Make a Watercolor Planner Bookmark

Today I’m going to show you how to make a watercolor planner bookmark for your Passion Planner. Passion Planners are built around a system to help you achieve your goals, focusing on the ones that will make the biggest difference in your life. After mapping out my Passion Plan I created a bookmark as an every-day reminder of what I'm working towards, and I want to show you how to make your own. Here's what you'll need to get started.

Supplies:

• Tombow Dual Brush Pens (I chose the Landscape Palette 10-Pack)

• Watercolor Paper

• Passion Planner (Dated Forest Green pictured)

• Tombow Water Brush (Medium)

• Scissors

• Tombow MONO Drawing Pencil (4H)

Step 1: Sketch Your Design

After completing your Passion Roadmap and determining your Game Changer goal, pick a word that will remind you of that goal. Sketch it out on your watercolor paper, using a 4H MONO Drawing Pencil. You can choose to draw a pattern around the word, or images that relate to it, it's up to you. The word I'm using here is 'Create' with a honeycomb-patterned background.

Step 2: Color Your Design

Once you're happy with your pencil sketch, use your Dual Brush Pens to add color to your background. Then blend each section of ink with your Water Brush. If you're right-handed I suggest working from left to right so you don't smear your ink while it's wet, and remember to clean your water brush in between each colored section (unless you'd like to mix the colors together). I usually have a piece of folded paper towel on hand for cleaning my brush.

Step 3: Color Your Word

Once the background is completely dry it is time to add color to the word that you chose. I outlined the letters using the bullet tip on my Dual Brush Pen and then filled them in with the brush tip. And, if you want your word to be extra dark, wait a few minutes for the first layer to dry completely and then go back over it again. 

Step 4: Cut Out Your Bookmark

The only thing left to do is cut out your bookmark and start using it as a daily reminder in your Passion Planner! Happy goal achieving!

Come visit me on Instagram (@BrownPaperBunny) and tell me what tutorial you’d like to see next!

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Please note: This blog post contains affiliate links, which help pay for the upkeep of this site. That being said, I will never, ever promote anything I am not 100% in love with!

Fashion Illustrations Inspired by Food

After I created this fashion illustration, inspired by Starbucks’ Dragon Drink (made from Dragonfruit) someone suggested I create a whole series, inspired by food and drink. What a great idea! So here are the first few I’ve done so far.

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A post shared by Jessica 🎨 Seattle Artist (@brownpaperbunny) on May 30, 2019 at 1:23pm PDT

This summer romper was inspired by a strawberry glazed donut covered in rainbow sprinkles.

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A post shared by Jessica 🎨 Seattle Artist (@brownpaperbunny) on Jun 7, 2019 at 7:01am PDT

This business casual outfit was inspired by watermelon.

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A post shared by Jessica 🎨 Seattle Artist (@brownpaperbunny) on Jun 9, 2019 at 4:49pm PDT

This one was inspired by a Café Latte.

What food or drink do you think I should use as my inspiration next?

Watercolor Techniques

This week I was challenged to use multiple watercolor techniques in one portrait. I took that challenge and not only used multiple techniques but as many as I could think! Can you spot them all in my portrait above? Let me know, in the comments, if you think of any I missed!

Salt with Watercolor

Dropping kosher salt into almost-dry watercolor paint gives you a fun starburst effect. You have to experiment a little because if the paint is too wet or too dry it won’t work.

Wet on Wet Watercolor

This technique is fairly self explanatory. You wet your paper first, then add wet paint onto the wet paper, and watch it spread in a deliciously unpredictable way!

Wet on Dry Watercolor

Wet paint, onto dry paper gives you a controlled, precise finish.

Flat Wash

Flat washes give you a nice even area of color. I usually create mine with a really wet brush, onto dry paper.

Watercolor Fade Technique

This technique has a few different names, but I like the term ‘fade’. It’s where you add a little wet paint to your dry paper, then rinse your brush and use it to pull the paint down the paper. You can then rinse and repeat until the color is faded completely.

