaded it onto my YouTube channel as a time-lapse video. It was fun to do and a bit exciting to see the result!

I painted this watercolor demonstration in about 30 minutes and the time-lapse video of the painting process ended up being just under 3 minutes.  The painting is a landscape of the Blue Ridge Mountains with green tree branches in the foreground. I plan to create more watercolor painting videos in the future, so I'm definitely interested in hearing what kind of demos and paintings fans of my art would like to see!

As is always the case when I try something new, I learned a lot from my first watercolor demo video. For instance, the work is far from over when you're finished recording the video. I gained a lot of new video-editing skills as I learned to adjust cropping, lighting, and colors in Photoshop CS6 (luckily it's very much the same as editing photos, once you learn the ins and outs of working with videos in Photoshop), as well as how to create and join other video clips and images together. It was so much fun and I can't wait to do more with my new abilities!

So after you watch the video below, please leave your thoughts in the comments. Let me know how I'm doing so far and what you'd like to see in the future!

Color Reference for Watercolors: How to Create Your Own Guide

It's been a loooong time since I posted anything here on my blog. Ok, almost three years. But a lot of people ask me why I stopped blogging, and tell me that I've helped them, so I'm going to try to get back into the habit. Here is something that I find really useful and I decided to share.

 

The more you know about the watercolors on your palette, the better. If you have all of their properties in your head, you can make much faster and better decisions as to how to use them. And it's fun to play with them anyway, so that's a bonus. Watercolor paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-based solution, and the various pigments have different qualities. The most obvious variation is the color, or hue, but there are other variations, such as transparency, permanence, and value. Knowing how to expect your pigments to behave is a crucial step in learning to create better watercolor paintings.

To create my guide, I started by cutting out a long, thin piece of watercolor paper. Mine is about 3 x 7 inches, but the length of yours will depend on how many different colors you intend to test. If you're not sure, you can just cut more paper than you need, and trim off the excess later. Next, I drew a thick vertical line with a black sharpie about 1/4 of the way over from the left edge of the paper. This line will help you learn about the transparency of your watercolor pigments.

The next step is to mix small puddles of your chosen colors. Each of your puddles (or washes) should be about the same consistency. You don't want any of them to be significantly thicker or thinner than the others. You can mix them one-by-one or all at once, just as long as they are pretty consistent. Dip one of your smaller brushes into the first puddle, and carefully paint a steady line of color across the black line. Make the lines of color long enough to be able to create another vertical line to the right of the black one (you'll find out why in a minute). Continue this process with each of your colors, making sure to thoroughly rinse your brush after each stroke. I chose to go in order of colors because it makes it so much easier for me to compare similar hues. As you go, label your colors with a fine-tipped pen, so you don't forget what any of them are. Once you have painted all of your colorful lines, let them air dry. (You may use a hairdryer to speed things up.)

For the final step, take a stiff-bristled brush, get it good and wet (not dripping), and use it to scrub away some of the paint. Start at the top, and make a vertical "scrubbing" line all the way to the bottom. Try to use the same amount of pressure and scrubbing all the way down the paper, so you don't end up with some colors that were scrubbed more than others. When you get down to the bottom, use a tissue or dry paper towel to blot up the water and lifted paint. Any old brush with stiff hair will work for this step, as long as you don't mind abusing it. I like to use the Fritch Scrubber brushes made by Cheap Joe's Art Stuff (no paid affiliation, but they are an awesome company; their owner, Joe, is a true friend to artists everywhere). They sell a few different sizes and I use them in my own paintings all the time. The scrubbing teaches you about the permanence of your pigments. As you can see in Example A., some of the colors will readily disappear, while others are certain that they are here to stay.

At this point you will have a reference guide that will tell you a lot about your watercolors. However, I decided to go one step further. I made a black and white copy of my chart (Example B). What is the purpose? Well, it helps me see the inherent differences in value that each of the colors have. As you probably know, you can make your colors darker or lighter in value by adding less or more water to the paints, but some colors are simply lighter or darker than others. A good example is yellow, which, by itself, will never be able to be a dark value.

