Blog: Watercolor

Go and Grow – Art Journal Spread

Grow through what you go through ….still wading through it LOL

I do have to say I love how this turned out …I did the lady with a bamboo sketching pen and then added the textured background with sepia ink and the Cardboard RubberMoon Stamp Set. Don’t I wish I looked that elegant with a hat …but alas…I do not ;)

Then I colored the lady and stamping in with some watercolor and added the Stroll Through the Hood Set 1 and 2 RubberMoon sets in black with ink.

Using my new Van Vorst Positive and Negative ArtFoamies Stamps with acrylic paint, I added a ground on the bottom picking up the green color from the lady :)

Here are the supplies I used for this Art Journal Page:


Hope you are having a very wonderful day!

Comments (2)

  • Karen Bearse

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    Very unique & different I really like it. Cool sketch

    Reply

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Which Direction?

I was thinking about how so many times in our lives we have to rethink the direction we want to head – always so tough , so many questions, so many uncertainties.

For this art journal spread I sketched the lady on the left with acrylic ink and a bamboo sketching pen, and colored her in with watercolor. The right lady is on a piece of painted deli paper which lets the background show through.

I added some stamping with my Stroll Through the Hood RubberMooon Stamps and stamped with acrylic paint and the MidTown ArtFoamies Stamp Set as well as the Mini Manhattan Positive and Negative Stamp set.

I sprinkled some golden ink over the spread and added the journaling. I do love how this turned out.

Different from my usually super filled pages- but still funky :)

Here are some of the supplies I used for this spread


Comments (2)

  • Joi@RR

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    Love this one Nat. Your gals are so abstractly done – in a great way and then the buildings are more “solid” – stabilizing. Love that some are black/white too. And the Mini Manhattan stamp is perfect symbolism for the “which way” – and perfect in the varying colors to show different choices. This is one that would be great on a huge canvas – so symbolic and the type of art that speaks! You always inspire me. Have a blessed holiday season. Xj.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Thank you so much Joi! Wishing you a wonderful holiday season as well!!!<3

      Reply

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Mario Robinson speaks the “Truth”

Some of you might remember my friend Mario A. Robinson who was part of Creative JumpStart in 2016.

This 10 min video of him by Jesse Brass is just beautiful:

Truth from Jesse Brass on Vimeo.

“The real power of art, is the ability to galvanize and organize all those pigments and materials, and pour a soul into it.” Mario A. Robinson

What a wonderful human being and super talented person he is!

If you are into Watercolor – check out his great book “Realistic Watercolor”:

Hope this inspired you – have a gorgeous day!

Comments (2)

  • Bethany

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    There are some artists who totally blow me away and Mario is one of them!

    Reply

  • JoAnn

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    Wow!!! Beautiful – I love his work.

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Say It Like You Mean It – Marsha Valk

  

Welcome to another post from my Creative Squad! Today we have a beautiful piece from Marsha Valk who used my Stroll Through the Hood #1 and #2 cling stamp sets to give her personal take on this month’s theme Say it like you Mean it – Let your unique voice be heard and tell us what’s on your mind. Be bold. Be yourself. We all have something to say and sometimes we need to shout it!


There are a lot of things on my mind: work and business, national politics, environmental and sustainability issues and even something as mundane as interior design. At this moment, as I’m typing this, current affairs in the US just aren’t in the forefront of my mind. But the Stroll Through the Hood #1 set is about a stroll through urban America. Not urban the Netherlands… So what was I going to do? I didn’t want to make another ‘I don’t want to’ spread. So I decided to turn off my mind and let the theme and the stamps do the talking.

Each time I read the theme ‘Say it like you Mean it’, I have a bad case of ear worm: the song ‘Sewn’ by The Feeling instantly starts playing in my head. But… I wasn’t sure what to do with it and I started thinking about songs that fitted the New York City feel of the stamps. And because I’m not currently in an empire state of mind, I thought of ‘I can’t see New York’ by Tori Amos. Also not sure about that song, I decided to go with both songs. They certainly were on my mind now!

I stamped some of the images in a notebook whilst I was working out what to do and that’s where the idea for the stars hanging from the sky came from. Then I stamped an urban scene at the bottom of the page.

Whilst I watercoloured the sky, I thought: you can’t see the city if there is no light. So that’s when I coloured the stars black. But the brief was to use one of the tag stamps and I chose ‘Hope’, so I felt that at least one star should shine its light.

In the end I needed to decide whether I wanted to colour the urban scene. I didn’t want to make it a black cityscape and colouring it would make it too visible, so I only added light grey lines and kept the rest bare.

The penciled and smudged words are the lyrics of ‘Sewn’ and the title in india ink refers to the Tori Amos song.


