Draw an enchanted pumpkin house

Draw an enchanted pumpkin house

Have you ever seen a pumpkin house? I’d sure love to stumble on one while walking in a forest!

After creating watercolor pumpkins in my previous post – as well as a beginner watercolor class at Artventure – I thought I’d tickle the fancy of my alcohol marker friends. Maybe YOU will be inspired to try one! In the video I list a bunch of ideas for ways you can customize your own, and I’ll add more in this post after you see the video.

Tutorial: Draw an enchanted pumpkin house

Watch the video below and scroll to the end to leave comments or questions — or click HERE to watch it on YouTube and leave comments over there. I read both dutifully!

Customize your own pumpkin house

There are so many ways you can change up a pumpkin house drawing and make it your own:

  1. Google for pumpkin colors. There are blues, yellows, whites, stripes…..
  2. Google for pumpkin shapes too! Short and squat, concave or convex, perfectly round. Lots of options!
  3. Change the architecture. Use your grandma’s house or a favorite castle as inspiration!
  4. Give it a yard. Maybe a fence, a garden? What else could you add?
  5. Add a character! How about a mouse who needs a home?
  6. Change the time of day or weather. Sunshine? Rainy day? 

SALE!

This week only, both of the Enchantment classes are on sale. And if you get both together, you’ll get an automatic 5% off at checkout.

Copic Enchantment

This Level 4 class will teach students how to create 10 magical scenes, in a “slimline” (3.75 x 8.5) format perfect for cardmaking – but easily adaptable for animé artists too! Half are horizontal, half vertical scenes – and all can be adapted or just portions used for other size formats and art as well!

$52.99 $49.99

Winter Copic Enchantment

This Level 4 class will teach students how to create 10 wintry magical scenes, in a “slimline” (3.75 x 8.5) format perfect for cardmaking – but easily adaptable for animé artists too! Half are horizontal, half vertical – and all can be adapted or just portions used for other size formats and art as well!

$52.99 $49.99

Fresh Pumpkins Watercolor

This new watercolor class is for beginners! Join Artventure for free, then look in the menu bar on the left for the class. It’s only a few bucks for four pumpkins!

What features would you add to your pumpkin house?

Even if you don’t plan to draw one, add some ideas to the comments and maybe someone else will be inspired!

Supplies

Some product may be provided by manufacturers for review and use. Compensated affiliate links are here at no cost to you. I appreciate your support of my work with your purchases! Full affiliate and product disclosure | My trusted partners in art

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How to Watercolor Pumpkins

How to Watercolor Pumpkins

Is it too early to watercolor pumpkins??? I sure hope not; our weather feels like fall this week and I’m totally thrilled with it!

I’ve always been fascinated with the crazy varieties of pumpkins….there are so many colors, shapes, and patterns. The photo reference I found is of Lady Godiva pumpkins, a rare breed, taken by an Austrian photographer.

Tutorial: How to Watercolor Pumpkins

Watch the video below and scroll to the end to leave comments or questions — or click HERE to watch it on YouTube and leave comments over there. I read both dutifully!

Fresh Pumpkins for beginners

I know the Lady Godivas are a challenge – and not many will try them. But lots of other pumpkins are paintable! 

I put together a little “snack” of a class with this still life broken into 6 steps so you can follow along easily! It’s at Artventure, NOT Art-Classes—the password is different, and it won’t show up in your courses list at Art-Classes. 

Join by tapping here then look for the class in the left menu; if Apple hasn’t approved it yet by this morning, it’ll be soon; you can go to the browser version of https://artventure.mn.co/ and purchase it there, then find it in your app.

This course benefits the community at Artventure; I need help paying for it, so every class you take makes the community possible!

Get a print

Visit Society6 to get a print, framed or not – or a little mini! I’m ordering one for my desk as fall decor.