Ever since I made my own guide, I find that I use it all the time. No matter how well I think I know my paints, it's great to have all of the information right there in front of me when making important painting decisions. I've pinned both pieces of paper right on my studio wall for easy reference.

Thanks for reading! If you found this article useful, please comment, follow and/or check out my other posts!

Laura

Behind the scenes- The Four Seasons

This week I decided to paint four 5x7-inch watercolors to depict the four seasons. 

When I do art shows I have a few framed sets of four giclées that I offer, and people always ask me if I have one that has all four seasons in it. I'm very happy to say that I no longer have to tell them, "I'm sorry, but no." 

I decided to do the same landscape in each painting, but to make it appear to have been done from slightly different distances and angles, as if they were done at four different times. Today I'm not going to show you step-by-step painting steps for my watercolors, but I'm going to share with you some of the planning that went into these paintings. 

I started with this little value sketch that I did in Glen Ayre, NC last year. 

From this sketch I created four new value drawings depicting what the four seasons might look like in this location. These were to be used as plans for the four completed paintings, and were done slightly smaller than the completed paintings.

I also made a plan for the colors I would use in each scene.

I decided to make each painting 5x7 inches. I taped town four pieces of paper and drew in the outline of each scene. Two of them are upside down in the photo because I wanted to be able to work on each of them without leaning over the others.

And here are the completed paintings! I used American Journey paints from Cheap Joe's Art Stuff for the most part, as well as transparent oxide red and quinacridone gold from Daniel Smith.

Winter

Spring

Summer

Autumn

I will also make giclée prints of these paintings and offer them as framed sets in a vertical format. I hope you enjoyed seeing a little bit of the planning that went into my "Seasons" paintings! 

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You can also see more artwork on my website at www.LauraPoss.com 

Four Little Birds- A Commissioned Project

Near the end of last year I painted four little winter bird watercolor paintings that were each 8 x 10 inches. I made giclée reproductions of my little bird paintings and began offering them in a few different sizes.
In the smallest sized giclee, which is 3 ½ x 5 inches, I started framing and selling the four little birds together as a vertical set. The four birds look really nice in the small size, and all grouped together.

Clockwise from top left they are a Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren, Tufted Titmouse, and Northern Cardinal.

  Then, at an art show last April, I had a customer come in to my booth who wanted the original bird paintings, but he wanted them in the small size and he wanted them framed together like the set of giclées. So he commissioned me to paint four original watercolors, based on my own 8x10-inch paintings, but only 3½ x 5 inches each. Of course, I agreed! And I took photos of the process and will now share them with you..

First I trimmed my watercolor paper to the correct sizes, and then taped them all to my gatorboard. I penciled in the bird shapes and the main branches, then started with loose washes of transparent oxide red (Daniel Smith) and cobalt blue (American Journey) to create the soft background.

 I continued laying in washes of the same colors in the background, and sprinkled some salt into the wet paint here and there to create texture and the appearance of background snowflakes. I chose to do the background in multiple layers to create depth with the overlapping shades. Once I was satisfied with the background washes, I used a fritch scrubber brush to lift out the shapes of the lighter background branches and  foreground snowflakes. I also laid in the first appearance of color on the bodies of the birds and foreground branches.

I continued painting the colors of the birds and foreground branches, using the same technique of layering washes, letting each wash dry in between. (A hairdryer helps to speed this along.)And here you can see the four watercolor paintings completed and signed, but still taped to the gatorboard. Note-at the end I used a white gel pen to add some of the white detail on the cardinal's wing.

Framed and ready to go!

 My husband, John made a lovely frame for the little birds, and double matted them with a black inner mat and a speckled off-white outer mat.
And now these little guys are being shipped to their new home in the state of Maine!


Thank you for reading my blog and I hope you find it helpful!

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Today I was on the Good Morning Show!

Pro Panel skirts: A Sewing Project

Today I'm going to tell you about how I made attractive and useful "skirts" for my Pro Panels.

If you read my blog, you might remember that I bought Pro Panels for my art booth last year. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, you can read about it here.)

