creative jewish mom

How To Paint Red Poppies With Watercolors

After the holiday rush I decided that it was truly time to start dedicating some time to learning some new artsy skills, which really doesn't have to take a whole lot of time or money courtesy of skillshare, which I am happy to say is truly an amazing site with sooooo many great things to learn. I totally recommend it, and when you click HERE, you can get 3 months for 99cents, really folks, don't miss out on this one. (Or click on the ad below for a free month, but I'd go with the 99 cents.)

Given my wide range of interests I had a hard time figuring out where to start, (after the crayola calligraphy and brush lettering which we need to get back to) but something using supplies that we had on hand surely seemed like the best way to go, and i loved the idea of a challenge of sorts, so I started the Expressive Florals 7 Day challenge, which starts with painting poppies, a favorite of mine as they are native to my area here in Northern Israel.

The poppies I painted here, can certainly improve, but I'm happ with this as a start especially since this was done with brush only, no drawing with a pencil folks, as that makes things too tight, and the point here is to get loose, which I succeeded in only partly, but it is a start!

 

Crayola Calligraphy Is A Great Way To Learn About Brush Lettering

As it turns out there are no brush markers to be found in our neck of the woods, so while we await a visit from my nephew in a few weeks (and the brush lettering pens that I had sent to him in New York) we are making do with supplies that we do have on hand. I don't know where we've been, but it turns out the crayola calligraphy is a thing, and a really great thing I must say! Because of the shape of the crayola marker, and the fact that it is water soluble, one can not only draw brush lettering style calligraphy, one can also use the pens to do a number of really fun artsy effects.

While mom is taking the more pragmatic approach of practicing my calligraphy strokes using the crayola markers, my daughter just jumped right in and created these two cute phrases, among others of course. I am one proud mama and so happy that we find joy in the same things! Oh, and while you can find info about crayola calligraphy all around the web, we were introduced to it in our new favorite go-to spot for inspiration, which would be Skillshare, and THIS VIDEO . If you love to get inspired by folks who are doing something you'd like to do, this is the place for you......download all the videos you have space for and watch them on that car or plane trip, or at the off the grid location! It is so inspiring I really don't want you to miss out! You can sign up now and get a few months for free, and cancel anytime, so really the only way you'll loose is by not taking my advice.

And I can't wait to take my own advice about bringing along some of the videos on our next vacation, as there are quite a few that teach you how to do travel journaling, something I've always wanted to try, but just haven't figured out how to do. I think skillshare is going to make it a reality on our next trip, can't wait!

10 Tips For The Beginner Interested In Learning Brush Lettering

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Before we get started with this post, I just wanted to make it very very clear that this lettering is not mine, but rather the work of my 15 year old daughter! While she has not been exposed to all the brush lettering one might see living in the USA, or frequenting places like instagram and pinterest, my daughter has seen enough examples of brush lettering to know that it is something she is interested in learning, and I'm happy to say we've gotten a nice head start this Hanukkah vacation, yippee. Now if I can just find a bit of time to catch up with her everyone will be happy!

How did she go from zero to creating the brush lettering examples you see here within just a few days? Well, I'm going to share with you everything we've learned in the last three days, but first I'll just mention that a large part of our continuing efforts to learn brush lettering involves consulting the myriad of brush lettering and calligraphy videos that you can find on Skillshare, my all new go-to source for inspiration and amazing instruction.

Click here for 2 FREE MONTHS, no obligations, just canel anytime. And you can download the videos to view offline, amazing amazing amazing, right? Perfect for watching while doing some travelign this holiday season, or anytime, anywhere.

Watercolor Butterflies Painting Lesson

I'm thankful to my fourteen year old daughter who has been doing some watercolor paintings and supplying me with some material that is simple to photograph and share with you! Of course my joy goes way beyond that.....I'm so happy that she is following in my footsteps in the creativity department, yippee! As I write this she is searching the house for some little plastic toys to make some DIY snowglobes, a creative energy surge that I surely recognize and am more than happy to encourage. Ah yes, and more blog material for busy mom who can't seem to find time to photograph all those things she has been crocheting......

Oh, and about this sweet painting, a garden scene with butterflies done with just a simple palette of watercolors. Keep reading for a bit more information about how to make this into an actual art lesson.

Watercolor Birthday Card Craft

Happy Birthday Mom, sending our love across the seas, and while the physical copy of this lovely card that my daughter painted was sent via snail mail, I thought I'd post it here as well. Homemade cards were certainly a part of my childhood, and it makes me so happy when my kids also get into making cards! This watercolor card is so sweet and so simple to make regardless of one's level of art expertise! Just get out the watercolor paints, even a simple palette, and some watercolor paper, and lets get started!

Watercolor Still Life Fruit Exercise Is Great For All Ages!