Graduated Wash

A graduated wash can be achieved via wet-on-wet and controlling the spread of paint by tilting the paper or blotting with paper towel. Or you can get this look by similarly to the fade technique but by using more water and rinsing your brush less in between each cross stroke (more of a dip than a rinse).

Glazing

A watercolor glaze is a thin wash applied over dry paint. It’s useful in unifying a painting with a similar color, or if you need to reduce the contrast of an area etc.

Scumbling

Watercolor scumbling is a technique I only learned recently, and it’s great for adding texture — especially to your underpainting. Scumbling is basically scribbling, or loose dots which let some of the paper show through.

Crosshatching with Watercolor

Most used with pencil or ink, crosshatching can either be a fun or madening watercolor technique. Too wet and it turns into a muddy mess, but just a little bleeding together can make for a very cool effect and give you lots of texture.

Here’s an example of an entire portrait I created using watercolor crosshatching.

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A post shared by Jessica 🎨 Seattle Artist (@brownpaperbunny) on Feb 1, 2019 at 7:19am PST

Doodling with Watercolor Paint

If you have a fine brush, doodling on a painting can be really fun and is a great way to add some detail or areas of interest.

Using Masking Fluid

Masking fluid is a liquid rubber that once dry can be painted over, preserving (masking) the area underneath until it is removed. It’s great for highlights or details you want to keep while applying a wash or big area of color to the rest of your paper. Make sure you dip your brush in soap before you use it with masking fluid, and clean it immediately afterwards or else it will dry and in your brush and ruin it. You can also use masking fluid pens or dip a toothpick into it instead of risking your brushes.

Lifting off

Lifting off is great if you want a lighter area, or you made a mistake. It can be done with a clean dry brush (or paper towel) into almost dry paint, or you can gently use a sand eraser or razor blade to remove areas of dried paint (these last two will damage the paper though and you won’t be able to paint over the top).

I often get asked what brands of watercolor, paper, and brushes I use, so I created a list for you here.

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More watercolor tutorials:

Create a Floral Self-Portrait

Please note: This blog post contains affiliate links, which help pay for the upkeep of this site. That being said, I will never, ever promote anything I am not 100% in love with!

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Hello hello! Today I'm going to show you how to create an easy floral self-portrait. You could make one for all the members of your family and hang them on the wall together!

Here are the supplies you'll need to get started.

Supplies:

• Tombow Dual Brush Pens
• Watercolor Paper
• Tombow Mono Drawing Pen
• Pencil
• Paintbrush

Step One: Draw Your Silhouette

An easy way to capture your profile silhouette is to sit near a wall with a lamp on your other side and have a friend or family member trace your shadow onto the paper. Once your silhouette has been captured you can go over it with Mono Drawing Pen to make it stand out.

Step Two: Fill Your Silhouette with Loose Floral Shapes

Using your Dual Brush Pens fill your silhouette with loose florals. Then, with your wet paintbrush, go over the ink to give it a soft watercolor effect. 

You can leave some white space, or fill everything in completely.

Step Three: Outline Your Flowers

This step is optional, but if you want to add a little more definition to your flower shapes, use your Mono Drawing Pen to add in some lines and details. 

Voila, you're ready to frame your self-portrait and hang it on the wall! And if flowers aren't your thing, you could fill your silhouette with patterns, fruit, or anything else that feels like you! If you really like tennis, fill it with tennis rackets and balls. Maybe books are more your thing, you could fill it with all your favorite titles. Tell me in the comments what you'd fill yours with!

I'd love to see your finished self-portrait, so share it on social media and tag @BrownPaperBunny!

The 100 Day Project 2018

The 100 Day Project is designed to make creativity a habit. The theory is that if you can do something for 100 straight days it will be easier to keep doing it after that. So each April, hundreds of thousands of artists, photographers, and other creatives pick a theme or project for themselves and start creating. 

For 2018 my project is 100 Days of Flowers and Faces (because I couldn't choose between the two). I'm creating them in all manner of styles and using lots of different media from acrylic paint to markers, colored pencils, and collage. 

