Peony and Parakeet

Fly to Your Inner World and Color the Emotion

Color the Emotion

Pick a few colors and create without stiffness.

Category: Flowers & Plants

End of Summer – Freely with Watercolor Pencils

Posted on Posted in Flowers & Plants, Sceneries, Self-TalkTagged 6 Comments on End of Summer – Freely with Watercolor Pencils

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!

Four Art Mediums – Four Projects in Progress

Posted on Posted in Abstracts, Animals, Big Projects, Crafts, Digital, Flowers & PlantsTagged , , , , 8 Comments on Four Art Mediums – Four Projects in Progress

Many Mediums – Many Versions of Style

I am not overly excited about the word “focus.” I have one artistic vision, but I don’t limit art mediums much. I think my style is evident in whatever I do. This year I have allowed myself to stretch even further than before, and embrace the challenges that different art mediums bring to me.

Cross Stitching – A Cat in Progress

Do you remember this cat from the course Magical Inkdom? In April, I asked what drawing should be my next cross-stitch design, and you voted for the cat.

A cat drawing for the course Magical Inkdom. By Paivi Eerola of Peony and Parakeet.

I have now made a design based on the drawing. To make sure that there are no errors in the chart, I have been stitching it myself first, going through every detail. The stitched piece is nearly finished as you can see in the picture!

Cross Stitch cat design by Paivi Eerola.

While stitching, I came up with the idea of including different colored versions of the cat to the final instructions. Maybe a black cat at least. What do you think?

I hope to get the chart for sale before December. This is a project I have been working on in the evenings.

Oil Painting – A Big Painting in Progress

My main medium – oils – were on a break for a few months so it was really nice to get a new painting started in July.

Paivi Eerola and her oil painting in progress.

I work slowly from one layer to another, letting the painting dry between the sessions. Here’s where I am now.

Paivi Eerola and her painting in progress.

In the photo above, I am wearing a patchwork skirt sewed from the fabrics that I designed many years ago. The motifs are based on my drawings and knits.

I have still quite a lot of work to do with the painting. I hope to get it finished in October.

Digital Art – A Virtual Artwork in Progress

Transferring my painting style to digital three-dimensional modelshas been a year-long project. Watch this video to see what I made last spring for the project. The project is now coming to an end in September. I still have some things to adjust and add, but most of the things have been done.

A snapshot from Unity game engine scene view- creating an artwork for virtual reality. By Paivi Eerola.

Sadly, the photos are nowhere near the overall experience that can be watched with VR glasses.

Using VR glasses to experience digital art in 3D.

There’s a lot of movement. but also interaction: a user can move around, open a flower, create new objects etc.

Virtual reality artwork in progress. Using digital 3D modeling for creating art. By Paivi Eerola.
Click for a bigger photo!

Still images are not the same as seeing everything in moving 3D, but at least you get a glimpse of the atmosphere. I will make a separate video in September where I will share more of this project.

Watercolor Pencils – A New Course in Progress!

Using watercolor pencils as art medium.

I am super-excited to announce that a new course will begin in September 16, and the registration will open next week! The course is called Joyful Coloring, and it’s about using watercolor pencils for colorful happy art.

Sneak peek to the course Joyful Coloring.

More about the course next week. I hope you will join!

Finishing a Watercolor Painting

Posted on Posted in Finishing, Flowers & Plants, VideosTagged 6 Comments on Finishing a Watercolor Painting

This week, I have a video about finishing a watercolor painting.

Puutarhurin palkinneet - Gardener's Rewards, watercolor painting by Paivi Eerola, Finland. Flowers in watercolor.
“Puutarhurin palkinneet – Gardener’s Rewards, watercolor, size A3.
See more pics on the Finnish art store Taiko’s website!

Painting Freely and The Challenge of Finishing

I paint watercolors freely without models or reference photos. It’s exciting to see what appears on the paper and to examine random spots trying to find flowers and plants, which are my favorite subjects. I believe that if I manage to create favorable conditions, the plants will start to grow naturally on paper.

Finishing a watercolor painting. Putting the best energy to the focal point.

When painting flowers freely without references, it’s easy to omit the details. But I think that the details make the finished look. Everything doesn’t have to be sharp and intricate but focus on those parts that you want to catch the viewer’s eye.

Making a Color Chart

My watercolor set has colors from many different manufacturers. I use artist-quality colors and always as pans. If I buy a tube, I’ll squeeze the paint into the pan. I like to use a color chart. The colors look darker when wet and on the pans as well. And there are differences in how pigments behave.

Making a color chart. Watercolor painter's tool.

My grid follows the order of the pans and I add the names of the pigments below the color samples. A part of the colors are in a separate box waiting for their turn to get to the 36-pan set. I make notes on them at the end of the chart. The color chart prevents me from buying several similar pans (that happened too many times before I made one!) and helps with memorizing which colors are my favorites.

