Happy Valentine’s Day! Don’t you just love love!? Whether you’re spending today with a partner, friend, or showing yourself some love I hope you are having a wonderful day.
These little flowers were painted using Prima’s Pastel Watercolor Confection set. If you’d like a discount on your own set, use the code ‘BrownPaperBunny15%’ to get 15% off Prima products here.
Watch the time-lapse video below to see how it all comes together.
Please note: This blog post contains affiliate links, which help pay for the upkeep of this site. That being said, I will never, ever promote anything I am not 100% in love with!
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Don’t you just love love?! Today I’m going to show you how to create a Valentine’s Day wreath that you could use on a card, or as a gift for someone special. Here’s what you’ll need to get started:
The first step in drawing your Valentine’s wreath is to trace a circle (I used an upside-down bowl) then start drawing flowers and leaves around the circle, using your Mono Graph Mechanical Pencil.
Next, add your lightest color of Dual Brush Pen on the outlines of your flower petals, and use a wet paintbrush to blend it. This will give you a nice soft background color. Watch the time-lapse video below to see how it all comes together.
Once the first layer of ink is dry you can repeat with darker shades in certain areas. I chose to draw stylized chrysanthemums, what’s your favorite flower? Let me know in the comments!
I added a quote to the center, and outlined the flowers and leaves using Mono Drawing Pens. Do you have a favorite quote or saying about love?
I follow some amazing fashion illustrators on Instagram and I wanted to share a few of them with you. They have a wide variety of styles and use different mediums from watercolor and ink, to gouache, pastels, and digital. In no particular order, here are ten of my favorites. Let me know in the comments if you have any to add!
Jennifer predominantly illustrates digitally these days and can be found illustrating red carpet looks, the royal family, through to some of our feminist heroes such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She has a cute, lovable style that always feels fresh and modern.
Lydia is a UK-based illustrator who mostly draws digitally but still maintains a sense of traditional artwork in all of her pieces, with ink splatters, watercolor backgrounds and soft pencil lines.
Jill creates wedding and fashion illustrations with bold, minimalist lines, giving a striking and modern feel to her work.
Flavia’s style is whimsical and adorable, whether she’s using bright colors or sticking to monochromatic pieces. She illustrates both digitally and traditionally and is based in the UK. Make sure to check out her outfit of the day series.
Angie is based in Melbourne, Australia and both illustrates and teaches fashion illustration. She primarily illustrates using traditional methods and her work has a wonderful balance of detail and suggestive elements.
Alina is a Russian-based illustrator whose wonderful use of color and playful expressions will have you scrolling and scrolling through her account. She primarily illustrates digitally, and her work always has a polished and professional feel.
Julia’s illustration is soft and romantic. She predominantly illustrates in pencil and adds an incredible realism and level of detail to all of her work, often with bold pops of color.
Katie is based in New York, and works in a variety of mediums from pastel, to watercolor, to digital, to found objects. Her style is dreamy and romantic, while still being rich and colorful. Check out her account for wonderful studio and behind-the-scenes images as well.
Alison’s illustrations are always modern and filled with life. You’ll see soft spots of color and bold lines in her work. She has a wonderful range of greeting cards and other products too.
Meagan travels frequently and her fashion illustrations will transport you to the location that inspired them. Her work is bold, colorful and thoroughly enjoyable!
Jessica’s illustrations are bold and modern. Primarily created digitally she always has a great sense of movement instilled in her work.
If you’re not already following me on Instagram, here’s where you can find me! I’m a Seattle-based fashion illustrator and I primarily paint ink or watercolor fashion illustrations. I have a love of bright colors and whimsical styles. I create fashion illustrations for brands, social media, packaging, and live events.
Please note: This blog post contains affiliate links, which help pay for the upkeep of this site. That being said, I will never, ever promote anything I am not 100% in love with!
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This week I want to show you how to start an art journal. Last year was my first time using one and I found it such a freeing way to be creative, even when I wasn't feeling the creative bug biting, or to warm up before I started drawing or painting. I want to encourage you to start one if you haven't already!
Notebook or Sketchbook (get one with multimedia paper for versatility)
Scissors
Embellishments (photos, scrap paper, washi tape etc)
Your art journal is your safe space to do whatever you like. If you want to fill it with shopping lists, dreams you've had, photos of your dog, go right ahead! If you're feeling a bit stuck and aren't sure where to start, here is a list I have taped to the inside back cover of my journal. Whenever I feel like working in it, but inspiration isn't striking, I just choose something from the list:
Stick something onto a page
Make a page with only purple / pink / blue / green things
Draw everything you ate today (or want to eat)
Write your favorite word, over and over in different styles
Choose a color that matches your mood and fill a page with it
Make color swatches of your pens and paints
Draw yourself with different hairstyles
Record your favorite recipe using only drawings
Create a map of your neighborhood
Look around you to find something to draw
Fill a whole page with drawings of leaves
Journal about something that happened this week
Write a list:
Your favorite TV shows of all time
10 places you'd like to visit
Everything in your purse
People from history you admire
Books you've read this year
Things you'd like to try
Your favorite songs
Things you need to do this week
Your all-time favorite movies
10 things that make you happy
One of my favorite ways to start a page is to mix Tombow Dual Brush Pen colors with water, right on the paper. Start by scribbling the first color loosely over the page, then add a second (and maybe a third) color over the top. Then use a wet paintbrush to blend it all together. I tend to gravitate towards spiral-bound watercolor or mixed media sketchbooks because they handle wet mediums better than regular paper. Tip: use small bulldog clips to hold your paper flat if you're using water or paint.
