Arteza Watercolor Pencils vs Chameleon Alcohol Pens

Applied to

Sift Finish Cardstock vs Watercolor (90 lb. cold press) Paper

First Test:

Elizabeth Craft Design – Soft Finish -White Cardstock

Whimsy Stamps – Dove Art – Himalayan poppy

Paper: My 1^st goal was to see how the Soft Finish cardstock would hold up with all the water that would be applied.  I went over some of the portions of the design multiple times with the color and water. When wet, it did not warp. There are a few dimples on the backside but once mounted, they will not show. I’m impressed and recommend you give it a try.

Soft Finish using Arteza: Used a generic water-brush

A024 White Quartz

A052 Pumpkin

A070 Blueberry

A075 Ivory

A094 Emerald

A111 Coyote 

Arteza: This was my first time to use Watercolor Pencils in a very long time. For the last 10 years or more, I basically used my Prismacolor pencils (bought almost 13 years ago) and a blending nub in order to achieve the desired appearance. However, after watching Sandy Parker’s video and several other non-company artists, it was time to expand my creative directions.

I really must admit that I love my results. I could go on about the packaging, the pencil shapes, the clearness for the identifying names, but you have probably heard it all. As for performance, especially on this slightly textured surface, it was exciting. I applied a light pressure to the surface and was pleased with the water blending. I used a little more pressure on the wet area then blended again with the water-brush.

 

Soft Finish using Chameleon Alcohol Pens: 

Bl6 Royal Blue

OL3 Olive Green

YO3 Warm Sunset

CG8 Cool Gray

Chameleon Alcohol Pens: If you have followed my blog, you know that I totally enjoy us these alcohol pens. They work great wherever I apply them – every type, texture or thickness of paper plus great on Foamiran. Happily, there were no problems with this Soft Finish cardstock. 

I infused the Royal Blue to between a 5 and 10 count for the lighter areas and of course full strength for the darker. Like most of the papers I’ve tried, the alcohol does bleed through but with no textural distortion.

Second Text:

Canson – Watercolor Paper  (cold press) 90 lb. – Aquarelle

Gina K Stamps – Rose Bouquet

Arteza Watercolor Pencils vs Chameleon Alcohol Pens

Paper: My 2^nd challenge was to see how the Canson Cold Press Watercolor Paper withstood the use of a WC pencils with a heavy water application and the alcohol ink. As I said earlier, it has been a long time since I enjoyed the benefits of watercolor.

If interested, there is an excellent article regarding the types of papers that I thought you might enjoy: https://watercoloraffair.com/cold-press-vs-hot-press-watercolor-paper-heres-how-to-choose/.

Cold Press using Arteza:  

A029 Moss

A052 Pumpkin

A064 Yellow Ochre

A100 Pear

A111 Coyote

Arteza: I wanted to use the same application technique as I did with the Soft Finish paper. I did a little extra water blending and occasionally blotted the surface when I felt it was getting too wet. I have used this paper weight with other types of watercolor but because of the WC pencil applications and extra water, the paper warped a little more than I wanted. I will try this again with a 140-300 lb. surface.

Because of the texture (unevenness) of the paper, the watercolor pencil has a softer, gentle appearance. Perfect for so many of our celebration cards.

Cold Press using Chameleon Color Tones:

OL3 Olive Green

YO3 Warm Sunset

Chameleon Color Tops:

YO3 Warm Sunset

Chameleon: Again, I followed my same application technique. However, if you notice I only used two colors for the entire project. Using the infuser with the Warm Sunset  do a 5-8 count. Reapply full strength for the more intense Warm Sunset. The leaves were infused with the Warm Sunset onto the Olive Green. I’m really impressed with this appearance.

MY RESULTS: This was a fun project. I learned a great deal about both types of surfaces and the color applications. Do I have a favorite? I can’t really say. Love both.

Thank you for stopping by today. Hope this might help when thinking about the next card on your list. Now for me, it’s to complete the projects.

Till next time … God Bless Each of You.

Poppy Flower– 

Thank you for stopping by today. As you may know, during the past few weeks, I have been refreshing my card-craft supplies and have fallen in love the the Dove Art stamp collection through Whimsy Stamps.The stamp used for this article is called the Himalayan Poppy, DA1013. The Himalayan Poppy is, in reality, blue! (See descriptive notes at the end.)

However, having never seen the Himalayan, I went with the poppy colors I am more use to seeing, an off red/orange.

For this project, I used:
                                                                                                  

White Card Stock – from Staples (top layer and base card)

Middle layer – Neenah's Stardream Collection - Onyx 105lb.

Inked Impression: Memento Tuxedo Black – no embossing

Prismacolor Colored Pencils – start lightly applying the color, then, build up to a deeper intensity, then using a blender stick, blend:

·         Canary Yellow

·         Crimson Red
·         Goldenrod
·         Green Ochre
·         Marine Green
·         Raspberry
·         White

Hope you will give this a try - just relax and have some fun.

Till later,
God Bless




Special Note: 
The Himalayan Blue poppy flower, Meconopsis, is one of the most prized in the poppy flower family for its true blue colored blooms. This member of the poppy flower family is particularly sensitive to temperature changes and therefore can be difficult to grow. Found mostly in the Scottish highlands and Himalayas, they have been successfully grown in Alaska and coastal Washington. Their optimum temperature range is 50 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Old Water Mill…  

This summer has been a time of reorganization for my craft areas (that seems to be a continual chore) and expanding upon some of my creative goals. During my “reorganization,” I realized that I have a large collection of inks, paints and colored pencils that I have not used in a while. So, I set a new goal … utilize those products.

Recently, I started collecting some of the beautiful Dove Art stamps from Whimsy Stamps. (See my July 31^st posting). The Water Mill (DA104) is one of my latest additions. Did you know that the use of Water Mills goes back long before the rise of Rome?

Materials –

Whimsy Stamps: The Water Mill (DA 104)

Elizabeth Craft Designs: Soft Finish: White and  Dark Chocolate

Dies: Dashing Squares

Chameleon Pencils:  Avocado and Spanish Olive

Rembrant Polycolor: Olive Green and Brown Ochre

Faber-Castell’s Pitt Pastel: 151 Helioblue-Reddish, 165 Juniper Green, 179 Bistre. 185 Naples Yellow, 273 Warm Grey IV

Prismcolor: Limepeel, Green Ochre, Cool Grey 90%, Orange Mineral, Blue Slate and Dark Green

Memento: Tuxedo Black

Krylon: Workable Fixatif (1306)

US Art Supply: Artist Blending Stump

Hope you will stop by again.

Till  next time – God Bless