Start Freely – Finish Slowly!

There are watercolor painters who wet the paper, draw a few brushstrokes on it and the painting is finished. I work on the same painting for several hours and slowly approach the result layer by layer. It requires patience, but on the other hand, I can always paint on fine-quality cotton paper because my approach is less experimental.

I love that the painting doesn’t immediately shout but first whispers timidly. Each painting is unique and I like to spend time getting to know it. In doing so, I will not only learn something about the painting or myself but about humanity and nature in general.

Painting flowers freely with watercolors.

I want the result to look natural, although there is also a lot of decoration in my paintings. I love ornaments – swirls, decorative lines, and shapes, and my favorite historical style is Baroque. It is easy for me to see the luxury of baroque in plants. As a child, I imagined palaces and halls around me when walking in nature. Life in a remote small town in the 1970s was modest, but I got by with imagination.

Finishing a Watercolor Painting – Watch the Video!

In the video, I have footage from the finishing phase. There you can see that when proceeding little by little, you can add all kinds of things even in the final stages. It’s common for me that a shape is just a circle at first, but then I add notches to it and make it a leaf or a flower. Watch the video!

Freely Grown – Using Colored Pencils for Finishing

If you are new to watercolor painting, working with thin brushes can feel challenging. It’s then easier to use colored pencils for finishing a watercolor painting. I have a course called Freely Grown where you learn step-by-step how to make a layered watercolor painting and finish it with colored pencils. All this is done freely without models and by focusing on techniques, so your work has the same steps, but the result will be completely unique.

Freely Grown - online course about painting flowers freely. Start with watercolors and finish with colored pencils!

Freely Grown is now 15% OFF! >>Buy Now!
The sale ends on July 31st, 2024, at midnight PDT.

Drawing Sceneries with Watercolor Pencils

Posted on Posted in Flowers & Plants, Processing Ideas, Sceneries, SuppliesTagged 8 Comments on Drawing Sceneries with Watercolor Pencils

This week, I have a fun drawing idea: fill a paper with many small sceneries!

Drawing sceneries with watercolor pencils. Watercolor pencils art by Paivi Eerola, Finland. Colored with Caran d'Ache Museum Aquarelle pencils.

For this project, I have used watercolor pencils and Fabriano Accademia drawing paper (size: A4). The paper is very nice with colored pencils and goes well with watercolor pencils too.

Inspiration for Drawing Sceneries

Creating mini-sceneries is easy when you start playing with the scale. Think about a bumblebee – how it first flies over fields admiring the view and then finds a mini-world inside a flower.

A bumblebee inside a peony.

Your mind can be a busy bee, collecting a variety of ideas – big and small.

A detail of a collection of mini-sceneries by Paivi Eerola. Drawing sceneries with watercolor pencils in a fun way.

Your hand can then pick some of those ideas and put them into one picture like it would be a treasured collection in a secret museum. “Faberge eggs,” said my husband when I showed my picture to him.

Watercolor Pencils

Caran d'Ache watercolor pencils, landscape colors.

I often use regular colored pencils but slowly I have become interested in watercolor pencils too. I have had a few Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelle pencils for a while and I love their quality – vivid colors, lovely to hold, and work well without water too. A couple of weeks ago, I bought 20 landscape colors to accompany what I already have.

Mini-Sceneries – Start Here!

Start your collection by picking a circle template, for example, a lid. Draw circles so that they overlap partially. Put one idea into one circle and color each of the circles separately.

Drawing sceneries with watercolor pencils. Combining many mini-sceneries on one paper.

This can be a “one in a day” project. Take your time to focus on each circle.

Watercolor Pencils in Use

Watercolor pencils are great for quickly filling larger areas. Color the area lightly and then add water over the colored area.

Using watercolor pencils for drawing small sceneries.

Let dry before adding a new layer on the top.

Drawing Sceneries – Playing with Styles

My favorite thing is to combine nature-related ideas such as landscapes and flowers with decorative motifs. I like to draw dots, other simple shapes, and lines so that they form frames and ornaments.

Ideas for watercolor pencils. By Paivi Eerola.

In this project, the circles are nature-related while the background has a more ornamental approach.

Using Caran d'Ache watercolor pencils for drawing sceneries.

When you keep the background unified, you can use many styles in one piece. One paper then becomes a diary where anything handmade looks great together because it’s made by one hand and one mind.

Drawing in Ornamental Style

Caran d'Ache Museum Aquarelle watercolor pencils and ideas for drawing sceneries. By Paivi Eerola

This project is another variation of the earlier blog post: Colored Pencils – Ornamental Approach. If you have taken the course Intuitive Coloring, would you be interested in creating something like this on a course next?

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