Pro Panels are carpet-covered display walls that can be put up and taken down easily to display various kinds of art. I use mine to hang my framed watercolor artwork at arts & craft shows. The Pro Panels have adjustable legs to hold them up off the ground. When the legs are extended, you can see underneath my panels and into the next artist's booth, or into any storage areas that I may have. I wanted an attractive way to solve this problem, so I decided to make removable skirts that would attach to the bottoms of my panels and hide whatever was on the other side. Pro Panels does sell a type of removable covering on their website, by the way, but their covers are very plain, and I wanted something better-looking.

I purchased some pretty upholstery fabric online, designed a pattern, and set to work. I chose upholstery fabric because it looks more upscale, and the heaviness of it prevents my skirts from blowing around at outdoor shows. They retain their shape nicely wherever I go. I also decided that they would attach to the Pro Panels along the bottom by fastening them to the back of the panels with Velcro. This meant that they would need to be tall enough to overlap the back of the panels. My panels are 38 1/2 inches wide, and I usually set the legs about a foot or so from the ground. After a little bit of trial and error, I also decided that they needed to be a little bit wider than the width of the panels, to ensure good coverage. My completed skirts measure 14 1/2" tall and 40" wide.

So... I cut large rectangles out of my fabric (18 1/2" x 43 1/2"), and hemmed them as shown.

First I hemmed the sides.

Then I hemmed the top and bottom.
I made the hem the largest on the bottom (2") to make it look nice and professional.

For each hem, it is necessary to first measure, then pin, then iron in a crease. Then do the second fold. Pin it and iron it. Then sew a straight stitch all the way from one end to the other. If you are using upholstery fabric, like I am, don't forget to buy upholstery or heavy-duty thread! Once you have hemmed all four sides of your skirt, sew the velcro all the way across the top of the skirt. I sewed mine to the front of the skirts so that I could attach them to the back of the Pro Panels.

Three sides done.. measuring for the bottom hem.




Finished skirts!

Thanks so much for reading my blog and I hope you found my instructions helpful! I would love to read your comments, and would be glad to answer any questions.

My watercolor art site: www.lauraposs.com

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My new skirts in action! :D

Booth Upgrade, Step 2: A New Display Canopy!

So.. I published step one of my booth upgrade last April with the intentions of moving on with step two the following week. That was about 5 months ago. Pathetic, I know.. but, hey! I've been busy; what can I say? But I do know how to stick with a topic, no matter how long it takes. So, without further ado...

Art Booth Upgrade- Step Two: A New Display Canopy!

When I started doing art shows in 2009, I needed a tent to use. After shopping around, I purchased one of the nicer EZ-Up tents. Not the kind with the colored top and the legs that sprawl outward from the top, but a white one with zippered walls that you can roll up and fasten at the top when you're not using them. I was so pleased with it. It even had an awning that stuck out above the front entrance.

Here's a photo of the tent in action, at my very first show.

Not too shabby, eh? So it wasn't the best setup ever, but it was a start. And I continued to use that tent very happily for the next two years. The only real complaint I had about it was that the roof would puddle and sag when it rained very much, and it could cause the water to drip through. But this could be fixed by using some pool noodles to prop it up at the corners.

So why did I need a new tent? I found out last April. I was doing my first outdoor show of the year in Charlotte, NC, and there had been a storm overnight and through the early morning. We set up late because of the nasty weather. My husband, John, and I had just finished placing the last of the merchandise. Then, all of a sudden, a big gust of wind came along. The wind caught the underside of the EZ-Up's roof, and I saw one leg of the tent begin to lift up in the air. I immediately grabbed the leg and held it down to the ground. The gust of wind passed, but it was too late. The tent had knocked into my ProPanel display walls and sent them tumbling to the ground like dominoes. It was a horrific scene. Artwork and panels were lying everywhere, and matted prints and bookmarks were blowing down the sidewalk. Thankfully many of our neighbors came to help (Thank you, neighbors!!), and we were able to pack up and remove our things with very little damage. The Pro Panels are not very heavy, and covered in carpet, and they seemed to cushion the fall for the framed artwork, because none of the glass broke.