My fourteen year old daughter is once again taking painting lessons, this time with a teacher who learned painting as a trade in Russia, so the lessons are precise and skill oriented, which can be a good thing, though not exactly how art is taught in the USA generally. Nonetheless since we are seeing great results with piano lessons from our teacher who is from the Ukraine, I'm trying to be a bit open minded as far as teaching techniques go! My daughter in any case has and will be exposed to art education on many levels, so the main thing is to just do it, and not worry too much about the process assuming something is being taught!

I'm happy to say, that today, the day after Passover, a day in Israel called "isru chag" which is in effect an extension of the holiday (and occurs for Passover, Shavuot and Succot, on days that are still part of the holiday outside of Israel) my daughter had the desire to paint, and while I was recovering from the holiday by sleeping, she was painting this sweet watercolor still ilfe, using some of the skills that she has been learning recently, and some that she learned from a different teacher a good five years or so ago.

Learn Painting Techniques Using Simple Watercolors

This watercolor painting of fish was done by my fourteen year old daughter who is taking a painting class once again! We've had a hard time finding someone as wonderful as her original teacher but in the end I decided to just pick the best option which at the moment is a teacher who was trained in Russia, so the process is quite a bit different from a teacher trained for example in the USA. Our piano teacher is from the Ukraine, and we are having great success with her, so an art teacher that also teaches with the Russian adherence to the importance of step by step will certainly give my daughter some great skills as a foundation.

This painting was the first one that she did with the new teacher, who starts all students in this way. I think the results are quite lovely, right? Keep reading to see the whole painting!

Watercolor Fruit Art: Paint The Seven Species

Small works of art using just simply watercolors are so fun to make, and a great project to do in one sitting. In the past I enjoyed painting watercolor fruit with my daughter, and then I realized that if I was going to paint fruit, then certainly I should paint a series of the seven species, hashevat haminim,  to give some added meaning to my little project. Not to mention that anything depicting the seven holy species of fruit (plus 2 grains) can be used as a succah decoration, as a decoration for the Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shevat, or of course anytime!

It is true, succos is already past, and Tu B'Shevat isn't for another few months, but hey guys time flies and there is no greater relief than pulling out some ready made decorations when that holiday rolls around sooner than you expected! And yes, out there in blog land everyone is always planning for the next holiday, and posting about it six weeks ahead of time, but this is real life which should be about finding small windows for creative expression, right?

Giant Watercolor Lollipop Costume Prop Or Party Centerpiece

Need a giant lollipop for a costume or maybe a whole bunch to use as centerpieces for a birthday party or even a bat mitzvah? I just made this one for my daughter to use as a prop in a play that was part of her graduation from 8th grade ceremony, and it looks even better from far away! It is true, the results are not what I'd call "perfect" but with all the perfect looking crafts being churned out these days courtesy of cutting machines and ready-cut everything, I'd say it is time to get a little bit imperfect, now and then. Ready to make some giant lollipops? Lets get started!

Simple Mediterranean Harvest Watercolor Paintings For All Ages

With all the pumpkin crafts and fall harvest related themes floating around the web right now (and of course posted on Craft Schooling Sunday), I thought I'd share some Mediterranean harvest watercolor paintings as an alternative to all the orange pumpkins and colored fall leaves crafts which only really apply to a relatively small portion of the world! Now, of the four species that I'm sharing with you here, one of them is actually harvested in Israel in the late spring/early summer. Can you guess which one?

Yes, that is right, wheat! Here in Israel I don't know how much wheat is grown today, but anywhere that wheat is grown does not have a severe winter and thus fields are plowed and seed sowed in the Fall. The barley harvest is the earliest harvest, around March/April followed by the wheat harvest in May/June.

Of the remaining three items, which are all fruits, grapes are harvested started in the late summer, followed by figs, and dates. Ever seen what dates look like growing on a date palm? The individual branches do look like my watercolor, but these little branches are clustered together in large quantities creating a really spectacular site.

You'll Need:

• watercolor paper
• watercolor paints
• a pencil
• kosher salt
• some paper towels

How To:

With a pencil, lightly draw the outline of the fruits or vegetables that you'd like to paint. Fill in the shapes with watercolors, using a wet brush. Large areas can be painted by first wetting the paper, but this should not be done for small areas as then paint may bleed beyond the lines defining your shapes. If you add too much color, you can dab it with paper towel, and you can also use the paper towel to create texture by dabbing the painting in select areas. Do keep the painting on the wet side, as after you are satisfied with the painting, scatter some kosher salt on selected areas and set aside to dry. Make sure painting is 100% dry before you shake off the salt. I know, it is hard to wait, but if you don't you can ruin all your efforts.

These little water color paintings do look lovely just as is, or you can lace them together with some twine and make a fun little wall hanging. Enjoy!