Back To Mud

I've been doing a little hand lettering practice almost every day.  It doesn't matter what I write...because it's just for me. So I've been using versions of a passage from Broken for You, by Stephanie Kallos, a book I read many years ago that still resonates with me. I'll put a photo of the actual passage I've been using at the bottom of this post if anyone is interested.  

I am taking some liberties with the passage...changing or eliminating words here and there....but the idea of Wanda and her studio belongs to Stephanie Kallos. And I guarantee....there are errors. 

Here I used colored pencil again to fill in most of the negative spaces blending the colors as I went along. There's something visually soothing about blues and greens.....it looks like summer.

Then I switched to watercolor.  

I started with just three colors: blue yellow and pink....made some mud in the middle...and mixed all my own colors. The magic is in the mud.  These are old tubes of paint from Connie...and they seemed to be just fine.

I was reminded how rich hand mixed colors can be and how well they 

can all go together when they are mixed from each other.  It's good to get back to mud....and I need to remember to do it more often.

I actually stitched the black lines on the paper before I did the writing....you can only tell if you look closely.  I wrote out the quote in light pencil first and erased the lines after the black pen was good and dry.  I still made a mistake I had to fix. I think it's inevitable...so I'm embracing the imperfection.

Then I painted. I watercolored just the bottom half of each line...and after it was dry I went in with a damp brush and softened some of those lines creating almost an ombre effect going up in some places.  I think the white spaces at the top add a lot of interest.  

The rainbow joy part of me always wants to use the bright vivid colors.  But when I actually mix my own colors....I am reminded how beautiful and bright they can be while also being a bit muted.  And I love adding in the neutrals.

Wanda's way....is my way too.

The enormous bulletin board on the other side of my studio...the side of my room that hasn't really been organized and cleaned yet. I'll get there eventually.