Transcripts
1. Introduction: Hi, I'm IrinaTrzaskos, watercolor artist and illustrator. Also I like to teach watercolor classes. Today we'll be painting gift toppers in Scandinavian style. You can also use this style to illustrate their holiday cards for different pattern designs or as table or mental décor. Last year around this time, we painted these holiday cards in ink and watercolor, and [inaudible] in three styles. Thank you so much for sharing your projects and stories behind them. In the next video, I'll show the supplies we'll be using in this class. If you are new to this channel, press the follow button on top, and let's get started.
2. Supplies: So, in today's class we'll be using the following supplies. Watercolor paper; you can use some 300 grams or even thinner paper for this project. Also if you'll be printing templates, you'll need the office paper, watercolor paint, water, whitewash, white acrylic or a white ink, a paint palette, paper towel, we'll need glue; I'll be using Tacky Glue but you can use any type of glue, or you can use a double-sided tape, whichever you're more comfortable with. Also we need scissors. We may need whitener pen, it's optional, a ruler. This is for folding the paper, when we'll be attaching the gift wrappers to the gifts, but you can substitute or choose to have scissors; if you don't have it. Also we'll be using a pencil, a number 6 round watercolor brush, and number 2 round watercolor brush. These are all the supplies we'll be using today.
3. Scandinavian pigeon : Now let's draw and paint a pigeon in a Scandinavian style. I have a template for you and a project section of a class, and you can print it and cut it out. Just like I did. I just did it on a darker paper so you can see it. What you can draw on one yourself when you're U-shaped, one if you don't want to use from a template. This is the template that you can find it in the project section of a class. I just outlined it. Now we'll have to add a couple more details before we start painting. It'll be easier for us to paint. This is the wing. Then, they had to do white. This entire painting is going to be just in white and red. That's conditional, Scandinavian colors, scheme and it's certainly easy. Still it's very festive and bold. Then on the wing we will have a circle and some of the elements of the courts of elements will be just painting with watercolors. Don't need to draw them all just to mean sections. It's so easier. Here we'll have under the body. It really has to be a very playful and a non-stressful process for you. Just enjoy. I'll be doing it faster from there class, but you can take your time and just stop of a little and rewind. This is all the drawing we need. Now I can start painting. I'll be painting with scalet red of water and part. This is brush number six. I'll be painting completely fast, but you can take your time and just stop the video when you need and just enjoy the painting, so this part of the budget, I'd like to be a totally red and then we'll add some elements with white wash. Just take a lot of paint and paint this part. It will have time to dry. Again, you can rotate your painting anyway you want and I left some space underneath. I should've mentioned before. Later I will show you how we can cut it for our gift tag and give gifts stopper, so you can see how festive white and red looks. Very Scandinavian. Water color doesn't have to be perfect for it is projects because it's nice to see, most perfect and perfections of watercolor, especially for those who don't paint. Such a nice gift. I'm sure will become it keeps sake. It's okay if your watercolor wash is not perfect as in a painting. Paint is part of a body which is going be red. Then we'll get to the fun part when all the details, patterns, different Scandinavian elements, folk element, just like my favorite part. Well has some details on this part. I will budget too after it dries, I will add white wash. This is good. Now we can start pink. Let's add some lines and some circles. Right here. I have a smaller brush. If your gift topper is small, just grab a small brush whichever one you are most comfortable with. I may switch to a smaller brush in a second. I want to have a snowflake here. There's no data snowflake but its okay, you can see it a lot in Scandinavian patterns. Do it like this. It looks like a snowflake. Then there is a circle. Now I want to switch to a small brush. This was number six, and I'll switch to number two. This parts which is still white you can turn your painting other way, so you'll be more comfortable. I'll turn it this way. Now, I'm going to add some edge here on this circle. Also, I love to add some more elements here [inaudible] just some lines. Scandinavian designs, ideally, are made of simple elements and there is beauty in it. We have simplicity, clarity. Your leaves here, [inaudible] leaves patterns. Here, let's make a symmetrical leaf pattern moving all the way along a wing. This type of bird is also very often used in Scandinavian and then many other folk designs. Let's make one smaller and smaller. This is nice. Also, I'd like to add some symmetrical ornament right here. We'll start with two leaves again, looking that way. A dot, two more leaves and let's make a flower here. Middle petal, and two more petals, and a smaller flower. Again, middle petal and two more. You can keep adding elements if you feel that you would like some more. I'll have a little branch coming out of here. A tiny branch here and some dots. Also, I'll add some more dots right here. Smaller and bigger, just to fill this space. Some in here. You can see how beautiful our wing looks. Some brushstrokes. Now, let's add some few lines on our bird's head. Next, I can decorate the tail. Some circles here. Again, you can make our own patterns. Just be creative, it's very simple. Of course, you're welcome to follow the lines too. In here, I'd like some dots. A little leaf here and more dots. Now, let's add some circles also here. Now, let's wait when this part will dry and we'll add some extra white elements to our bird. Our bird is almost dry and I just want to add whitewash. I have whitewash here. Just a few brush strokes just to make this wing more visible. Also, I'd like to add some polka dots just for fun. We're done painting our Scandinavian pigeon art bird.
