Carlee Justis has just finished a series of 12 greeting cards. These two are favorites. Both featuring fish and balloons in a playful and whimsical way. The beautiful thing about Carlee's designs is the little surprise you find as you explore the wonderfully vibrant imagery. Whether it be a little worm popping out of a ballon to greet the blue bird, or he crab hidden under a birthday present at the bottom of the sea, you are always delighted by her humor.
Carlee Justis shares some of her process in creating her new greeting card line.
I was recently commissioned to do 12 watercolor paintings for a line of greeting cards. There are very few things that I dislike about watercolor painting but the one I never seem to get around is the amount of re-drawing I do. This time I decided to try something different. Once I had the sketch how I wanted it, I scanned it and re-moved the border and using Photoshop I erased some of the lines and shading. Then I adjusted the final image so that the line work was a burnt sienna color. Then I simply printed it out (very lightly!) onto 140 lb., cold pressed Arches Watercolor paper. Yes, it did take a few tries to get my Epson printer to grab the heavy paper but once it did it printed like a charm!
At this point I also printed out 4 small versions of my sketch, I used these to help define my ideas for color and shading. I used color pencil to choose my color palate.
NO SECOND CHANCES WITH WATERCOLOR! This has proved to be the second most important step in my process! The first being a good drawing.
When I was ready to start painting. I started with the frogs and the flowers, my idea was that the frogs would be a secondary read when looking at the cards on the rack. I wanted the frogs to blend in a little so that it might seem to be a simple card with a vase with flowers but then - "Oh, how cute there are frogs sitting there". When I completed the painting I photographed it and took it back to Photoshop where I added the border back in and very carefully masked the areas of the painting that break the border, they say that it's always good to break the border. I did make a few changes along the way and the finished card is slightly different from my original sketch but I believe it is a success, now on to the next one!!!
To see more of Carlee's wonderful cards visit her website at www.CarleeJustis.com
I have chosen a wonderful watercolorist named Carmalee Justis as this
months featured artist. Working in Oregon her main passion is design
and illustration. Here are two very playful children's images. I really
love the first image. The alligator is just great and the detail in the
towels and the beautiful lavender tile is just the right touch.
The second illustration is of her son with his favorite teddy bear.
Carlee can be commissioned for portrait, illustration, and graphic
design work. View more images and contact CarleeJustis
Step by Step watercolor demonstrations from a different artists with different styles. Coming soon!
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