Saturday, May 21, 2016

The Smoky Mountains in Watercolor

Have you ever been to the Smoky Mountains?  If not you're missing out on something beautiful!  We had a chance to go there again not too long ago to celebrate my hubby's 50th birthday a little early.  My In-laws invited all of my hubby's siblings and spouses for a wonderful and relaxing vacation to Tennessee.  We stayed in a cabin that was pretty high up and we had three different levels in our cabin that we could look out on every morning and evening.  We had a couple of beautiful sunsets to watch that's for sure!




Since I definitely needed to write a thank you to them I thought, "Why not try to watercolor the Smoky Mountains for my thank you card".  Now I can't say they look like this at all, but for my first try I didn't think they turned out too bad.  And let's just say I added things here and there that I wasn't planning on adding and did a bit of trimming by the time it was done! lol  Now I can't forget to add that the sketch for this card was inspired by Freshly Made Sketches #237 and I turned it on its side.  It doesn't match the sketch exactly either because I trimmed it down more than I originally planned on because there were just some areas that I did not like, so off they went!   
The two mountain ranges in the back were made using the same color even though they look different.  Since the sunset was pink when I added the blue it turned a lavender color.  Then it turned purple the next time because the lavender was there and when I added more blue it turned purple.  Then I mixed a bit of blue and green for the middle mountain range.  I added a bit  more green to the mixture and yet a lot more for the final front mountain range.  It was definitely a live and learn (really paint and learn) experience for this picture, but I wasn't about to start over after all the work I had put into it!


Yes, believe it or not these are the colors I used.  By mixing them I came up with colors that were not anything like the original.  I have to say it was pretty fun seeing the colors that were made each time I added a new color.



Thanks for looking and have a great day!
Sara

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Supplies used on this card:



15 comments:

  1. Wow! This is one of the most beautiful landscape cards I've ever seen! I saw the mountains instantly before reading about it! You capture this idea perfectly! Did you use watercolor paper or shimmery white?

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    1. Holly, thanks so much for your kind words! They made my day. :) I used watercolor paper on this card. Thanks for stopping in and sharing with me. :)

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  2. This is a work of art! What a beautiful scene you created! So glad you shared it at FMS!

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    1. Thank you very much, Linda! I so appreciate your kind words! :)

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  3. Beautiful card! I love those mountains! What a gorgeous scene you've created! Thanks for joining us this week at Freshly Made Sketches!

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  4. Gorgeous scene! You are very talented at watercolouring. :)

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  5. Hi Sara, Did you use torn paper to make the mountains? And what did you use for the foreground "bushes"? I LOVE the Smoky Mountains and I'd love to create something like this!!!!

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    1. Hi Linda...I didn't use torn paper for the mountains. I actually used a sheet of watercolor paper for the whole scene. I painted the sky, then the mountains. Basically I started at the top of the paper and moved my way down. With the sky I went back to the blue and added more in after the pink. That's how it ended up with the streaks. I made sure each layer was completely dry before adding the next one except the second to last one. That one was just a touch damp when I added the very front color. The trees and bushes ended up looking that way on their own. I think it's because I had added color and water so many times before the paper just had enough and bubbled my ink out a bit. The color is a lot of Mossy Meadow with a bit of Marina Mist and Mint Macaron if I remember correctly. It was all pretty much trial and error, but I learned how to paint my mountains from this video (so glad people are willing to share how they do things!!)...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgStWLaAUi8. I hope this helps! Let me know if you have anymore questions. :)

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    2. THANK YOU! I watched the video - I guess I've just not used nearly enough water. The AquaPainter is perfect for this though. Did you tape your watercolor paper down so it wouldn't curl?

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    3. Oh - and did you use the heat tool to speed up the drying? Didn't know if that would move the water around....

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    4. You're welcome! Isn't great when people post videos? It has helped me a lot. Yes, you do need to use a lot of water. That was something I had to learn too. You're right about the aqua painter. I use it just as much if not more than a regular paint brush. I did tape my watercolor paper down. When I know what I'm doing I use it to mask my "painting" so it looks framed. With this card I used masking tape, but when it was done I trimmed it down to take off what I didn't like. I definitely use my heat tool!! When I'm working on something I want to keep going with it instead of waiting for it to dry. If it's super wet (you can see a puddle of water) I usually try to dab it off. That will move around a lot with the heat blowing on it if you don't. If you need more color after dabbing that bit of water off just add some more. I find that my watercolor paper still curls a little (bubbles up), but the tape helps. Since I'm working on small pieces I just run it through my big shot to straighten it back out once it's dry. :)

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    5. I can't WAIT to try this!! I can't today, but you can bet I will tomorrow afternoon! Woooohoo!

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Thank you for your comments. I read everyone! If you ever wonder how I've made something I'd be glad to let you know! Sara

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