"Forget me not" part 3 and 4

Good morning .....
well, if you can call a cold ,windy and rainy day good...
UK seems to be skipping most of spring . It feels like winter again and we're having temperatures under 10C/ 50F degrees. Yeah, I turned the heating back on , which I switched off when we had lovely warm weather last week. Some parts of UK reached 27 C /80 F , but then a sudden drop and no more warm weather. Back to warm padded jackets and boots !
Yesterday was my nightshift recovery day and apart from sleeping I always take it easy and don't do many energetic things . In this case I opened up my design programs and actually managed to make not just one, but two new kits :)

With weather like this I need to think warm summer thoughts :)

Not all papers and elements fit onto the previews , so there is a lot which isn't shown on these previews.

I took part in the "Show me your florals" challenge this year and also purchased the 2 available workbooks after the free workbook and challenge. With each workbook also come video lessons with step by step instructions. So during the week I got busy with paper and paints and started working my way through the first book and video.
This is about loose painting style , which is harder than it looks ;)

After painting single flowers as practice it then ended with a floral bouquet composition. 

There is still a bonus lesson and project before I can start the second workbook. Also Skillshare have many new classes out ...I really need more hours in a day to get everything done :) 

OK, let's talk about paints (continued from last post)

Paints in tubes are great ! You only need small amounts and mixing your own colors is easy with them. 

Don't worry about using them all up , they will dry and just re-activate with water. I use 2 different mixing paint palettes. For paints from tubes I use the big one ...

It closes and let's the paints dry , ready for next use. Or sometimes , when I don't need as many colors I use my smaller palette to mix. It's also more convenient for travelling or taking outside.

The brands, I have two examples.
Windsor and Newton are a good buy and value for money.

And Sennelier are excellent quality.
For mixing you really only need the basic colors. Yellow, red and blue. You create all other colors from the basics.

There are other brands , but as usual I'm staying in the medium price range. All pictures are from Amazon again and you will find these products there.
So, I talked about paper, paints and all that's needed now is the brushes. There are so many that it can get confusing. But that's the subject for my next post. To be continued ....

Time now for the freebies

These are the last two parts below.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/keu27xr8wdnl5li/sr_forgetmenot2.zip

http://www.mediafire.com/file/brkm6a830rxrq7d/sr_forgetmenot4.zip

Next week is the start of another freebie again .

 "Dreamscape"

Nope, it's not meant to be religious themed, despite the angels , but you can make it so if you wish.

Here a qp I made with the kit.
Detailed previews next week with the first links .

Until then ... I better get off my butt now and get some housework done :)
Hugs Snowy

"Forget me not " freebie starts

Hi again,
I just read through the comments, and yes....we are having nice weather as well. Although it's not as warm as further inland. Shaun reported 27 degrees Celsius from his day trip , while it was only 18 degrees here at the coast that day. So there is a bit of a difference with that coastal wind here. Still, loving the sunshine! And that sunshine is also the reason I didn't get much painting done. However ,I finished the miniscule calligraphy alphabet and got quite a bit done in my little garden corner. It still doesn't look like much , but give it a few weeks and it will be blooming :)

 I planted a tiny little Christmas tree. It was one of those cheap table decoration trees you can get at the £/$ store. It survived on my windowsill since December and now it was time for a larger pot and the outdoors. We will see how this little guy will be doing ....

I am behind with my watercolor challenge/course, but the good thing is , once signed up to the free challenge I can access the tutorial videos forever.
Here is one of the class results ....watercolor peonies in a loose painting style.
The funny thing is ,I find the loose painting style much harder than the more detailed painting styles, but the point is to learn more than just one style.

I love that I inspire some of you ...thank you :) In a world where computer games and TV rule , i's nice to see that some of us still can be creative with our hands and mind. Don't get me wrong...I love doing some digital design on the laptop from time to time. But years back it was nearly all of my free time I spent designing in PSP ,PS or Poser. Now? I spend a lot less time at the computer and do a lot more different art and crafts. More variety. There is so much to learn, experiment and try out. :)

OK, favorite things time !
Let's talk about paints. Watercolor paints part 1 ...because there is so much to write about those , it won't all fit into one post.
So today I just tell you about my current favorite paints.
There are cheap watercolor paints. they are fine ...really.... but they have very little color pigment in them and more binder. So when they dry they can sometimes appear a little chalky.
The more expensive paints contain a lot more pigment , hence they are more vibrant and richer in color. You need less of them , so they last longer. So cheap isn't really cheap when you consider how much more paint you need to achieve the same color richness and vibrancy on your paper.
My favorites :Prima Marketing Watercolor Confections

Each tin contains 12 colors (but fits a further 6 in the middle if you want to add more) and is about the size of my hand. That means easy to travel with, take out etc.
They come in different themes like "TROPICALS" " "WOODLANDS" "PASTEL DREAMS" or "ODISSEY" .
When a color runs out just buy a replacement half pan , no need to buy a whole new tin. The empty little containers (half pans) are great to put you own color mixes in , so don't throw them away. (I will get to the mixing part in another post)
These paints are medium price range. There are more expensive paints , but these are perfect for someone painting as a hobby or learning.
What about watercolor tubes? I will get to that subject next time....
For now it's time to post the first of the freebie kit.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/tb7gbqf3sjs7uej/sr_forgetmenot1.zip

http://www.mediafire.com/file/jn451qt21s775e7/sr_forgetmenot3.zip

Stay creative and until next post 

Hugs Snowy