Here is my progress so far: 

Day 1

A post shared by Jessica 🎨 Seattle Artist (@brownpaperbunny) on Apr 3, 2018 at 5:10am PDT

Day 2

A post shared by Jessica 🎨 Seattle Artist (@brownpaperbunny) on Apr 4, 2018 at 6:48am PDT

Day 3

A post shared by Jessica 🎨 Seattle Artist (@brownpaperbunny) on Apr 5, 2018 at 8:04am PDT

Day 4

Does art imitate life or does life imitate art? Either way, these colors are blooming with possibility. Day 4 of #100DaysofFlowersandFaces for #the100dayproject pic.twitter.com/OD5afkQDFQ

— Jessica Mack (@BrownPaperBunny) April 6, 2018

Day 5

A post shared by Jessica 🎨 Seattle Artist (@brownpaperbunny) on Apr 7, 2018 at 6:01pm PDT

Day 6

A post shared by Jessica 🎨 Seattle Artist (@brownpaperbunny) on Apr 8, 2018 at 6:58pm PDT

Day 7

A post shared by Jessica 🎨 Seattle Artist (@brownpaperbunny) on Apr 9, 2018 at 5:25pm PDT

Day 8

A post shared by Jessica 🎨 Seattle Artist (@brownpaperbunny) on Apr 10, 2018 at 7:46am PDT

Day 9

A post shared by Jessica 🎨 Seattle Artist (@brownpaperbunny) on Apr 11, 2018 at 6:49am PDT

Day 10

Day 10/100 of #100DaysofFlowersAndFaces — not everything works out quite how you picture it in your head. But I figure failed experiments are still useful. #the100dayproject #watercolor pic.twitter.com/A0Xr3OTrOQ

— Jessica Mack (@BrownPaperBunny) April 13, 2018

Day 11

A post shared by Jessica 🎨 Seattle Artist (@brownpaperbunny) on Apr 13, 2018 at 6:57am PDT

Day 12

A post shared by Jessica 🎨 Seattle Artist (@brownpaperbunny) on Apr 14, 2018 at 6:11pm PDT

Day 13

A post shared by Jessica 🎨 Seattle Artist (@brownpaperbunny) on Apr 15, 2018 at 8:53pm PDT

Day 14

A post shared by Jessica 🎨 Seattle Artist (@brownpaperbunny) on Apr 16, 2018 at 4:43pm PDT

Day 15

A post shared by Jessica 🎨 Seattle Artist (@brownpaperbunny) on Apr 17, 2018 at 7:56am PDT

Day 16

I forgot to post Day 16/100 of #100DaysOfFlowersAndFaces you can follow my Anemone drawing tutorial over on the @tombowusa blog: https://t.co/JpxWstBqkZ #the100dayproject pic.twitter.com/SnFeclK1T4

— Jessica Mack (@BrownPaperBunny) April 19, 2018

Day 17

A post shared by Jessica 🎨 Seattle Artist (@brownpaperbunny) on Apr 19, 2018 at 6:50am PDT

Leave me a comment and let me know if you're doing The 100 Day Project this year, and if you are, what you theme or project is! 

MerMay

It's MerMay, so how could I not create a fashion illustration of this beautiful mermaid dress Blake Lively wore to the Met Gala a couple of weeks ago. 

I haven't had a lot of time in my studio since Baby Amélie came along, but I've been getting some time on my iPad Pro while she naps — so I created this illustration using Adobe Draw (I like it for drawing vector art) and added a watercolor splash as a background. 

Do you have a favorite app for digital drawing? 

St John Knits Live Fashion Sketching

This weekend I was illustrating guests at the Shine Bright event being held by St. John Knits in Denver. I had so much fun, I mean what's better than getting to paint and draw fashion illustrations all afternoon, surrounded by lovely ladies and gorgeous fashions? 

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If you're not too familiar with live fashion sketching, it involves drawing or painting guests, live, which means you have to be pretty quick. At this event I took a photo of each person on my phone and then got to work sketching them, so they didn't have to stand in front of me the whole time, but could spend their time sipping champagne and perusing the latest collection. 