Vacation starting

I’m heading out on a plane later today to go see mom! Please be patient as I’ll be a bit slow in replying to email and social. I’ve got content scheduled for next week so hang in and enjoy!

Supplies

Some product may be provided by manufacturers for review and use. Compensated affiliate links are here at no cost to you. I appreciate your support of my work with your purchases! Full affiliate and product disclosure | My trusted partners in art

  1. Arches Cold Press sheets
  2. House of Hoffman Palette 
  3. Daniel Smith Watercolors
    1. New Gamboge
    2. Quinacridone Rose
    3. Cobalt Blue
    4. Lunar Blue
  4. Winsor Newton Kolinsky Sable Series 7 Round #8
  5. Da Vinci Maestro Kolinsky Sable Round 4
  6. Da Vinci Mottler Flat Wash
  7. Da Vinci Series 17 Maestro Long Needle, Size 9

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I learned to draw from a 1972 puzzle book! (watercolor dog portrait)

I learned to draw from a 1972 puzzle book! (watercolor dog portrait)

Let’s see how many readers have been around the block a few times….do you remember those ads in the backs of comic books and puzzle books? The ones touting art instruction scholarships or talent assessments?

This is not me, it’s a photoshopped image. But I kinda needed this little walk down memory lane!

Do you remember these kinds of ads? Did you ever “apply” to see if you had talent? I definitely remember Winky for sure, laboring to get that eye just right in drawing after drawing so I could be “seen” by all the right famous artists! ha!

I am STILL waiting for America’s 12 Most Famous Artists to get back to me and tell me I have piles and piles of natural talent….alas…..

Well I wasn’t discovered back then. But I still read those ads, and sent in to a bunch. I had hope! But the thing that I now realize as a mature artist that I didn’t know as a kid—there was an art puzzle that totally taught me a ton about drawing without realizing it. 

Tutorial: I learned to draw from a 1972 puzzle book! (watercolor dog portrait)

I packed a ton of info in a 12 minute video. The best bit comes at the end so stick around!

Watch the video below and scroll to the end to leave comments or questions — or click HERE to watch it on YouTube and leave comments over there. I read both dutifully!

Happy Gotcha Day, G and V!

My babies arrived in 2016….hard to believe it’s been so long!

And now….classes!

I do hope these are worth the wait, some of you have been asking for years and years for this! I have a folder with over 30 more dog pics, and if these classes are popular I’ll get to them sooner – if you have a request for a breed, let me know!

Canine Companions I

Graphite & Watercolor Dog Portraits

Learn to draw three dog breeds first, then watercolor them to end up with lovely portraits of a Jack Russel Terrier, a Silver Lab, and a Yorkie! Gain sketching and painting skills that apply to all your art.

$39.99

*if purchasing 2 Canine Companions classes at the same time, you’ll receive 5% off both!

Canine Companions II

Graphite & Watercolor Dog Portraits

Learn to draw three dog breeds first, then watercolor them to end up with lovely portraits of a Basset Hound, a Boxer pup, and a Cattle dog! Gain sketching and painting skills that apply to all your art.

$39.99

*if purchasing 2 Pencil Pups classes at the same time, you’ll receive 5% off both!

Pencil Pups I

Graphite Dog Portraits

Learn to draw three dog breeds in graphite pencil: a Jack Russel Terrier, a Silver Lab, and a Yorkie! The course teaches sketching each dog, discussing how to render shapes, shadows, muscles, fur, and more.

$25.99

*if purchasing 2 Pencil Pups classes at the same time, you’ll receive 5% off both!

Pencil Pups II

Graphite Dog Portraits

Learn to draw three dog breeds in graphite pencil: a Basset Hound, a Boxer pup, and a Cattle dog! The course teaches sketching each dog, discussing how to render shapes, shadows, muscles, fur, and more.

$25.99

*if purchasing 2 Canine Companions classes at the same time, you’ll receive 5% off both!

