Photos of the Week

This week is all about the yellows! The sunflowers and rabbit-brush exploded around here so I took a little walk with my trusty camera.  I've missed doing that.  I forgot how much joy I get from noticing the beauty around me and photographing it.  It's such a gift.

Yellow Sunflower Blue Sky

I'm always amazed at the contrast of the yellow plants against the bright blue sky.  This place can be dry and brown sometimes, but this time of year definitely makes up for it.  I love the changing colors that come with the changing seasons! Life would be a lot more boring if colors didn't change.

yellow sunflowers in Saratoga Springs Utah
yellow rabbitbrush
sunflower closeup

Two Ways to Paint Watercolor Cactus

You may have noticed lots of cactus paintings popping up on this blog in recent weeks. It's because cactus plants are sooo fun to paint and there are so many ways to paint them!


Lucky for you, I've put together two watercolor cactus painting tutorials in one blog post.  They are both simple enough for beginner watercolor artists.  The thing to remember with both of these methods is wet paint.  So important! So lets get started!

MATERIALS
watercolor paper- I used small pieces (4x6 or 5x7 sizes)
drawing pencil
watercolor paints
small round paint brush
masking fluid or rubber cement

HOW TO PAINT A SAGUARO CACTUS:

Step 1: Draw an outline of a saguaro cactus.  Don't be intimidated by this part.  If you can draw a long oval, you can draw a cactus!  Just add some arms out to the side.  You can keep the shape simple like in did in my drawing, or add lots of arms and off-shoots for a more interesting painting.

Learn how to paint watercolor cactus: Grow Creative Blog

Step 2: Using masking fluid (or rubber cement for a cheaper option), make little dots all over the surface of your cactus.  Let this dry completely.

Masking Fluid Watercolor Cactus

Step 3:  Using several shades of green and even a little yellow, paint the entire surface of your cactus.  Keep your paint pretty wet and fluid so that the colors blend and mix.  A good way to do this is to load up your brush with water, then swish it around in some color, getting lots of pigment on your brush.  Start at the top and work your way down.  I used some olive green and some pthalo green.

Let dry.

Learn to paint watercolor cactus with two different methods.

Step 4: After your paint is totally dry, rub off the masking fluid to reveal small white spots. This gives the cactus some fun texture.

Cactus painting method #1 complete!

Learn to paint watercolor cactus with two different methods.
Learn to paint watercolor cactus with two different methods.


HOW TO PAINT A CACTUS LANDSCAPE:

Step 1: To create depth with watercolor paints, you need to start with light colors in the background.  So the first order of business when painting a cactus landscape is to paint some light cactus in the background.

Start with some watered down green pigment, and paint oval shapes stacked on top of each other to create a light prickly pear cactus.

Leaving a little space between, paint a light saguaro cactus shape in a different shade of green. Let these dry for a few minutes, but not completely.
Learn to paint watercolor cactus with two different methods.

Step 2:  With darker, more saturated color, paint another saguaro cactus slightly in front of the prickly pear cactus and a little barrel cactus and prickly pear in front of the lighter saguaro.  See how the difference in lightness and darkness create depth?

Step 3: With the color of your choice and while the paint is still wet, paint in some little blossoms on the tops of the cacti.  You can use different colors and make the blossoms on the background cactus a little lighter than the others.

Step 4: Add texture to the cactus themselves by painting little dashes or lines up and down the length of some of the cactus.  Use slightly darker paint so the lines will show. And you can be creative with the color here too!

Learn to paint watercolor cactus with two different methods.

Cactus painting method #2 also complete!

Learn to paint watercolor cactus with two different methods.

Now go get experimenting with cactus painting and remember that you may not get it perfect the first time around.  I'm a big believer in practice! The more you paint with watercolors, the easier it gets. Stay creative friends!

Learn to paint watercolor cactus with two different methods.

Six Mini Watercolor Cactus Illustrations

Mini Watercolor and Ink Cactus Illustrations by Elise Engh

Sometimes painting small and fast is refreshing, especially after laboring over a detailed painting for hours and days.  It's then that I want to create something beautiful and paint it fast!

I painted all six of these mini watercolor cactus illustrations in one afternoon.  Once I got started, I found that it was hard to stop.  I had too many ideas! Plus, I don't think I'll ever get tired of outlining watercolor with ink. It's so beautiful. 

Mini Watercolor and Ink Cactus Illustrations by Elise Engh

So now I've got a mini watercolor barrel cactus, 
Mini Barrel Cactus Watercolor Illustration by Elise Engh

prickly pear and yucca cactus,
Mini Watercolor and Ink Cactus Illustrations by Elise Engh
Mini Blue Prickly Pear Cactus Watercolor Illustration by Elise Engh

and I have no idea what this one is called, but I love the pink blossoms on it!
Mini Green and Pink Cactus Watercolor Illustration by Elise Engh
Mini Watercolor and Ink Cactus Illustrations by Elise Engh

Photos of the Week

It's not every day you come across a scene from a fairy tale................................

fairy tale castle

so when you do, photograph the heck out of it and let yourself get lost in your imagination!


Watercolor Peach Flowers

Happy September! 
I really wanted to go peach picking this year, but since I'm not able to, these peach flowers will have to do.  

Soft Watercolor Peach Flowers by Elise Engh
Soft Watercolor Peach Flowers by Elise Engh

Original Watercolor Peach Floral Painting by Elise Engh
Original Watercolor Peach Floral Painting by Elise Engh

I loved painting these! This piece is probably my favorite floral watercolor ever!  I was able to keep the paint wet and fluid, which let some of the greens melt into the peach color.  It's my favorite style of watercolor painting and the more I practice it, the easier it gets.