Thank you Marsha! We can always count on you to take the theme and really pull it apart to see what it means to you :) And the results are a gorgeously composed scene with beautiful colors and a couple surprises – like that cute suspended Star Tag lighting up the night sky. Marsha used these supplies – some links are affiliate links:



Play along with us! I love to see how you interpret our monthly themes. Email me how you used my stencils and stamps with the theme and email me an image – I would love to share your projects in my “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.

Comments (1)

  • Sue Clarke

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    Nice take on the guidelines Marsha. I can’t help but hear the Billy Joel song I’m in a New York State of Mind while reading your words. Now I’ve dated myself for sure. The stars are a nice addition.

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Courage and Love – playing with Watercolor in my Art Journal

“Courage, like love, circles back around and finds us again. Love, like courage, only blooms there exists so many reasons to be afraid.” Tyler Knott Gregson

I had such a wonderful time creating the page and playing and trying new things. I tested the Daniel Smith Gold Iridescent Gesso, which the wonderful people at Daniel Smith gave me for that purpose at Creativation and applied it loosely to the art journal pages. The gesso was thinner then I expected but oh my oh my once it dried the load of gold pigment fully revealed itself. And I was in Love.

Next I used my Chicago 9×12 Stencil here and there dabbed some white watercolor ground through it – and then painted the bottom of the page also loosely with the ground. Watercolor ground is a primer like Gesso which creates a porous surface on which you can later apply watercolor. I am totally intrigued by this medium and also bought a clear version to further play later and mix up watercolor and acrylics more in my work. I let everything dry overnight as it was stated on the jar.

Then I stamped with my Stroll Through the Hood set 1 and Stroll Through the Hood Set 2  and archival ink and created a city scene. I used the cling stamps and layered them up, using only parts of buildings- and just had a fun time with them.

And then I played with watercolor and just had a good time. I love how the watercolors pop off the background and how the white watercolor ground and gold elements are making it sparkly. I also love the texture created with the watercolor ground.

I added the journaling with one of the ArtGraf Graphite and went over it with a wet brush again. I guess I have a new crush …on watercolors …oh brother ;)

Here are the supplies I worked with  – some links are affiliate links:


Do you have a new art supply /medium crush this year?

Comments (1)

  • Julie B

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    This is absolutely STUNNING! Just stunning! Thank you for sharing your process……love the watercolors with your stencils and stamps; love the gold throughout. Hmmm…..you have me very curious about this medium. Thank you!

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From Small Beginnings – Cheiron Brandon

CS September Theme 2

It’s Tuesday and time for my Creative Squad to share a project with you with this month’s theme: “From Small Beginnings”. Throughout the month of September, the team will be using my n*Studio Stamps to interpret the theme. The change in seasons and the childhood ritual of Back to School in September has me thinking about starting new things – new projects, learning new things, and meeting new people, and all the excitement and challenges that come with all of these “new”s. For this theme, From Small Beginnings, my Squad will think about the process of starting something new and the very first steps they took. I’ll ask them, how did you experience a Beginning?

So this week we have 3 different card designs from Cheiron Brandon to celebrate her love of cardmaking – the thing that got her started in the creative life :)

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Cheiron September Headshot

Hi there! It’s Cheiron here with my September project. When I initially thought of the theme From Small Beginnings, I thought back to how I got started in art, crafting and art journaling as an adult. About 12 years ago, I moved back to NJ and there was a small stamp shop that opened right down the street from me. I was always interested in making things and I remember making watercolor cards in high school and putting simple messages on them. Rubber stamps opened a whole new world to me. In the past several years, I have had the opportunity to work with several stamp companies and design teams, the most recent being a part of the N*Studio squad.

I am grateful for having art, stamping and especially card making in my life. In the past 10 years I have amassed a HUGE collection of supplies, but I always find for me that the cards I love to make are the most basic. I am sharing 3 simple cards with you today, each was made with only one stamp and a sentiment or word pulled from a giant bin of stickers I still have. I made all three of these cards in under an hour and now have some happy mail to send to friends!

cheiron-simple-stamped-cards-with-n_studio

This first card is made with a stamp from the Marks stamp set. I love these X’s and stamped them in 3 different colors then went over each section with an ink blending tool with the same color. A few letter stickers, pieces of washi tape and a staple with my tiny attacher, and voila!

cheiron-miss-you-with-n_studio

The second card was even easier…a few stamped images from the Kaffee Klatsch stamp set colored in with watercolors, and a little gold splatter and one simple sentiment sticker.

cheiron-why-hello-there-with-n_studio

For the final card, I used a stamp from the Mish Mesh stamp set as a sunshine, and painted it loosely with watercolor, another sentiment and it’s good to go.

cheiron-you-make-me-happy-with-n_studio

I hope these cards remind you of why you got started with this hobby, and what initially brought you joy. I had so much fun making these quick cards and sharing them with you :)

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I love Cheiron’s story of her “beginning” and the cards are simply beautiful.  I think everyone would like to be on her mailing list!

