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Last Bloom – Watercolor Pencil Inspiration

Posted on September 5, 2024September 6, 2024Posted in Color, Flowers & PlantsTagged watercolor pencils6 Comments

This week we celebrate watercolor pencils and the lifecycle of flowers. I hope this post fills you with watercolor pencil inspiration!

Last Bloom, watercolor pencil art by Paivi Eerola, Finland. — Last Bloom, watercolor pencils on paper, size: A4

We in Finland have had a warm fall and many flowers are still blooming, even though it is already September. It inspired me to use yellows and oranges, which I love anyway.

Comforting Watercolor Pencil Inspiration

Lately, I’ve been editing videos for the upcoming course Joyful Coloring, which I recorded for the most part in the summer. I don’t know if the teacher can say it herself, the students decide that, but the videos are so inspiring!

Starting a drawing with Caran d'Ache Museum Aquarelle watercolor pencils.

So watercolor pencils are really calling me now. I bought 20 more when I found them quite inexpensively, even though they are a good brand: Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelle. And I also bought more paper – Fabriano Accademia Drawing Paper. It is not watercolor paper but works well for colored pencils and is more affordable. When you draw a lot, pencils and paper get used up.

Paivi Eerola creates with watercolor pencils. See her online course Joyful Coloring.

One of the best things about my job is that I can make “comfort drawings” for the blog. So, in the same way that there are comfort books, or comfort food, or comfort music, you can also make comfort drawings.

You can let colored pencils take care of all worries and unnecessary thoughts. Float in the sunshine and focus on everything beautiful!

Filling the Desert

I like to start a drawing with a scenery, which I then fill. This method is also taught in the course Joyful Coloring.

Watercolor pencil art inspiration. Coloring flowers freely. Enjoying watercolor pencils.

When immersing in the details, you can enjoy the fact that the world shrinks into a tiny area. I think that everything great and wonderful starts small. When thoughts decrease, possibilities expand. Then it is easier to invent and learn new things.

Meadow is a Town

A detail of a watercolor pencil drawing. By Paivi Eerola, Finland.

I have looked at the last flowers of summer and admired their details. It’s amazing how much there is in a small meadow flower: stems, seedcases, and flowers and leaves in different stages. And when you multiply those, the group of plants forms a busy town. A meadow is like an upright map of intersections, stations, and roads that guide the bees.

Watercolor pencil art inspired by nature. By Paivi Eerola, Finland.

Colors of this kind of world are coming and going. Nothing is permanent and yet everything is so comforting and full of life.

Joyful Coloring – Sign up Now!

The new course Joyful Coloring begins on Sept 16!

Joyful Coloring - online art course for creating freely with watercolor pencils.

Get your watercolor pencils and join me to create freely with joy and sunshine! >> Sign up now!

Painting a Childhood Dream

Posted on August 29, 2024August 29, 2024Posted in Abstracts, Animals, Big ProjectsTagged canvas, oil paints4 Comments

A childhood dream came true when I finally made a painting with my favorite subject.

Saalistajan maailma - Predator's World, oil on canvas, by Paivi Eerola, Finland — Saalistajan maailma – Predator’s World, oil on canvas, 100 x 80 cm

I’ve always wanted to paint mammalians, but reaching this point has taken a long time. The best must be protected before it comes out exactly as it is meant to be!

“Predators, Right?”

Oil painting in progress. — The enjoyable beginning.

In July, I picked a brush, and said to myself: “Predators, right?”

As a child, my friends talked mostly about horses, but I was a lion girl. I drew a lot of lions and antelopes: predators and prey. I had learned from nature books that the world works that way.

When I went to school, my parents bought a black and white television. Back then, my favorite profession was lion tamer. I wanted to be the new Joy Adamson!

“Paint What You Want!”

It is easy for a child to draw what she wants, but an adult is more critical.

Painting a childhood's dream. A detail of an oil painting called Predator's World. By Paivi Eerola, Finland.

After seeing life and understanding all its complexity, prey and predator are no longer separate, but part of a whole.