4. Painting a Dala Horse : For Dala horse, we again will outline our template. Just leave some space at the bottom of your page, because I will show you in one of the videos how to attach your gift toppers to the gifts, different options. I will be cutting them out, after we paint from home. Now I have to add some more elements. It will be somewhere here. Again, you can be as creative as you want, add your all elements, we'll skip some and here we'll have a saddle, and then it's going to have a belt, I'm not sure if it's called a belt, but a quad belt, and one here. This one comes in circles also. So this is overdrawing, going in a circle, this half circle. Next, we can start painting. We'll have a few more colors. I will be using cardinal red for this one, mix a little less orange here. That's scarlet red. Again, the muzzle of a horse I'll paint red, but we can always add some more elements with white gouache. I'm not worried about the eye because, we'll paint it over with a darker color. you can always use other colors. If you don't like red. You can use indigo or gray or even black. Although such traditional Scandinavian colors. So you're free to use them or find your own color red, which you could mentioned your holiday to core. Here we'll have three colors and its going to be a red, which we're using right here, and it's cardinal red, and we'll have turquoise, my favorite, and the third color will be Payne's gray, which is almost black, depending with how much water will be diluting it, and of course, the wide twitches. An additional color and beautiful contrasts creator. So we're done with our head. Now I can start painting the body. Be patient, just paint along if you can. Stop the video if it is too fast for you or rewind it, whichever works. So I'm going to make edges nice, but we'll be cutting there some give toppers, I will be cutting them out. So don't worry about, I just show much unless you are going to use this as a holiday card or an illustration, then you can worry more about the edges. Our Dala horse is starting to look like a horse and we have, still this part of the horse and we'll be done with red. I'm using the brush number 6. I think it's a synthetic round brush. It's a round brush, but I think it's synthetic. Here you need a brush where you have more control so one of the square or very soft brush, probably won't be easy to control because it's too soft. But a synthetic or a color skin brush will be better for this. We're done painting with red and now we can start adding some to decorative elements. If you feel like your painting look turquoise like me is too bright, just a little bit of red here. Is what I'm doing, so bring it to a more neutral here. Also, I'd love Judson. Leaves here and red look together. Lets add some circles here. Gradually as symmetrical as possible. But if in case you're not, it's okay. Because perfect imperfection is beautiful. Here I'd love to make something like this thing here. Looking nice. Little more here. The next token and elements where our paint gray, which looks almost like black, but it's not as flat as black. Separated neutral black. Plus it matches way better with turquoise and to red too. When all this dries, well add some more elements with red on this part and with white on a horse. Here's the eye, add some dots here, with the dark. With very small brush you can add some little flowers here. Really carefully because this central part is still wet. Now, let's let it dry and I'll add the final elements with red and white. Now, when our horses is dry. We can add some details with white squash. Just some dots. Then probably we'll add some details with more darker gray, [inaudible]. When we are painting, just analyze and think which horse would you need to add. They'll come up with your own ideas. I made it dark. Make it two. Now with red that big one, not a lot of water, we'll have not contrast. Let's add some elements to the saddle, and around here. Also I'd like to add some elements with gray, some here. Let's add some water. Some more contrast here. Our hoarse I think it's ready, and I'll show you in a video how to attach all of them. Give topper to a gift.