Mystery Grid

This Mystery Grid is a throwback to my childhood when I loved puzzle books and got a thrill when one of these “grids” showed up in one. It’s how I grew to understand how the grid method works for transferring a photo or sketch into a larger size on a piece of paper—and you can download this one to try out! Instructions are in the PDF. Great project for young artists, too!

$00.00

WHEW!

It felt like a marathon getting all this ready before my upcoming trip – I hope my dog peeps are ready to have some fun!

Supplies

Some product may be provided by manufacturers for review and use. Compensated affiliate links are here at no cost to you. I appreciate your support of my work with your purchases! Full affiliate and product disclosure | My trusted partners in art

  1. Caran d’Ache Grafwood Pencils
  2. Pencil Extender
  3. Faber Castell Kneaded Eraser 
  4. Electric Eraser, Mont Marte
  5. Arches Hot Press Sheet
  6. Daniel Smith Watercolors
  7. Winsor Newton Kolinsky Sable Series 7 Round #8
  8. Da Vinci Maestro Kolinsky Sable Round 4

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How to draw on your kicks! (alcohol markers)

How to draw on your kicks! (alcohol markers)

Have you ever wanted to draw on your kicks? (That’s your shoes.)

About a year ago, today’s project was birthed, but didn’t happen til today; I had visited Old School Shoes in Santa Cruz, CA, and on a whim I asked if they had any “orphan” shoes. Like a leftover single shoe no one had thrown out, but couldn’t sell because there’s only one. They sent me home with a pair that just needed laundered – and thus today, I finally get to share my new kicks!

Tutorial: How to draw on your kicks in alcohol marker

I’ll be using alcohol markers; if you want to use paint, then google for the right kind, I did see there are lots of recommendations out there, but I didn’t feel like buying something new for my shoes.

Watch the video below and scroll to the end to leave comments or questions — or click HERE to watch it on YouTube and leave comments over there. I read both dutifully!

Sunflower shoes

This was my first pair; I discovered just how soft the color blends, which is great except for detail, you have to add black pen. Use something waterproof so your shoes won’t run in the rain.

Also – do the color work first. The sharpie did bleed a little when I added color atop it. It’s possible giving it more time to dry would help, but test it to be sure.

Galaxy shoes

This design worked great for the soft blends! Lots of pretty colors make them a rainbow! You can create all kinds of gorgeous blends whether making it a sky or not – do rainbows, soft flowers, whatever you like! For the stars I used acrylic white, in hopes it’s permanent.

My doodled kicks

I’m so excited – I never once owned a pair of hightops! Glad I at least snuck that in under the wire before a full six decades passed. LOL. I used one of my favorite doodles as inspiration for the lines, and colors had to include the trim color on the shows – reds and blues (which I translated as a blue violet). And added my signature yellow.

UPDATE:

I wore my shoes for dogwalks a time or two, but just last night I wore them to an art festival/wine tasting. It was a swankier community so wearing the PF Flyers stood out among the nicer-dressed crowd. One guy ran up to me and asked if those are “real” PF Flyers? And could I run and jump farther and faster now? It was kinda hilarious – but I felt VERY cool wearing my new kicks!

What would you draw on shoes?

If you try it I’d love to see what you make! Tag me on social or email what you create….by the way kids can do this too, it’d make them so proud to wear shoes to school that they made!

Supplies

Some product may be provided by manufacturers for review and use. Compensated affiliate links are here at no cost to you. I appreciate your support of my work with your purchases! Full affiliate and product disclosure | My trusted partners in art

Subscribe to receive blog posts by email:

Having trouble finding Ohuhu blending groups? I hear ya!

Having trouble finding Ohuhu blending groups? I hear ya!

For something a little different today – a “talkie!” Just chatting, no tutorial, but I hope there’s something in here that helps everyone learn a little bit.  Pull up a chair and let’s chat!