However, we did learn a lesson. We didn't trust our EZ-Up anymore. So for the rest of the weekend John researched all the choices available, and we decided to purchase a Trimline Canopy from Flourish. It is a superior canopy to any other that I have seen, and the company was so helpful. They knew we had another show that weekend, and shipped it out right away so that we had it before our next show. Apparently they get a lot of Monday morning calls from artists who have lost their display to bad weather and feeble tents, and are happy to be the ones to the rescue.

Here is a photo of the Trimline in action:

The new canopy does take a lot longer to set up. It comes in pieces that you assemble, rather than a pop-up sort of design, but that 's why it's so strong. It is also made of much thicker, stronger materials, has far better zippers, and the wind/heat vents on the gable ends are really helpful. Even the awning is far better. The old one would sag, especially in the rain, but not the Trimline awning! They have tons of optional accessories, too. We chose the frosty top and awning to let more light in, and added a stay-bar kit to help stabilize the legs. You can also order extra awnings for the sides and back, and lots of other great stuff. It's all on the Flourish website at www.flourish.com.

Questions? Comments? I want to hear them!!

And when you're through, would you mind stopping by my facebook page and "liking" it? www.facebook.com/lposs.art Gracias, Amigos! :D

Booth Upgrade Step One- Pro Panels!!

If you follow my facebook page, you may already be aware that my art show booth has undergone some major changes over the past few months. First I bought Pro Panels in February. That was enough to really improve the the appearance of my display, but I didn't stop there. Last week I also purchased a new canopy, and it feels like a new booth! It is a new booth! The difference it has made has been tremendous, and I'm so pleased with the choices that I made, that I wanted to share them with you.

The photo on the above shows my booth last October with my old grid walls.

I've wanted Pro Panels for a long time. As soon as my husband, John, and I started participating in art shows with my watercolors, we noticed that the really professional-looking artists had "those carpet-covered walls". If you don't already know, you can probably guess that they are not cheap. They're totally worth the price, if you ask me... but weren't in my budget yet. As a beginning artist I purchased black metal "grid walls", and I stuck with them for a couple of years. They work fine, and are sturdy, but not so attractive or lightweight as Pro Panels.


So... I was really excited when John found a large set of Pro Panels and accessories on eBay for an awesome price! They were all the way in Connecticut, 700 miles away, but we both felt like a road trip, and they were such an a great deal, so we decided to drive there and back quickly, with one overnight stay.

Here we go, and boy, am I glad John does all the driving! I get to look out the window and take pictures..

Since we found the panels online, we were a little worried on the way, that they wouldn't be in good shape, or some other problem would occur. But we worried for nothing... the panels were in excellent shape, were a fantastic value, and came with more pieces than we expected! Of course we didn't pay for them until we saw them. I wouldn't recommend anyone make such a purchase sight unseen. If the panels weren't what we expected, at least we would only be out a fun road trip!

Speaking of which... our trip took us through New York City and Philadelphia. We'd never been to either city before, so we took advantage of the situation. We stopped in Philly on the way, and got cheesesteaks from Campo's (oh, they were delicious!!), and we spent the night at the Day's Inn in Queens! (comfy, but we only stayed a few hours, so we would have time to see a few sights!)

We saw Times Square at night, and the next morning we drove around Manhattan, and saw ground zero, and the Empire State Building, and rode the Staten Island Ferry right past the Statue of Liberty, and basically had an awesome time! I even did a little sketch of Manhattan in my travel journal while we were on the ferry.


I've done a few shows since we replaced our grid walls with Pro Panels, and I think they look fantastic. I really think they were worth every penny and I bet that I will find that the improvement in the appearance of my booth will boost my sales, too. I've been getting a lot of compliments from my customers, so I think they agree! What do you think?

The photos below show my booth "before", with grid walls, and "after" with Pro Panels.



After you leave your comments below, check out my facebook page for more photos and info, or visit my website, LauraPoss.com. Thanks!

PS- If you want to see more photos from my trip, click here:I ♥ NY Photos
Click here to zoom into the future and read my post about making skirts for my Pro Panels.