Often at live sketching events you'll illustrate guests in the outfit they are already wearing, but the fun thing about this event was that they got to choose which of the new Resort 2017 Collection they wanted to be drawn in, from bright red evening dresses, to gorgeous black skirt suits. 

A video posted by Jessica Mack 🎨 Colorado Artist (@brownpaperbunny) on Dec 9, 2016 at 7:33am PST

Because I didn't have a lot of time to let paint dry my Tombow water-soluble brush markers were perfect. I just used a little water when I wanted to blend colors. I did finish off some of the sketches with metallic watercolors, but kept those areas small for fast drying. 

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Download Your Illustrated 2017 Calendar!

This year I'm making my 2017 calendar downloadable so you can print it yourself right away. These work great for pin-boards at your desk, sticking to the fridge, framing, or using in your planner. 

AND, to say thank you here's a 10% off code to use with it — just enter 'handmade10' in checkout.

Each of the images in the calendar was originally part of a series I created for Inktober (a month of ink drawings). I then digitized them on my iPad (here are my favorite iPad apps for artists) and added some watercolor elements. If you're a regular BrownPaperBunny reader you know how much I love fashion illustration and bright colors, so I couldn't resist giving these ladies 'rainbow hair'. :)

Here is one of the original drawings being created. As you can see I like to watch TV and drink tea while I paint. ;)

Tonight's inktober fashion illustration was inspired by The Glamourai, painted in ink. Check out my blog if you'd like to see more: http://blog.brownpaperbunny.com

Thanksgiving Sale

Thanksgiving is such a great time for reflection and I've been spending time thinking about the people who matter most to me, and trying to send them more snail mail to let them know I love them and they're in my thoughts (even if there are oceans between us geographically).

I am also so thankful to be able to do what I love, and to have met so many of you lovely people through the blog and social media — so I wanted to give you a little discount on all my prints and stationery right through until the end of the month. Just enter 'handmade10' in the checkout. 

If you're anything like me, you're already trying to get all of your holiday shopping out of the way so you can just enjoy time with family. I bet there is something in my store that would be perfect for that hard-to-buy-for person on your list. ;)

If you're interested in a custom portrait, let me know. I'm happy to apply the 10% discount to those too. 

xx

Inktober Day 15: Sweater

Please note: This blog post contains affiliate links, which help pay for the upkeep of this site. That being said, I will never, ever promote anything I am not 100% in love with!

Today's Inktober Fall Fashion prompt was 'sweater' so, inspired by Blake Lively, I drew this little number.  

I don't know about you but Fall (or Autumn as we call it in Australia) is my favorite time of year. I'll take sweaters over tank tops any day. And the chance to curl up in front of the fire with a good book while the leaves change outside — yes please! 

Not to mention Fall is ridiculously beautiful here in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. The air is fresh, but still warm, the trees turn every shade you can imagine from greens through to purples, and the sky seems to be extra blue. Unlike other parts of the country Fall is super sunny and gorgeous here in Colorado. 

And I didn't even mention the array of delicious hot drinks available at this time of year! ;)

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Inktober Day 16: Long Sleeved Dress

The prompt for Day 16 of the Inktober Fall Fashion Illustration Challenge (and also my birthday) was long-sleeved dress, so I painted this dress from the '40s that I wished I owned. I've always been obsessed with late '30s, '40s, and '50s women's fashion. How about you, do you have a favorite fashion era?

I used Dr. Ph. Martin's Bombay India Ink in Teal, mixed with a little black to give it more depth. For the outlines I used Micron pens. 

If you'd like to see all of my Inktober Fall Fashion Illustration entries so far, visit: http://www.brownpaperbunny.com/blog/inktober-fall-fashion

Inktober Day 12: Hat

Please note: This blog post contains affiliate links, which help pay for the upkeep of this site. That being said, I will never, ever promote anything I am not 100% in love with!

It's already Day 12 of the Inktober Fall Fashion Challenge! Today's prompt was 'hat' so I created this pink felt number. 

Here's a timelapse video of it all coming together - using Tombow Brush Markers as watercolors, and directly on the page, and finished with Micron Pens. Yesterday's post showed how I used the Tombow markers if you're interested in learning more. Sorry the video is a bit blown out!