In addition to washi tape and various word stickers from her stash, Cheiron used the supplies listed below (some are affiliate links):

SuppliesCJS

Maybe you will even play along with us -I would love to see how you interpret our monthly themes. Email me how you used my stencils and stamps with the theme and email me an image – I would love to share your projects in my next “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.

See you next Tuesday for another project from the Creative Squad!

Comments (2)

  • ,Mary Holshouser

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    Love the card with the XXXXX
    I have that stamps and will be using that
    idea.
    A pretty, colorful card.
    thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  • Brenda

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    These cards are so colorful. Makes me want to go make some. Did you emboss in white on the last card?

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Art Tapas – Bite Sized Tips for the Mixed Media Artist – Tip #4 Watercolor Storage

Art Tapas are short videos (1- 3 mins) that will give some practical tips or advice about anything that is related to tools, art supplies or processes and any Mixed Media or Hobby Artist might appreciate. Lots of times these reflect some mistakes that I made along my journey, so to speak, things that I learned the hard way and sometimes they are just some things that I would have loved to have known when I actually started in Mixed Media.

Watercolor Storage

Art Tapas Watercolor Storage from Nathalie Kalbach on Vimeo.

I hope you enjoyed this art tapa which was brought to you with the help of my awesome watercolor artist friend Mario Robinson. Check his website out -and if you love watercolor – his classes. He is not only an amazing artist, he is also super cool and fun and a great teacher! If you have questions that you would love to have answered in some of the Art Tapas videos- let me know and I might just cook one up for you to nibble on :)

Happy Creating !

Comments (2)

  • Crystal

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    I had older watercolor tubes of paint, so I thought to use them, squeeze them all out neatly in a large pallet I have. Well within a couple of months, they got moldy. Not every color, but most of them. I even had the pallet cover over it never ever thinking they would mold. So I spent an hour washing out the whole pallet.

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Sketch Show

NatKalbachSketchShow

 

It’s been a while since I last did some sketching- so it was good to have the chance to attend a sketching class of my friend Julie Fei-Fan Balzer in NYC last weekend to get me going again. I love it. Here is what I sketched while we were sitting outside …I sketched sketchers ;)

NatKalbachSketchWestbeth

BTW- I would love to recommend a book by Felix Scheinberger to you if you are interested in sketching and watercolor. I have two of his books for a while and I just found out that his first one: Urban Watercolor Sketching: A Guide to Drawing, Painting and Storytelling in Color  was finally translated from German to English. His style is super inspiring and his tips are gold. It is  one of my most loved art books I have.

Scheinberger has a very loose style which makes it easy for me to enjoy my own sketching – Take a peek inside the book- you will see what I mean .

Have a wonderful day

 

 

 

 

Comments (2)

  • susan salyer

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    Oh this so fun ..I love the images of life.
    hugs
    susan s

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    Your sketch is nice and seems to go hand-in-hand with Julie’s post about that day. It’s great that you two get to spent so much time together.
    I saw some street art yesterday in Somerville, MA and thought of you. Hope that doesn’t sound too creepy. LOL

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Sketch Show

NatKalbachSketchShow

 

Time to show my last tries on sketching. I really enjoy doing this as a little part of creative time .

Here I tried to capture our fire place- I guess sketching a fire is a bit difficult especially if you try to sketch and watercolor in candle light…and..ahem…our fireplace is actually not crooked ;)

NatKalbachSketch05

And then the next try was to sketch our christmas tree. It was funny- first I was going nuts on the little details…and then I just kind of went with the shape of the tree and I mean…yes to you it might look like just an ordinary attempt to sketch a tree- but this is pretty much the shape and look of our tree …well kind of….well…who cares… I had fun and I love how a few scribbles can show a lot.

NatKalbachSketch06

 

I will keep on going with my sketching – it is good to go out of my comfort zone when being creative and I realize it is a good way to get an better eye to details around me.

Have a wonderful day

Huge hugs

nat

 

Comments (7)

  • jtowndebrisno1

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    Hi Nat–I wish you and your family a great holiday season and a happy 2014! I wish that you and Julie were two of my best girlfriends, but that is a fantasy, I guess! I love you both. You are so lucky to have each other as friends!

    Reply

  • ddhurlbut

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    Your crooked fireplace and Christmas tree sketches are lovely, keep up the great work and Merry Christmas to you and your husband.

    Peace,
    Donna

    Reply

  • scrapinsue

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    I love that you are showing us your sketches Nat.
    Brave of you. I do some sketches in a notebook while out and about and I am always impressed with how my son can just draw and not get stuck in the details. I guess that I’m still learning to let go of the final product.

    Reply

  • Leigh

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    I think they are great. Who cares if its a littl slanted???? You did it. That’s the key point? Who else is brave enough to try it & show it to the world??? I’m not! That’s hey they hide in my art journals! Lol

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