My new endeavor: A fine art giclee studio in what used to be my guestroom.

So, I'm embarking on a big new endeavor.

I'm going to be printing my own fine art giclées at home. Giclée (pronounced Zhee-clay) is a digital inkjet process using advanced technology to create a lustrous, continuous-tone print that is as good, or usually better, than the quality of traditional lithography or offset printing. They are basically the high-definition prints of the art world. And best of all, you can print them on watercolor paper, giving them a huge benefit when it comes to looking like the real thing.

So I bought new printer with eleven different ink cartridges and a price tag that makes me feel a little faint. It is an Epson Stylus Pro 4900: It is truly state of the art and completely massive. It arrived on a big truck the other day, bigger than the ups or Fedex truck. I bet those guys had never driven down a driveway like mine! (Yes, that photo is my actual driveway.) Delivery people are always shaking their heads a us, so we're used to it.




Continuing on... the box was HUGE!!!! We had tried to prepare ourselves for how large it was going to be, but we did not succeed. Here's my husband, John with the printer still in the box.

Once we got over our astonishment at the size of the box, we opened it up. It was nicely packaged with Styrofoam, but still took up most of the box.

Purchasing this printer has opened up a whole new world to us already, and we haven't even turned it on, yet. To be able to use it to it's capabilities, we have bought a new computer and monitor. We have also been shopping for all sorts of new things like watercolor printing paper, giant ink cartridges, and all sorts of cables and wires for our various new hardware devices.


We also converted our guest room into an office for our printing. We wanted a room that we didn't use for anything else, and where our pets weren't allowed, so that the printer wouldn't be exposed to pet hair or any more dust than necessary. You can see how huge the it is here. We made a nice, sturdy stand for it out of 2 x 4s and 1 x 12s so it wouldn't shake around while it works.

I'll follow up with more articles later, once I fire it up and learn how to use it!

When you're done leaving your comments or questions below, see more at lauraposs.com


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Five (More) Things I Have Learned Participating in Art Shows

So, it's been a bit too long since I have blogged. Sorry, I have no profound reason, just busy, I guess.
My most popular post ever was the one I did about the Ten Lessons I learned at Art Shows and Festivals, so I've been thinking maybe I should expand on that.

Here are Five More Things I Have Learned Participating in Art Shows and Festivals.

1. Avoid shows that are not well established in their area. If it's a first or second year, especially, most of the people there will be surprised to find the show, and you'll hear a lot of comments like, "Wow, I didn't even know this was going on! Is it just today?"

2. People will ask you all sorts of questions. They will want to know how you made your craft, how long it takes for you to make a piece, how long you have been creating art in your medium of choice, why you started in the first place, what kind of training you have or haven't had, and so many more things. They aren't necisarily looking for a particular answer, they're just curious to learn more about you and your craft, so don't get too nervous about things like whether or not you've had training, just be prepared with an intelligent answer and you'll be fine. What I hate is when I fumble for an answer to a question I hadn't thought of. That's the worst.

3. People love to tell little stories about their own experiences. So listen to their stories. Listen for clues about what they like, so you can use that info to help them find something you are selling that they would like to purchase.

4. Just because someone has looked at your display does not mean that they have understood everything they have seen. It is very likely that they did not even read that lovely sign that you made telling them about your prices or policies or drawing attention to a special deal you are offering. You might want to point it out to them verbally. Obviously you can't point out everything to everyone, but you can start with one thing and work from there.

And last, but far from least:

5. How you arrange your products has everything to do with how many people stop to look at them. People are especially attracted to items that are grouped into like colors, as color is a major factor for most people when they are deciding whether or not an item matches their taste and decor or wardrobe. It is important to put as much effort as you can into arranging your display. Set it up at home if you can and re-arrange until you are satisfied it is the best you can do. Think of how a successful retail store arranges their products. Study them, because they know what they are doing.

What do you do when you don't feel creative?

I want to ask you readers a question today!

What do you do when you need to get some art work done, and you just don't feel creative? I know I have done some of my best and some of my worst work during times like this!