Inktober Day 10: Button-Down

Please note: This blog post contains affiliate links, which help pay for the upkeep of this site. That being said, I will never, ever promote anything I am not 100% in love with!

The prompt for Day 10 of the Inktober Fall Fashion challenge was 'button-down'.

I have a few Tombow dual brush markers but I haven't used them all that much. I knew they were water soluble so I thought I'd play around with trying to blend them and add water to make some of the colors run together a bit. You can see, in the hair where I added the most water. 

Have you ever played around with water soluble markers? Did you like them, and do you have a favorite brand?

I have a few Winsor and Newton watercolor markers and despite loving everything else W&N make,  I have to say I don't like the markers very much. I find they dry out quickly and don't wet or spread as much as I'd like - the Tombow markers acted more like watercolor than the W&N watercolor ones did. I've ordered some other 'watercolor markers' online to see if they are any better. 

Modern Day Mermaid

Recently I had my art studio open to the public so they could come and see how I paint, ask me questions, and generally take a look around. While people were visiting I painted a few different things, some abstracts, florals, and this Modern Day Mermaid which is a portrait of my friend Allison (yes her hair really is that color).​

If you've been reading the blog for a while, you know that I have a thing for rainbow-haired ladies, and painted a whole series of them, which you can check out here. ​

​Would you ever be brave enough to dye your hair a bright color? Leave me a comment below, and let me know!

Free Coloring Pages

I re-created my watercolor 'rainbow ladies' paintings digitally so I could make them available to you as a free download. 

You've got three to choose from, just right click on the one you want and open in a new tab, then right click to save the image. Print, and color to your heart's desire.

Right click. Open image in new tab. Right click to save image.

Right click. Open image in new tab. Right click to save image.

Right click. Open image in new tab. Right click to save image.

If you want some tips on the best pencils, markers, paint etc to color in with, check out my blog post here. 

Upload your finished coloring page, or progress photos and tag @BrownPaperBunny and #ColorWIthBPB on Instagram or Twitter and we can all color together. A big coloring party, if you will. (Maybe there can even be wine). ;)

Sign up to my awesome email list to get more free goodies that I only share with subscribers!

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Fine print: These downloads are for your own personal enjoyment only, they are not to be used as part of a product for sale or for promotional purposes of any kind. If you would like something commissioned, or to partner on a project, please contact me here. 

Are you cheating if you trace?

I was recently asked my opinion on tracing. I have mixed feelings, and think it can be useful when you're just learning to draw, to help you out with proportions etc., but in the long run it may do more harm than good. Check out my video response. 

If you have a question you'd like me to answer, leave a comment below! And if you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends!

Sparkly Mermaid Princess

It was a friend's birthday this week, so I illustrated her a mini poster. After all, she is the sparkliest mermaid princess I know. 

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I got to thinking, sometimes we all need a little reminder to let our inner mermaid princess sparkle, so I thought I'd make this print available in my store. 

You can also watch a little time-lapse video of me painting it below...

A video posted by Jessica Mack (@brownpaperbunny) on Feb 10, 2015 at 7:57pm PST

And here is the finished, framed illustration. I'd love to hear what you think!

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2015 Illustrated Calendar

I am so excited to be launching the first calendar I've done in years! I had so much fun painting my rainbow girls series that I didn't want it to end! So I turned them into a calendar in hopes that others will get to enjoy them all year long. 

Each calendar comes with a plastic (CD case style) stand, or you can stick / pin / tape / glue the individual cards wherever you like! Perfect gift for a co-worker, or to brighten up your own desk at home or work!

For the first few orders I'm packaging them up extra nicely, painting little thank-you cards and throwing in a little something extra. So what are you waiting for, get your own here: 2015 Illustrated Calendar!

Inktober: Painting Rainbow-Haired Girls

For Inktober I painted a series of rainbow-haired girls using ink and brushes, and fine-line markers. 

Here are the last of my rainbow-haired girl illustrations. Leave me a comment and let me know which is your favorite!

I even turned these ladies into a 2015 calendar, which I may refresh for 2016! You can buy it here.