Hydrangea Hype and Second Chances

Hello everyone!  Happy Friday to you!  This week I was playing again with some watercolouring and this gorgeous new image from Power Poppy called Hydrangea Hype.  I happen to love hydrangeas and their beautiful bountiful petals in such lush varieties of colours, so I could not wait to try my hand at them.  

Now I find that if I’ve been away from using a medium for awhile, it takes me a bit to warm up, so I began my watercolouring the first card on the left.  I wanted to make the petals a variety of colours so I used different washes to bring colour, but as I was working I feel like I had too heavy a hand with my paint especially on the leaves.  I eventually fiddled with it until I am ok with it, but I also decided to start all over again with a lighter hand - thus the second card on the right.  

So, we’ll start with the bolder card.  Isn’t it a gorgeous image?  I printed this one on Arches Cold Pressed 90 lb paper with a darker ink, so you can see the definition in the outline of the petals and sentiment quite well.  I used Daniel Smith Fine Watercolors and a 0 brush, so I could get into the nooks and crannies.   I sewed the image onto a layer of stencil sponged cardstock, and then added some iridescent holeless sequins to accent here and there.  

My style of watercolor (when I’m doing it right!) makes use of a lot of highlight and contrast to create the feeling of light and depth, but you can see there a a few spots that the paint is heavy, my petal colours are uneven, where my washes aren’t as even as I like, and that removes those highlight I love so much.  But, watercolor takes time and I hated to waste the image, and it still makes a cheerful card, even if it’s imperfect.    

Next up is the softer version.  This image was printed in a lighter transparency so it already gives the image a softer look - almost no-line.  From a watercolor style perspective, this one is a bit more successful.  My leaves are much better, the washes are more even and there is a more ethereal look to the petals.  I’ve placed the image on an embossed background which I splattered some glimmer spray and leftover paint.  

A bit of twine and those same iridescent sequins for soft pizzazz!  

So, hopefully you can give some project of yours a second chance and grow your skills in a medium you love!  

Check out my Bloomie Sister in action today...

Stacy Morgan