For example, sometimes "forcing it" ruins my creativity and makes my work come out stale and boring. This isn't always the case, though! Sometimes I have a deadline to finish a project, and I just can't quit, and the pressure to keep going forces me to "loosen up" with my paintings, stop analyzing every brushstroke, and work with more intensity. One thing is for sure.. when I need to get in the mood to paint, nothing helps like cranking up my favorite music!

So what about you? What do you do when you don't feel creative? Do you come back later, or do you have some tricks up your sleeve to get the creative juices flowing? Please leave your questions or comments below!

When you're through leaving your comment(s), check out my website at lauraposs.com

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Value Studies

A value study is a great way to prepare for a new painting, and helps ensure that you will get the result you want when you paint your final painting. A value study is a sketch using only one color. Usually it will be smaller than the final painting, and done far more quickly. The advantage of a value study is that you take the focus off of the colors, and put it on placement and values.

I read about value studies many times before I tried it myself. I did one for the first time while at a workshop with Joe Miller. Now I consider it an important step in my artistic process.

I almost always do a value study of some kind for every larger painting, even if it's only with a regular pencil and shading. They're not always pretty, and are usually done very quickly. Pencil value studies, I spend maybe 2-5 minutes. If I paint it, maybe 15-20 minutes.

*Tip- If you do value studies with paint, don't choose a light color on your palette! You won't be able to create values that are very dark with a light color! My favorite choices for value studies in watercolor are ultramarine, burnt umber, sap green, and quinacradone gold.

The pics I have here are some of my favorites I've done. (And least sloppy!) I hope you enjoy them, and find them useful to get you started practicing your own value studies! :)

As always, happy painting! Leave your comments or questions below... don't be shy! I want to hear from you!

If you like, please also visit my website at www.lauraposs.com.

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Musings on Painting

“Painting is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do.” This quote by Edgar Degas has been on my mind all day. I have found it to be so true.

When I first began painting, all I had to worry about was making the painting look "pretty". I used colors that pleased me and chose compositions from photos I liked.

Now that I have far more experience, I have learned that there's so much more to worry about! Sometimes I get really frustrated trying to create paintings with optimum composition, correct values, proper use of color and hue, and on and on it goes.

What do you think about this? Should one try to follow established "rules" to create art? Is it better to ignore the rules and simply follow your intuition and create something that pleases you? I want to hear your opinions!

To see my art, new and old, please visit my website www.lauraposs.com.

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How to stretch watercolor paper

Stretching watercolor paper keeps it from buckling while you are painting on it. It is not necessary for 300-pound paper, but lighter papers will buckle when they get wet. 300 pound paper gets expensive, so many watercolor artists buy 140- pound paper and stretch it to a hard surface.

There are lots of ways to do this. Today I'm going to share with you how I do it. I drew some little doodles in my notebook to help you see what I mean.

You need a hard backing surface to stretch the paper to. I use gatorboard (aka. gatorfoam board). Gatorboard is similar to a super-thick piece of foam board, but it has a much stronger outer surface that will hold up a lot longer than foam board. It's lightweight, easy to staple (and remove staples from), and doesn't mind getting soaked, so it's perfect for this purpose. (You can find it at various art supply stores under different names, or you can order gatorboard from Cheap Joes Art Stuff, at http://www.cheapjoes.com- my favorite place!)

Other supplies: water, stapler and staples, masking tape or artist's tape, watercolor paper


Steps:

1. First I cut my paper to the size I need, and lay my gatorboard flat on a table or counter.

2. Next I hold the paper under cool, running water in the sink or bathtub, moving it around until it's thoroughly wet everywhere on both sides. I really let it run over it for a couple of minutes on both sides, so it gets nice and soaked. (Some artists choose to actually soak their paper in a tub of water.) After I've done this on both sides of the paper, I hold it up by one corner and let the water run off until it stops running and starts dripping. Then I hold the opposite corner up for a few seconds, so the excess water settles back onto the paper more evenly (vs. being pooled in one corner).

