Water Colour Note Cards

 Here is the post I mentioned yesterday.  I hadn't deleted it after all, just hid it in the drafts.

I made these cards for my new niece's parents in Italy.  I wanted to do scenes that depicted Canada.  Initially, I thought I'd do one for each province then I decided to do scenes that were reminiscent of mainly Saskatchewan and Alberta.  The exceptions to this were the Canadian flag and the lighthouse (that makes me think of the East coast). 
 As you will see from the descriptions in the captions, I used a variety of stamps to make up for my lack of talent for freehand drawing.  The technique I used was learned by watching the videos by Bonnie Krebs, the founder and owner of Art Impressions.  I also drew on my minimal talent and the few lessons I've taken in water colouring - mostly for the backgrounds.  I did attempt a bit of freehand with the flag and northern lights using pictures found on the internet as references.
 The markers I used were Marvy, and Distress.  Both these brands are great for this technique as they both react well with water.  I also may have used the odd Memento marker but I'm not sure.  My desk was well littered with markers by the time I finished these even though I did attempt to keep everything put away as I went.  The paper I used was Strathmore cold press 140 lb. water colour paper.
 All in all, I'm quite pleased with how they turned out (with the exception of the northern lights - I'm not at all sure I like this one but friends did like it so I included it in the gift box of cards).
 I find this technique to be very relaxing and a lot of fun.  I've done several of them now and they all turn out different even when using the same stamps.
 I hope you will tune into the AI videos on either their website or on U-tube.  Bonnie does an amazing job of teaching!
 I welcome your comments and critiques!  I'm still relatively new to water colouring so any hints you may have to offer will be appreciated.
 Have a sunny day!

Autumn farm.  Stamps used - AI (art impressions) watercolour barn and other.  Coloured with Marvy water based markers and a water brush.

Tiger lilies.  I don't remember the company for the stamp used.  Coloured with a variety of  markers.

 

Canadian flag.  Freehand watercolour.  Again I used a variety of markers.

Northern lights.  Freehand water colour

Deer in field. Freehand and stamped (AI wc stamps)

Mountain lake.  Stamped with AI wc stamps and water coloured using a variety of markers

Lighthouse over calm waters.  Stamp used GKD (Gina K Designs).  Again, I used a variety of water based markers.



Flowers in wheelbarrow.  AI stamps and various markers.