How to Paint: A Butterfly Scene

In addition to the beach scene pot that I shared last week, I painted a butterfly pot as well. 
This post will give you a step by step account that can easily be duplicated 😊

(You can click here to read about the beach scene)

Step 1 - Clear Coat

Just like with the beach scene, 

I went ahead and clear coated this pot (inside and out) as well.

Step 2 - Sky

Using a sky blue, I coated most of the pot leaving just a bit of the terra cotta exposed at the bottom.

Step 3 - Basic Grass

After flipping the pot upside down I covered the remaining bit with a deep grassy green.  No exact line is needed here, keep it easy and wavy.

Step 4 - Grass Detailing

Once the basic grass was dried, I went back and added random strokes of green to serve as individual blades of grass.  Though this step is featured with the pot right side up, I found it easier to accomplish with the pot upside down.

Step 5 - Butterfly Wings

After sketching some generic butterfly shapes in pencil, 

I filled in the wing portions with a lovely shade of purple.

Step 6 -  Details

Once the purple was thoroughly dry I used black to create the body of the insect and pink added interest to the wings.

Step 7 - More Details

The scene didn't feel quite finished to me, so I added a few more details.  Antennae, silver wing spots and a few branches in the grass completed the scene to my liking. 
(Don't forget to protect your painting with another layer or two of clear coat.)

And there you have it, an easy to recreate butterfly meadow 😄

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I hope you enjoyed this painting post, thanks for stopping by!

-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2018

How to Paint: A Beach Scene

I did some painting for Mother's Day gifts recently and I thought I'd share a step by step tutorial so if you want, you can achieve the same look.  I used terra cotta pots for my canvas but many different surfaces will do; paper, vases, bags or...even actual canvas 😁

This post highlights the beach scene that I did, but I'll have another soon with butterflies.  Enjoy!

Step 1 - Clear Coat

The first thing that I did was to spray the pot with a clear coat inside and out.  Terra cotta is water permeable, meaning that water can seep through the material.  I was concerned that once filled with soil, any plant that was watered could potentially allow moisture to flow through the sides of the pot and disrupt the painted design.

Step 2 - Paint the Sky

Using a sky blue paint, I coated the majority of the pot starting at the top.  I also painted a few inches of the inside as well, enough that only the blue color will show once soil is added.  

Tip:  Don't worry about making a perfect stopping line, adding the darker blue water in the next step will even everything out.

Step 3 - Add Waves

Flip your pot over and use a darker shade of blue to create your water (it's much easier to paint this section if the pot is inverted).  Again, don't worry about perfection.  Just create a lazy wavy line to represent your waves.

Step 4 - Add a Beach

Still inverted, I used a sandy beige to create my island beach.  I recommend lightly tracing your beach in pencil first, it makes painting in details much easier.

Note:  I decided to feature the palm tree scene on both sides of the pot so each of the following steps can be repeated.

Step 5 - Paint the Palm Trunk

If you look closely, you can see the pencil outlines of the palm tree that I sketched on top of the beach.  For this step use your choice of brown to fill in the trunk area.

Step 6 - Foliage

Make sure your trunk is all the way dry (😉) and then fill in your palm fronds.

Step 7 - Add Details

A bit of black can be used to detail the palm fronds and a touch of silver to add whitecap waves.  Nothing too perfect, just detail here and there as you see fit.  Don't forget to add another coat or two of clear coat though, to protect your finished design!

And there you have it, an easy to create beach scene 😎

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I hope you enjoyed this painting post, thanks for stopping by!

-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2018

My Life In Pictures: Spring 2018

Spring is definitely and finally here so today I'm sharing a few recent photos from my camera roll.
 I left off my usual watermark, go ahead and save or use them as you wish 😎

Beautiful trees covered in flowers.

Turkey hunting season was here and my Dad likes to hunt down state.  He always brings back specialty chocolates, which I appreciate much more than wild turkey 😉

One of the best parts of spring?  Morrell season!  These wild mushroom are absolutely delicious.  You can purchase them (expensively) in some restaurants and grocery stores, but finding them yourself is a lot more fun.  This batch was found by my Dad and he gave them all to me 😁😁😁

My Mom's pretty pansies.

We have some new friends in one of our front yard bushes 😃

My babies are making sure that I always have a vase full of flowers 😍

These photos were taken by Husby.  It's not uncommon for him to bring me home hand picked bouquets, but sometimes he can't get them to me in time before they would wilt.  In that case, he snaps a few photos and sends me those instead 😍😍😍

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I hope you enjoyed this photo post, thanks for stopping by!

-Jennifer

© Jennifer Adams Flowers 2018