A Berry Merry Christmas!

My last couple of posts have been describing some of my watercolor efforts on Yupo paper. When I was beginning to plan my Christmas card for this year, I was very much in the experimental yupo phase.

I wanted to do something like I had done with the Pumpkin Patch (see Nov. 8th blog). This time I had in mind a multi-green background. I wasn't sure what I would do with it...maybe fir branches, a pine cone. holly leaves... something 'holiday-like.'

I began by using a lot of different greens and then added some blues and yellows. I really like the way the different colors add depth to this image. This was not the final background, but gives the idea of how I began.

The fun thing about Yupo paper is that I can paint something and if it doesn't work, I can just wash it off! Beginning with the background which had dried, I wet a tooth pick and began to draw freehand. I draw with the toothpick and then blot with a Kleenex to lift the wet paint. I tried several different branches before I got to this one. 

It was 'OK'  - a good start. I had such a fun time drawing the pine cone, I experimented with just doing the pine cone...

It was an 'eh'... what about adding color?

Fun to try, but, no.  Back to the branch! I thought the other one had too many small pine needles 'messes.' I splashed some green paints over a few spots and covered them up.

The branch looks better, but still not happy with the pine cone. I lifted more color from it and added some highlights to make it look more round. Unfortunately, (or maybe not) I do not have any images of these next few 'fixes'. I continued to work on the pine cone and lifted more color from the fir needles.

I put it all aside and came back to it a day or so later. It was so GREEN! More COLOR - was what it needed! I look a Q-tip, dipped it in red paint and started adding berries! I got a little carried away, but what was once a chore, became fun again! A dot of white to highlight each berry and I called it finished!

A Berry Merry Christmas to all!