Making Monday #49

Summer is in full swing, and in some places we are even starting to see some back to school goodies! I feel like my summer just got started and we are taking full advantage! Lots of lake trips, beach days, and camping is planned for my little family.

We made it through a lot of parties with some lovely help from Y'ALL being fantastic co-hosts! We love working with all of you and will be talking about taking up co-hosts again in the future. If y'all are interested be sure to let us know!


This is a party where you can find fun new creative ideas and tasty recipes shared by amazingly talented people. Every Monday bloggers stop by to link up their posts and share with all you party goers. By joining in {both bloggers and non-bloggers} you will discover new blogs, be inspired to make something new, try a yummy new recipe, and most importantly make new friends!
This party is hosted by Gracie and me, and your projects will be shared on both of our blogs. We love that you're here and we love featuring you on our social media so be sure to follow us so you can see if your post gets shared!
We also pin to our Making Monday Pinterest board and we'd love to have you follow along! This is a place you can find projects from all the previous parties, too, so it is like a party every day!

This is what your hostesses have been up to lately:



Here is another quicky watercolor lesson for you future artists! I've really enjoyed these exercises and this Watercolor Wash Exercise is sure to get you painting smoothly in no time!

Lori has been out and about enjoying her summer too, so be sure to swing on by and show her some summer love :)

Bright and Beautiful Life 

These are the fabulous features for this week, chosen by Gracie:

 #1 We are all busy this summer and enjoying life, so why not capture it with your I-phone camera?! Here are a few Tips and Tricks for I-phone Photography.
#2 Who feels the pressure to have blog-ready perfect projects all the time? Well DIY Homegirl is sharing How to be an Imperfect DIY'er and it is super inspiring!!
#3 How many pretty jars have you tossed because of candle wax? Well stop tossing those babies because Crafty Journal is sharing How to Remove Candle Wax Easily.


#4 who's hungry?! This recipe for an Easy Blueberry Dump Cake is making me drool! 
#5 Oh my lanta this Creamy Lemon Berry Tartlet is stunning, and making me drool too! I'm gonna need to get a napkin here soon ;) 


We hope that you guys are loving this party as much as we are! Can't get over all the awesome stuff that gets shared week after week!
If you were one of the features PLEASE grab a button and share it with some friends.
Kitchen Table Art
   And don't forget if you didn't make it as a feature this week to check out the Pin board and to keep linking up, next week could be you!
Kitchen Table Art

Don't forget to check out our Pinterest board where we pin plenty of projects from each party!
MakingMondayGuidelines


photo gracie-sig_zps2d86285f.jpg

Watercolor Washes

Woot woot 3rd art lesson is here!! And yep it is more on watercolor, geapers I never thought about how much went in to a watercolor before you could just make a painting. But writing these posts for you are sure helping me hone my techniques and create better end products! So thanks for the reminders ;)


Watercolor washes are used when you want to cover a large area with a single color. You typically use a large, flat brush that can hold lots of pigment. There are a couple different types of washes, including a flat wash, and a graded wash, which are the two I'm sharing with you now! 


I started off sketching a square for me to fill in with my pigment. It gave me an even starting and ending point, obviously, I didn't care to cut in the final edge but I still got the gist of covering a large surface. But you can always just wing it if you want :)

Once you are ready to start fill your large flat brush with a dark pigment. (Using a darker pigment allows you to see the variations in the wash easier). 

Line your brush edge up with the edge of your painting surface and pull across with your brush at an angle that allows most of your bristles to touch the paper. 


After your first line is laid, quickly refill your brush and start your second row by overlapping the first just a bit. By overlapping you are opening up the pigment from the first line to allowing it to blend smoothly with the new line. continue this until you fill your box!

Then allow your nicely painted box to dry. Once the pigment is dry you will be able to see how "flat" your wash is. If you had puddles of pigment or high spots you will see a variation, keep trying until you get a smooth service, sometimes it takes lots of practice! 


For the graded wash I started off the same, by drawing a box for myself to fill in with pigment. However, instead of loading up my brush and hitting the paper I first puddle 4 different variations of my color. You can create variations in your color by adding white or by simply changing the ration of pigment and water. The less water you have the darker/brighter your pigment will be, the more water you add the lighter and softer your color will be. 


Once you have your 4 colors puddled you can start just the same as when doing your flat wash. 
By pulling your pigment across your square and overlapping each line. Just remember to refill your brush from a different puddle each time. 

This will create an ombre affect down your square. You can use water to go in and help smooth out your edges if you can still see the transition from line to line.

Once your pigment is dry you will have a smooth gradient from light to dark to start your painting! 



So there you have it! 2 simple ways to cover large amounts of paper! Be sure to play around and see how your washes will butt up to other colors and how you can combined some of your strokes from the previous Brush Strokes post on top of these washes. Just remember if your pigment isn't fully dry before going over the top it will muddy up with other pigments! 
photo gracie-sig_zps2d86285f.jpg
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