painted leaves

I love autumn and one of my favorite parts of the season is all those fall leaves! For the last few years, it has become a tradition of mine to use those leaves as a surface to create on.

Any shape of size of leaf will work. I typically let the leaves dry out or even press them for about a week or two.

One they are dried out you can paint or draw on the surface! 

The result is a totally unique piece of art!

And for those who ask... no I don't do anything to preserve the leaves. So far my leaves have lasted for years and honestly there is something I love about creating art that is temporary!

Looking for more leaf inspiration?

painted leaves  leaf garland  leaf wreath  paper leaf wreath  paper leaves  painted leaves

happy weekend!

more messy pouches in the shop!

Ok friends, I've got another batch of messy pouches in the shop HERE. Each pouch is hand painted, made from canvas and one of a kind. They always sell out fast so get em' while you can! 

creating with mary- paint brushes for lettering

Hi, friends!

Very often I get asked this question - what type of paintbrushes do I use for lettering?

So today I wanted to take a moment to share with you a peek at my tools!

As you can see from this photo- my brushes are very loved. I always end up leaving them brush-side down in water...this is what typically happens when my son wakes from his nap and I very quickly take off my artist hat to put my mama hat back on. I guess I'm telling you this to say that you don't have to have the best of the very best in order to create beautiful lettering!

I like to keep several different sizes of short handled round brushes on hand for my lettering needs, which vary depending on the project. I find the short handles easiest to work with, especially on smaller canvases or in my art journal.

Dick Blick is my favorite place to order from - so many options! (http://www.dickblick.com/acrylic/brushes/  I am pretty sure I order a different combination of brushes every time. I like to experiment and try new things! Although I do always stay within the acrylic family since I use acrylic paint almost exclusively.

My lettering tends to be on the messy and imperfect side. I rarely ever plan out placement or size, which I love because it helps me to live in the moment of simply just creating.  In creating this way, too, your heart becomes visible rather than your brain. There's something so beautiful about that.

  

The most important piece of advice I have to give when it comes to lettering is just to practice! Practice and then practice some more. Inside each of us lies the most unique and gorgeous hand lettering abilities. This moment/today/this week (whenever you find time to fit it in) is the perfect time to begin. I'd absolutely love to see what you create! Tag me on Instagram so I can follow along! 

You can check out more guest posts from Mary Wangerin HERE

Or you can find Mary:

Over on her website HERE 
Her shop HERE
Instagram HERE

creating with a kid: squish paintings

MY PHILOSOPHY ON CREATING WITH A KID:

My long time readers know I've been making art with Lucy from day one. From riding on my back while I filmed online classes to letting her create with me in the studio, it's been a priority to share the art making process with my daughter. As I have mentioned in the past it is important for both my husband and I to incorporate Lucy into as many creative projects as possible. And while it makes no difference to us if Lucy grows up to be an artist, we do want her to be a creative thinker. I believe creativity and the ability to think in a creative way is one of the greatest gifts we can give our children and while I am always evolving as an artist and mama, I am learning so much as I watch her develop her own voice. 

I love finding projects that Lucy and I can both get excited about. I am finding that the older she gets, the more common creative interests we have! One thing I know from making art my entire life, is that often creativity is less about the finished product but more about the process. These days when I plan out art projects for Lucy I really try to come up with things that are are all about the process. 

A process we are loving over here is something I like to call "squish paintings". It is fun, colorful, messy and a great project for artists of any age! 

All you need is paper (or canvas), saran wrap and acrylic paint.

Begin by squirting or dropping paint onto your surface.

Next, lay a piece of saran wrap over the top paper.

Now comes the fun part (especially for kiddos)! Start squishing that paint around. Smash it, knead it, move those hands and fingers all over the surface of the saran wrap and the paint will mix and blend and even pick up the texture of the saran wrap.

You get the sensation of squishing your hands in paint with out the mess on your hands!

Pull that saran wrap away and you are left with a really interesting, colorful painting.

You can also make prints of that colorful saran wrap. Start by squishing.

Then pull the saran wrap away.

Chances are there will be a lot of left over paint on that saran wrap so place it face down on another piece of paper.

Use a brayer (or your hands) to press it down.

When you pull the saran wrap away you will have another impression of all that paint! 

This is a really fun way to make colorful handmade paper.

All this paper will get added to our art journals and used as colorful backgrounds for drawing and collage!

You can check out my entire series of "Creating With a Kid" HERE

floral pumpkins

I've been painting pumpkins during the fall for a very long time- so long that I kinda consider myself a pioneer of pumpkin painting! Back in 2010 my pretty painted pumpkins tutorial went viral and since then it has become a yearly tradition of mine to come up with a variety of unique pumpkin tutorials with the hope to inspire others to push the boundaries with creativity and a pumpkin! I've got a few fun ideas coming your way in the weeks ahead and today I am kicking off the season with some floral pumpkins 

While I love fall colors and themes, I wanted to come up with some really pretty, pale and floral pumpkins.

I started by painting my pumpkins white. Keep in mind you can use real pumpkins or you can also use fake pumpkins for this project. 

I grabbed a handful of fake flowers from the 99 cent store and then I spray painted them with a few layers of pale pink and white.

When the flowers dried, I used a hot glue gun and glued the flowers along the top of my pumpkins.

Last, I used different shades of grey to paint leaves and vines coming down the pumpkin.

The results are pretty floral pumpkins that would be fun to use as decoration, a centerpiece  in a fall wedding, a baby shower or even in home decor that is light and airy!

Looking for more pumpkin decorating inspiration? 

You can read all about what I call "the art of decorating a pumpkin" HERE

OR 

check out all of the different pumpkin decorating tutorials below!

lace pumpkins   finger painted pumpkins   beach pumpkins   

patchwork pumpkins   owl pumpkins

frida pumpkins   geometric pumpkins   pretty painted pumpkins

aztec pumpkins   marbleized pumpkins

painted pattern pumpkins    sketchbook pumpkins    messy pumpkins   black and white pumpkins 

woodland creature pumpkins    glow in the dark pumpkins