It's been over 2 years since I've posted anything on this blog! I promised one of my favorite Tim Holtz Addict's, Juli Riedel, that I would share how I paint Tim Holtz's Wildflower Stems. It's taken me over 4 years, but I finally photographed a few wildflowers and added steps to the photos. Besides sharing on my Instagram at janice__woodard, I thought I would share here, too, for those who don't use Instagram.
I start out by die cutting Tim Holtz's Sizzix dies: Wildflowers, Wildflower Stems 1,2 and 3 and the new Vault Wildflowers. Then, I choose the watercolors I would like to use. This time, I used Renesans, Arteza, Prima Watercolor Confections and Kuritake Gansai Tambi. I just start painting and get lost in the process. I find painting these die cut flowers so therapeutic. I always paint two of each bloom alike and glue them together (off center) to add depth and texture. I bend the petals a bit, too, to try to make them look 3-D.
After they're painted, I add extra details such as thin lines of black on the pastel colored flowers and white on the more vibrant flowers. I use a black Pilot G-TEC-C4 and white Dr. Ph Martin's Bleed Proof White. I also add some "dew drops" with nuvo Crystal Drops.
I don't waste the paint that ends up on my craft mat! I spritz the leftover paint with water and place a clean sheet of watercolor paper in the "mess", then I use a brayer on the backside of the paper to help soak up the colors. After that, I pick up the paper and smoosh it and drag it through the colors, creating unusual backgrounds.
I hope this post helps those of you who have wanted to try creating a little more detailed Wildflowers from Tim Holtz's dies. If you have any questions, please ask, I'll try to help as much as possible!