And to get hold of the whole, we have to get in touch with our inner self and grow our skills.

A detail of an oil painting called Predator's World. By Paivi Eerola, Finland.

Art is like a meadow that grows seed by seed.

Love and sunshine are needed!

I try to speak softly to myself when I paint. Like it would be a child who paints, not an adult. I hope this friendliness also comes through in my classes!

Your Childhood Dream?

Painting big and detailed takes not only friendly self-talk but also patience. That’s why I like to practice with smaller drawings.
Big or small – we are on this journey together!

Painting a chilhood's dream. Predator's World, oil on canvas, by Paivi Eerola, Finland

What was your childhood dream? What subjects did you draw as a child?

End of Summer – Freely with Watercolor Pencils

Posted on August 22, 2024Posted in Flowers & Plants, Sceneries, Self-TalkTagged watercolor pencils6 Comments

This week is about coloring freely with watercolor pencils. Let’s ponder about the change of season and how to process it through art-making!

End of Summer, watercolor pencil art by Paivi Eerola, Finland — End of Summer, watercolor pencils, size: A4.

New Season – New Colors Are Calling!

Even though the weather has been warm, I find that my thoughts are already turning to fall.

Coloring the bottom layer with raw umber. Using watercolor pencils for layering. — I started the piece by dividing the paper with a ruler and coloring mindlessly with raw umber.

When I open the box of watercolor pencils, my eyes immediately go to the brown shades.

Coloring freely. Using watercolor pencils for layering. — After filling the paper, I added new layers with brighter colors.

In the summer everything is bright and clear, the fall is darker and curlier.

Adding water to a watercolor pencil drawing. Doodling with a brush. — The water mixes the colors and creates new patterns. The brown bottom layer makes the brights more neutral and muted.

When Coloring Freely, Art Can Be Your Friend

10 years ago, I started as a full-time artist. At that time, art was a queen who I placed on a pedestal and looked up to. Today, art is not only my colleague but also my friend. We look at each other eye to eye and smile like-mindedly.

Coloring details. Watercolor pencils art in progress. — Abstract patterns are the best food for imagination!

“It’s such a sad feeling when summer is coming to an end. There is only a dark autumn and a cold winter ahead” I told her last week. “Don’t worry” she said, we have recorded the summer and there are many wonderful things in the fall too.

Drawing details with watercolor pencils.

Indeed, summer is recorded. In July, I started working on the course Joyful Coloring. Now when I edit videos, I devour them like comfort food. The sun really shines there. Happiness can be heard in my speech and can also be seen on paper.

A small project from the course Joyful Coloring in progress.

Everything indicates that I want others to have art as a friend too, not just on a pedestal.

Seasonal, But Freely with Watercolor Pencils

The watercolor pencils I bought in June (Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelle) are already very dear. Because the color can be spread quickly with water, time is saved for details.

Using a brush to spread the color in the details.

It is important for me to keep not only painting but also drawing. By drawing freely, we create a bridge between the outer and inner worlds. We can break the glass and travel between what we see and think.

Using Caran d'Ache Museum Aquarelle watercolor pencils for creating art. Creating freely with watercolor pencils.

I gave this piece the title “End of Summer.”

Watercolor pencil artist and her art. Paivi Eerola, Finland.

When I look at it, I get the feeling that an end can also be a new beginning. A joyful thought!

Joyful Coloring – Sign Up Now!

Start with blank paper and create freely with watercolor pencils!

Joyful Coloring - coloring freely with watercolor pencils, online art course

The new online course Joyful Coloring will begin on Sept 16, 2024.
>> Sign up Now!

Coming Up – Joyful Coloring!

Posted on August 13, 2024August 13, 2024Posted in News Archive, VideosTagged watercolor pencils2 Comments

It’s exciting to announce that a new online art course is coming up! Joyful Coloring will begin on Sept 16, 2024. This course is for watercolor pencils. It has many fun projects – I hope you will love it! >> See more!

The early-bird registration has opened. >> Sign up here!

The early-bird sale will end on August 18th, 2024, at midnight PDT.

Color the Emotion