Inks & Illustrations

Whenever I hear stories of mailmen forgetting to deliver mail or UPS recklessly throwing packages onto people's porches, I always am reminded how great the postal workers in my area are. If you're anything like me and frequently order packages online, postal workers become an integral part of your life. This may sound dramatic, but I get super excited when I see a package in my mailbox or on my doorstep when I arrive home from work, just as the online tracking had predicted. Or when I receive a letter I had been expecting, tucked safely away in my mailbox. With cold weather well on it's way, and the holidays approaching, I thought a  DIY Postman Thank You Card would be the perfect tutorial to create. 1. Gather your supplies For this tutorial you will need a waterproof black ink pen (I like Sakura Pigma Micron Pens in Size 01), watercolors of your choice, a small watercolor brush or two and a blank watercolor card of any size. I used an announcement size card. Y...

Long time, no blog post! I recently rediscovered my hobby of watercolors so I'm back painting, and back on the blog - yay! Today I will be reviewing the Daniel Smith Extra Fine Essentials Introductory Watercolor Set.  It comes with (6) 5mL tubes of paint: (3) cool primary colors: Hansa Yellow Light, Quinacridone Rose, and Phthalo Blue (GS)  (3) warm  primary colors: New Gamboge, Pyrrol Scarlet, and French Ultramarine Daniel Smith watercolors are one of the go-to choices when it comes to artist grade watercolors so I wanted to try them out for myself...on a budget. Buying these colors individually would cost you around 40 dollars, while you can get them as a set for $32-$34.  Enough savings to buy yourself a new paint brush, so it's definitely a reasonable price if you're just starting out with artist grade watercolors (like myself). Let's take a look at the colors and how they perform: If you find yourself running ...

EDIT (11/20/17): This post needs to be updated! I believe they sell their paints directly on their website now and announce shop updates via an emails newsletter. It's finally here! I'm super excited to write this review for several reasons: 1. I've been eyeing these watercolors on etsy/instagram/facebook for months and was lucky enough to purchase a set last week. 2. There aren't too many thorough reviews written on these paints and I wanted to provide my two cents on them. Before I get started, I have to say, these paints are a little tricky to purchase.  The watercolors are pricey because they are artist grade, handmade and time-consuming to make. Just a handful of these colorful sets are available at a time on the etsy shop.  In addition, they sell out very quickly - only a few minutes after the shop is updated.  So how did I manage to finally purchase one?  My biggest tip is to follow them on instagram , ...

November is here, and everything around me feels like quintessential autumn. I decided to do a small watercolor of the Monarch Butterfly, which have such beautiful rich tones on their wings. The finished project is below! Watercolors used: Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolors Brushes used: Winsor & Newton Cotman 111 round brush and one stroke brush.