Vlog: HELP! Color selection in Ohuhu markers (hex chart)

Watch the video below and scroll to the end to leave comments or questions — or click HERE to watch it on YouTube and leave comments over there. I read both dutifully!

Thoughts from the cutting room floor

Originally this was an even longer video, believe it or not! Gah! Craziness. I apparently had a lot to say!

This is a government/business issue, not a people issue.

The people who live in any countries with the aforementioned terrible practices are NOT at fault. Please do NOT attribute characteristics of the unethical businesses and governments to the average citizens in these countries or in your own. We have enough of that going on. Don’t blame the wrong people for the misdeeds.

Costing us art supply companies

A big thing that I decided to cut because I think it was implied: these companies who steal intellectual property are putting art and especially small craft companies out of business. If you’ve noticed a bunch going under in recent years, that’s often a part of it. These manufacturers are stuck either paying legal bills to try to get these fake products removed from these horrible websites, or they just leave it there and lose customers who won’t come back to shop at their own store anymore, because they only shop from thieves around the world to get themselves a deal.

We can help keep our favorite maufacturers and retailers in business by taking care where we buy from.

Exceptions to every rule

There ARE products made in unethical countries all over the world that ARE clear of the kind of corruption mentioned.  Not everyone is on the take. There are even some products I use regularly that were invented in and sold by companies within corrupt countries—but they came up with something new and unique in the marketplace. I’m not at all against that!

I’m also not an avid researcher of EVERY single item I purchase; plenty of good companies source some portion of materials from unethical places, and mircomanaging everyone’s supply chain is not what I’m advocating. 

But products that should cost much more but carry a dollar store price always do raise my spidey sense. If it looks like a dodgy item, it’s safe to assume there’s more to the story. Feel free to give them the benefit of the doubt if you’re comfortable doing so, but I personally find another product to purchase.

My own policy

I don’t knowingly promote any product that benefits from their Human Rights violations or commits Intellectual Property theft. (I’m not perfect at finding out all the details on every company, and every time Amazon is involved there’s a risk since it’s hard to go track down information.)

I also don’t promote product that I simply do not think is worth you spending your money on—unless I tell you don’t buy this $125 ballpoint pen. You certainly may buy anything you wish, but I don’t need to be part of that food chain, so generally I ignore not-good supplies rather than providing them oxygen.

I get 5-1o emails a DAY from foreign dodgy companies wanting me to promote their stolen goods, and it’s exhausting. Their marketing is insane. Ads chase me on Instagram and Facebook, and I hardly scroll my feed any more because of it! Any company that hounds me that way gets the “talk to the hand” treatment. Ohuhu hasn’t been as bad as others, but they did fall into the too-many-ads category and I had to mark them as spam on Instagram.

If any companies ARE really reading my blog like they tell me they are (ha!)….please just stop emailing me. Engage with my social posts and YT videos in comments, let’s get to know each other, THEN you can email me. Cold emails get you nowhere but my block list. Thanks.

So I can sleep at night…..

Since I do not want to profit from products I do not believe in, I’m doing two things:

  1. I’ve donated my set of markers and a bunch of sketchbooks to our family homeless shelter, and I’m hoping some young person with talent finds them and uses them to lift their family out of poverty.
  2. I’ll be donating the profits from the Ohuhu Honolulu Hex Chart to Human Rights Watch. 

I think that’ll help me get better sleep.

Ohuhu Hex Chart – Honolulu Set

Purchase a downloadable hex chart for Ohuhu’s Honolulu set of alcohol markers – included are both a blank one to color with your own markers, and a completed one to print for reference.

How to Use a Hex Chart Class

In this color course, learn all about ways to use the Hex Charts for alcohol markers or colored pencils to choose the right colors! Includes discussion of color theory as we examine photos and learn terminology like hue, value, saturation, temperature, and more.

Helpful?

I hope this was helpful – if you have further questions please don’t hesitate to ask. 🙂

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