Just wanted to come on here to bring back our themed posts, starting with a quick Tips for Tuesday! While scrolling through tumblr, I found this painting of three dresses painted very messily and abstract. I found it so pretty and the fact that it's very abstract inspired me to create my own version of it. I tend to become very frustrated and stressed whenever I draw or paint, but recently I've been enjoying some abstract painting because of it's easy-going and open-ended nature.

This is a really easy style of painting to recreate, and I think even the most artslexic people can give it a go. I am nowhere near a professional artist, but I'm all for passing on the inspiration.

via Tumblr

To avoid my perfectionist tendencies, I went straight to painting the dresses instead of sketching it with a pencil, but you can sketch out some dress outlines if you prefer to do so. I used acrylic paint, though the ones I own do not dry textured like the one used above.

Some tips to recreate this style of painting:

• Try experimenting with the wetness of your brush. This type of painting specifically uses a brush with little excess of water, which will result in a messy look: colours not blending together seemlessly, broken and spotted strokes of paint, and build-up of paint resulting in bumps.
• Have a set of two paint colours for the base of each dress. Only two. This will limit your options and will keep the painting simple. Once both colours are on the canvas, a wet brush can be used to blend the two together to create a new colour, though accidental colour mixing is part of the style.
• Work with your mistakes. It's practically encouraged to make mistakes when abstract painting, so if you make one, then pretend it's supposed to be there.
• Use a limited amount of brush strokes. It adds to the messiness and lack of seamless colour blending. When you have a loaded brush, stroke just enough to get the paint on the canvas and move on.

Heya folks! Thought I'd do a real simple one today that uses the things that you probably already have in your house. I think the best DIYs are the ones that transform everyday objects into something totally different and not ugly! This jewelry hanger is super self explanatory, and the best part is it uses bobby pins as hooks!

So les get dis partay started shall we?

Canvas - Dollarama Bobby Pins - Walmart Pliers - My dad's toolbox LOL, you can usually find some in any hardware or art supplies sections Mod Podge Glue - Walmart Washi Tape - Homesense

Supplies you need:

• New or used small to medium canvas
• Magazines/pictures/newspaper/etc.
• Plain ol' scissors
• Glue
• Regular bobby pins
• Pliers
• Washi Tape

I used wooden knobs from Jo-Ann's for the other two jewelry hangers.

Credit

Photo credit to Six2Eleven

Some shots of my jelly bean jar drawing using Prismacolor Soft-Core Pencil Crayons.

A few weeks back, I was assigned to create a portfolio cover using only pencil crayons as the medium. I usually hate having to colour with pencil crayons because all I had was those standard Crayola ones, and those are really tough to work with to create something with depth and light. So I ventured out to the world of the internet in search of some helpful tips when creating masterpieces with pencil crayons, and that's when I found Soft-Core Prismacolor Pencil Crayons.

The Prismacolor Soft-Core Pencil Crayons, 24 Pack (Ahhh all my pictures are really bad quality! I'm sorry, I am determined to get a sweet camera soon!)

I initially borrowed my friend Isabel's 12 pack, but I needed more colours for my project. I couldn't use my Crayola ones because it really wouldn't look the same as the high quality of the Prismacolor ones, so I really had no choice but to buy my very own set of 24 Prismacolors.

I bought my set on Amazon.com HERE for a discounted price compared to most retailers. Got the set about a week later, and many of my friends in art class were going crazy over them! I mean who wouldn't? This stuff is absolutely UH-MAYY-ZING, bragging rights come with the purchase! Of course I shared the magic with everyone, and I got a perfect mark on my artwork! Yehhayy!

The soft-core allows the pigments to be blended together easily, making it easier to create dimension, blending away harsh lines, and even mixing colours together. Using the white pencil crayon, you can soften bold pigments and create a gradual build-up to the highlights, making it look more realistic. I got a real good use with that white pencil crayon, I'm going to need to get a new one soon!

If you're an amateur artist like myself who enjoys experimenting with different mediums, or really anyone who wants to take pencil crayons to the next step, you will not regret getting the Prismacolor Soft-Core Pencil Crayons.

For more information on any Prismacolor products, visit: http://www.prismacolor.com/

Happy colouring! x


Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the brand Prismacolor or any partners of Prismacolor in any way. All opinions are my own, and has not been influenced by anyone or anything. If you have any questions or issues with anything said in this blog post, contact me at thebowgirl0327@gmail.com. All photos featured in this blog post are mine. The 'Millie's Bright And Colourful Jelly Beans' art piece was created by myself, concept and all, please don't claim it as your own :)

Christmas lights all year around seems to becoming quite a trend in teenage girl's bedrooms lately. Many use them to embellish headboards, boarder door frames and use icicle lights above windows to mimic a starry night. If you're lucky, you'll have white coloured Christmas lights, which will match any bedroom colour scheme. But if you're like me and got stuck with Christmas tree lights (you know, the dark green ones you wrap around the tree) and have a colour scheme no where near green, you'll really need to think outside the box on creative ways to use the lights to match the theme of your room.

The way I originally arranged my lights was like a web going across from one wall to the other in a narrow corner where I place some of my artwork. It looked really out of place, especially during the daytime, and when the Christmas lights weren't on. I still kept it however, because when the room was dark at night, and the lights were plugged in, it looked like floating stars, and I thought it looked cool. But obviously I still hated how it looks either way, because it was just a web of green cord in a pink and purple room. Thats until I realized the dark green made it resemble a vine, and flowers could be added onto it...

STEP BY STEP DIY ROSE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS:
*I really do apologize in advanced for the horrid quality of most of the photos. I only had my phone to take the pictures, and the lighting in my room was very uneven*

SUPPLIES:

One or two pencils, tissue paper of your choice (to use for the petals. I used two colours, but you can also just use one), scotch tape, scissors, safety pin or toothpick (or anything with similar shape), glue.



STEP 1:

Cut out your petals from the tissue paper. You can freehand it like I did or use these stencils as a reference: Inner Petals Outer Petals (Stencils via http://www.favecrafts.com/Valentines-Day/Crepe-Paper-Rose-Bouquet  I used this DIY as a reference when I was experimenting for this DIY. Do go check it out)

Honestly, you can probably make this DIY without the outer petals, but I have never tried. They are quite hard to work with, and a lot of tweaking is needed to make it look proper.

STEP 2:

Using the safety pin, curl the ends of the petals by rubbing your index and thumb together to roll it in. For the outer petals, curl both bumps in (see provided reference link above). This takes awhile to get used to, but keep trying! You'll get the hang of it eventually! A helpful tip is to do all your petals now before you use the glue; sticky fingers is your enemy when it comes to this step.