 

3. Then I lay the paper flat on top of the gatorboard and start to watch what happens. (Note- loose sheets of watercolor paper should be the same on both sides. Paper removed from a block or pad may have a front and back side.) As it buckles (ie. creates big wrinkles or waves), I tug gently on the sides to flatten it back out. If some areas (like corners) are drying to the point where they lose their sheen while other places are still very wet, I'll mist them with a spritz bottle to make them shiny again. Once most or all of the paper has absorbed the excess water and is no longer shiny, it's time to start stapling it down.

4. I start stapling the paper to the gatorboard along the outer edges of the paper. First I put a staple in the middle of one of the shorter sides of the paper. Then I turn the board around, pull on the opposite side until the paper is taut, and put a staple directly across the page from the first one. When pulling the paper tight, I tug on it just enough to see it strain against the staple. If you pull more, it will tear the staple out. Next, I repeat the process on the longer two sides of the paper, starting in the middle of one side, then pulling taut and doing the opposite staple. I do the corners next, using the same process of pulling the paper taut each time. It's a bit like stretching a canvas or even something like a drum.

If by the time I've stapled the centers of all four sides and corners, one of the first staples needs to be adjusted, I just pull it out with my fingernails, pull the page taut, and put another staple in. For a large piece of paper, I'll often do 3 staples in the middle of each side before moving onto the corners, such as in the drawing below.

Once the centers and corners are finished, I simply go around the rest of the paper edges with my stapler, placing staples about 1/2-inch apart al the way around the page. If I do them too far apart, sometimes wrinkles/buckles will pop up between staples as the paper is drying and that's frustrating.

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5. Next I just have to let the paper dry completely before it's ready to use. This can be sped up with a hair dryer, if desired. Don't try to draw on it until it's completely dried!

6. For a finishing touch, I tape the edges of my paper with masking or artist's tape, covering the edge of the paper and all the staples. This keeps water and paint from running under the paper while I'm painting, and also makes a nice clean edge all around my painting when I am done. When I finish painting, I simply remove the tape, pull the paper off the board, and remove the staples. (You can remove the staples first if it's easier. I have a tool that makes it easier to remove them after taking the paper off the board.)

Happy painting! Leave your comments or questions below... don't be shy! I want to hear from you!

My art: lauraposs.com

Etsy shop: lauraposs.etsy.com

Facebook: facebook.com/lposs.art

My first impressions of Etsy

I recently embarked on a new venture... the wide world of Etsy. If you don't know, Etsy is a website that provides internet "shops" to small business people who are selling their own handmade items, vintage items (at least 20 years old), or craft supplies. It's a little like ebay, except crafty!. It's a lot like a regular craft show, except online instead of outside, and instead of paying large booth fees, you pay a small listing fee (20 cents per item, for a four-month listing), and then a small percentage of the sale price when you sell an item (3.5%). There are no membership fees or other fees for your shop, which makes it very accessible for everyone.

My first impressions of Etsy? I love it! ♥

Here are some of the things I like so far.
The shops are well organized and easy to navigate. For each item you list, you are allowed to upload 5 photos for no extra fee. (If you've ever listed with e-bay, you'll appreciate that!) You are able to create all your own "shop policies" to determine how shipping, returns, and so on will be handled. There are tons of ways people can find items they're looking for, beyond the old search by name or category. My favorite tool is a page filled with dots of all colors where you can move your curser around the page, and when you see the exact shade of a color you are looking for pop up, you click on it, and then Etsy looks at the thumbnails of all the items currently listed, and shows you any items it finds that have a significant amount of that color. How cool is that??

However, I think the best thing I've found in my first few days at Etsy is all the information they have organized for you to read to help you be more successful. They have a blog and a forum, and they have compiled article after article in one place for you to find and read. These articles are immensely helpful, and it looks to me that they are all written by fellow "etsians" (Etsy buyers and sellers) who have been there, done that, and want to tell someone else how to do it the best way that they found. Very helpful!

If you have bought or sold from Etsy, I'd love to hear how your experience is or was. Don't be shy, let me know with your comments! I appreciate them so much!

My artist website:www.lauraposs.com
My new Etsy shop: www.etsy.com/shop/lauraposs