Mermaid Dreams

Hey there, Friends!

In case you were struggling with some ugly depressing winter weather and were longing for warmer seas and colors - my Creative Teamie Kelly has just the perfect inspiration for you! ;)

Playing with my Art Alchemy paints and some Art Ingredients magic, Kelly charmed up this super easy to create little cutie that could make an excellent gift for a little girl (or yourself!). :)

 

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Hello lovely readers! 

Can you believe its 2018? Today I sit in my art studio, on a cold and dreary day with hot tea in hand. All can think about is escaping to a warm, tropical island somewhere, and floating in the water like a mermaid. :) Painting one is just the color escape I'm craving...

I chose a 20/20 canvas, but of course you can use any size that you want.

I applied Heavy White Gesso to prime it and then I mixed a few colors of Impasto Paints to create the underwater scene. I started with Cobalt blue, Jade and Snow White (you will find all the product links listed below).

Next, I loosely sketched in my subject with the Snow White paint mixed with water and a number 1 brush. I call this “ghosting”. :)

Don't worry about being too precise at this stage as you will paint over and refine her as you go.

That is the beauty of acrylic paint, you can change the shape and add to it until you're satisfied with the result.

Then I filled in her base colors - her skin, tail, and hair. Again, I delicately “ghosted” in her facial features before I painted them, to make sure I like placement.

Have fun with wild colors, after all mermaids are whimsical... pink hair? Why not?! Your imagination's the limit! :)

Artist tips: 

Keep baby wipes and q-tips on hand. I use them a lot during this phase of the painting. If you don’t like something, it's a bit too big or just looks wrong, wipe it off! Try again, you’ll get it! Her lips took me 3 tries before I was happy!

I also keep a spray bottle of water, paper towels and lots of clean brushes to switch them up. Sometimes a new brush brings new life to a painting!!

Take your time and watch her come to life... that blank canvas now has an adorable mermaid staring at you! :)

I also always outline my children’s illustrative art in black paint with a little water mixed in for easy flow, with a small liner brush.

Then it was time to play with some of the wonderful Art Ingredients to add some special mermaid sparkle.

I applied Soft Matte Gel to her starfish bra and sprinkled on Copper Micro Beads for texture. I painted over that with different Metallique paints to make the starfish really pop. (Don't forget to check out the brand new delicious tones of the Metallique line!)

The tail was so much fun! I started with 3D Gloss Gel over what I had already under painted and I sprinkled Glass Glitter, Teal Mica Powder and turquoise Mica Flakes all over to create scales.

I used 3D Gloss Gel to apply the Melange Art Pebbles all over the canvas which look like perfect bubbles! I smudged some Opal Magic Wax on top of pebbles for shimmer and I also applied it in a swirling motion in the water with my finger.

I wanted this happy mermaid to have a message so I used the lettering stamps from the “Tea on the Deck” set. “Collect blissful moments“ seemed so fitting...

I worked on her hair for a while, adding different shades of pink to create depth and shine.

I applied 3D Gloss Gel all over the canvas in fluid water movement lines, the shine will give it a underwater look.

Painting mermaids always makes me happy. :)

I am giving this one as a gift to my niece. This project could make a fun gift for any little girl... they all love mermaids.

Using Finnabair's Ingredients and bright colored paints really lifted my winter blues mood. I felt like a mermaid for the day and I’m ready to paint another one! Are you? :)

Happy Painting!

Kelly




Products used:

Winter Flowers

Hello my lovely Readers!

Flowers in December? Always! :)

Here's Kelly with her beautiful new creation - and you know what? No excuses here - you will totally feel the urge to grab some paints and a canvas! ;) Kelly's painting is so easy to create and she's also sharing a lot of friendly and helpful hints. Enjoy!

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Hello friends!
Here we are at the end of the year, I hope you have all had a happy and healthy holiday season.
For this month's project I wanted to create something that was simple, fun and full of bright colors. Something cheerful and warming to the soul.

I also really wanted to use and play with Finnabair's Art Alchemy paints - mostly the Impasto line but I couldn't resist a subtle touch of Metallique and Sparks too. :)

1. I started on a birchwood panel, 11/14 in size but you can of course use a canvas too or paint flowers with me on any kind of substrate really. Wherever your inspiration takes you. :)

2. I prepped the board with Soft Gloss Gel to seal in the wood. It ensures the sap won’t seep through later.

I then applied different shades of the Impasto paints in random marks on the board.

3. I used the brushes but for highlights, I also applied  some of the yellow Pure Sunshine Metallique and gold Dragon's Eye Sparks paint here and there with my fingers. Have fun and get messy!

4. Next I mixed the black Impasto paint with a bit of water to make it more fluid and painted with a liner brush the outlines of flowers all over the canvas board.

There is no wrong way to do this, whatever flowers you like! Just make sure there is a lot of them close together & even touching.

5. When the out lines are dry, add a little more of the black impasto paint to your pallete. I used a small flat square brush to fill in all the spaces between the flowers with black paint. It is tedious, but it’s so fun to see the flower color really emerge as you push black into the background. It makes the flowers pop off the canvas!

Artist tip - take your time with outlines and filling background in, it takes time and a slow, steady hand. The reward of all the work is a intricate and unique flower art piece!

6. The final step is use the white Impasto paint to make marks on the black paint and more highlights on the flowers. This is where you piece comes to life!

You can make any marks you want! You can also add words or stamps if you’d like.

I also used 3D Gloss Gel on the flowers when they dried and different colors of Glitter here and there to add sparkle.

You can paint this kind of image over and over and it will look different every time.

Be creative - try a white background with black marks and outlines with the colorful flowers. Play with the shapes of flowers and leaves, add collage elements - there are no limits to your imagination! :)

I think this would also make darling hand made cards on paper too.

I hope you all enjoyed this fun little floral project!

Sometimes it’s hard to make time to create art, but with this kind of project, you can work on a little at a time!

Working in lots of juicy layers of paint is one of my favorite parts of painting.
Plus I had so much fun playing with Finnabairs paints and mediums. I can’t wait for next month! :)

Have the best last week of 2017 and a super creative New Year!
Happy painting!

Xx

Kelly

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