5. Scandinavian House : Next gift topper we'll be painting is a little house with some Scandinavian design on it. Because our previous two gift toppers were pretty complex in design and pattern, the next two we'll make more simple so together they will look harmonious in their composition. Again, grab a template, on here I made a mark where the middle of the house is, so I make a line. Next somewhere here I would love to have a small window, normal size window. I marked it with a layer-like lines. If it's a little crooked it's fine. Next we'll paint gray, we'll paint a window. We marked this middle lines and so we can make our patterns symmetrical, and then we'll just erase it before I cut and wear it to house. We are not painting the house itself we'll just be adding patterns and the shape of the house, we can just cut out the paper. Feel free to change the design of the house. You can add more windows so you make it smaller, taller, shorter, whichever makes sense for you. This is Payne's gray. It looks almost like because I'm taking a lot of pigment. This is our window and next again we have cadmium red. You can add a little bit of Payne's gray to cadmium red to make it a little darker and to mention putting this color. Next, I would like to paint a big snowflake right here. You can draw it with a pencil first if it seem more comfortable for you. However, I like this feel of hand painted, spontaneous design. You have the main lines, and I'll take a small brush and I'll add more patterns to it so it won't be as simple as the one on that. I'd love to add some leaves.Try not to overdo it. I'm really trying not to. Up here I wanted to link with this one. These two seem longer so I'm going to just add few more dots to balance like a regular snowflake. This is nice. Next i want to add a little heart right here and a dot. A little leaf and a dot, and here too. I have [inaudible] careful here because the Payne's gray is still wet. It could not bleed and I don't want that. Just add elements wherever I feel like. Some in the corner here. I would love to add some more to the window. It is a little wet. Even if it's a winter here go, I'd love to paint two red mushrooms, which are so typical for a Scandinavian design. These are the bottoms for the mushrooms. Next I'll will take red, quiet thick, and I'll be living white dots, and we try and test. But if you're not living white dots you can always end them with whitewash, and the second mushroom. Just be creative and you can add some animals or branches. I'd love to add some branches [inaudible] I want to add few branches. I'm careful because this part is still wet. I'll be adding a few berries. Also I could add a berry here, couple here. After we'll cut the house out of the paper and I'll show you how to make gift tops.
6. Xmas tree topper : This Gift Topper is in the shape of a Christmas Tree. Again, we have a template and I outlined it, and I have the sign for the middle. I made a middle line where I put pencil. Next, we can start painting and again, this one is going to be as simple as possible, because of our template. I will draw, horse templates are so complex. I'm going to do some fairly symmetrical lines. This is unsymmetrical. But of this Gift Topper is in a shape, not as much as in a barter, but you again, can make it more decorative and I do. In this middle, I want to make like a toppled leaf pattern like this little leaves. Again, there are no rules, just relax and be creative. Here I felt like adding some dots in between. Suggesting to have a process, if it's not too perfect it's totally fine. Here at the end I want to add like little flower and again, some lines. Not a lot just a little bit of barter. This branch is longer, so we can add more pines. Use your creative judgment and decide if it's enough elements, or you would like some more. It's your art work and you're deciding, I'd love to also add some few dots like at the edges here. That's it of course, and maybe a few more. That's so close, and I think this is enough pattern for our Christmas Tree Gift Topper.
7. Attaching gift toppers to the gifts: Finally we finish to paint on our gift toppers and I cut them out and I will show you how much extra space and left and why on some of them. Here we have the gift. This year I'm just wrapping everything in craft paper and I painted some snowflakes. It can be stars or just dots or some simple elements if you want and I added some yarn thread. It can be a red yarn, I had white yarn. The easiest way to attach the gift toppers to the gift is just to glue them like this and write a name, Justin. Write on it with white gel pen if it makes sense or with black if it matches better with colors or with red. I would use just take the glue and would glue it here, and let's put it right here or lower or higher. This way we just don't need to add any extra for attaching just cut the gift topper as it is and just glue it to the gift. Another way is to cut with some extra paper and then I take this thing or scissors, we turn our gift topper and you can see it's a little bending because of all the paint, so it would be a good to iron it or to put it under a stack of books. We should go a little higher. I'll just bend it like this and here is a gift and we'll glue it like this and we'll have a gift topper standing on it. Another way to do it is, I left extra two and a half centimeters and five, so this part has to be twice shorter than this. What we'll do next, again you can do it with scissors or this thing just, and again below part. Bend it like this first and like this. Then we have to glue this part to this one with glue. It may take a while. Then we glue it to the top of the gift again, like this, so we'll have a standing gift topper. The last one, I left two and a half centimeters, four centimeters and one and a half centimeter. I will write all these measurements in the project section, so don't worry and we'll just [inaudible] the other way. We'll just bend them all in that direction and then we'll glue this part to the tree, like this and we'll have a standing gift topper again. I'll add a little bit of glue here. Make sure this part is straight and creates a triangle with this part flat on the bottom, and then just add some glue too. Just add a drop of glue to your gift, and that's your gift topper, so its like this [inaudible]. Here you have three ways of attaching a gift toppers to the gifts.
8. Thank you and see you soon ): Thanks for joining me in this class, I hope you had the chance to paint with me. If you like this class please leave a review and upload the project to the Project section of the class. I wish you and your family a bright and festive holiday season. See you in my next class. Bye.
Irina Trzaskos, Watercolor Artist & Illustrator