Pages of my art journal are filled with stamps, scraps of paper, cards I've gotten, packaging I particularly liked and things I find throughout the day. My favorite adhesive to use is Tombow Mono Adhesive Dots because it won't warp the paper of your art journal, and it isn't messy like wet glues or glue sticks. Sometimes I'll stick something onto a page and then use it as inspiration for a drawing or pattern. Other times I'll dedicate a whole page to a particular color and throughout the year, as I find things in that color I stick them in.
Another fun thing to do in your art journal is to create swatch charts of your art supplies. It's a useful reference, as well as just being a lot of fun! Create fun shapes or drawings for each color, or just scribble the color down on the page and label each one. Try mixing and layering colors and taking note of the combinations you like.
It can be fun to see how different your art journalling is from season to season. Mark the start of a new season with a dedicated page or spread.
Do you have other suggestions for ways to art journal, or prompts to get started? Leave a comment and let me know!
Please note: This blog post contains affiliate links, which help pay for the upkeep of this site. That being said, I will never, ever promote anything I am not 100% in love with!
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One of my absolute favorite things is blending markers with water (specifically Tombow Dual Brush Pens) to create soft backgrounds you can draw over. Let me show you how I do it.
Watercolor Paper
Paintbrush
Start by scribbling some Dual Brush Pen colors, that you'd like to blend, onto your blending palette. Then wet your paintbrush and blend the colors together until you have the shade you want. Next, use the paintbrush to paint the ink from your blending palette onto your watercolor paper to create a soft, watercolor-look background.
If you want a little more variation in your background color, repeat step one with a different shade of the same color, or a color you think will go nicely with the first color you painted onto the paper. I used yellow, blues and greens for my leaves and pinks and yellow for my flowers. Add your new color to your existing ink on the paper while it is still wet, and watch the colors blend together!
Once your background colors are dry go back in with either the bullet or the brush tip of your Dual Brush Pen and add details over the top. This adds some nice contrast to the soft background. And there you have it — I hope blending markers with water will become one of your favorite ways to create too!
I’d love to see what you create, tag @BrownPaperBunny on social media so I can take a look!
The weather here in Seattle has been particularly rainy of late, so I’ve been spending a lot more time inside. It’s not all gloomy though, more time at home means more time to create art! So I’ve been doing a lot more watercolor fashion illustrations to warm up, and thought I’d share a couple of them with you.
These first two were loosely inspired by Blaire Eadie, who I’ve been following on Instagram for years now.
I painted these next two while watching the Golden Globes. I would have painted every single dress that walked down the red carpet if I’d had the time, they were all so lovely!
Did you watch the Golden Globes this year?
Because I so often paint with Prima Watercolor Confections set they’ve given me a 15% off coupon to share with you. I believe it works on all Prima products, so use the code ‘BrownPaperBunny15%’ on your next purchase to save some dollars!
Please note: This blog post contains affiliate links, which help pay for the upkeep of this site. That being said, I will never, ever promote anything I am not 100% in love with!
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Today I’m going to show you how I turned these super cute Clique Kits papers and cutouts into bookends for our travel-themed guest room. Here’s what you’ll need to create your own:
Scissors
Cardboard or a Pre-Made Box
You’ll also need something heavy to put inside — I used rocks that my husband has been collecting on our travels.
To put together your bookends, start by making an open box out of thick cardboard (I cut up an old delivery box). I left tabs on each edge, to make it easy to glue the sides together. I used Multi XL Liquid Glue because I needed a strong bond between the pieces of cardboard.
Next, cover the box in your cute scrapbooking paper. For this step I used Mono Dots Adhesive because it rolls on smoothly and won’t buckle or warp your paper. Once I’d covered the box I added embellishments and stickers on each side, then filled it with the rock mementos we’d collected on our travels.
I’m already planning other projects I can use my Clique Kits on. Next I’m going to create a cute travel-themed border for some travel pics I want to frame. What projects would you use these cute papers and embellishments on? Share your ideas in the comments.
Please note: This blog post contains affiliate links, which help pay for the upkeep of this site. That being said, I will never, ever promote anything I am not 100% in love with!
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With New Year's just around the corner, there are lots of parties being planned and resolutions being made. So why not combine the two?! Set up a table with these cute New Year's Resolution Cards so people can write theirs down and mail it to themselves (so it doesn't get lost in all the merriment). Here's what you'll need to get started.
Watercolor paper or card
Envelopes + Stamps
Ruler
Scissors
Glitter
Scribble some ink onto your XL Blending Palette, using your favorite color Dual Brush Pen. Then spritz the ink with water and lay your piece of watercolor paper down on top of the ink. Carefully pull it off and leave it ink-side-up to dry. You can watch a video of this technique over on my Instagram account.
Once your watercolor-look paper is dry you can either repeat the process on the back, or leave it white. Then cut your paper up into any size cards you'd like, just be sure they fit into the envelopes you have.
Use your colored Fudenosuke pens to write on the front of the cards. You can write 'My 2019 Resolutions' like I have, or come up with something different. Leave the 2019 blank, or just in pencil, ready for the next step.
Use your Mono Aqua Liquid Glue to write 2019, then sprinkle some glitter over the glue. Wait until it has dried completely before you shake and brush off any excess glitter.
Once the glue on the front is completely dry, turn the cards over and use the small end of your Dual Brush Pen and a ruler to draw lines on the back. This will make it easier for people to write their resolutions.
Now you're ready to set up a resolutions table at your party! Stock it with your New Year's resolution cards, envelopes, cute stamps, and pens. If you have some extra time, wrap a shoebox in gift-wrap, and cut a slot in the top for people to put their sealed envelopes. The next day, after a sleep-in and you have suitably recovered from all the party merriment, mail off the cards to everyone.
