Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft

All The Watercolors

I gathered up all of my Faber-Castell watercolor tools to do a quick comparison and also to show a few different techniques to use with each one.

 

1. Connector Paints

 

2. Watercolor EcoPencils

 

3. Goldfaber Aqua Watercolour Pencils

 

4. Albrecht Durer Watercolour Pencils

 

5. Albrecht Durer Watercolour Markers

 

6. Gelatos

 

 

Erin is a teacher by day and a creator by night. She loves to try and inspire creativity in her students everyday! Because she’s busy during the day, the night is when her creativity gets to explode into the world through lettering and messing around with watercolors. Her biggest advice would be to not compare your art to other people’s art! Be uniquely you!

The Lettering Fern

Gelato Blending

Did you know that you can blend your gelatos using a baby wipe? It's super easy, basically mess free, easily bendable, and the colors stay super vibrant!

Here we have some smooth mixed media paper and the iridescents pack! Go give it a try!

 

 

Chelsea has a not-so-slight obsession with all things lettering. Watching lettering videos is what got her started, and you can usually find her posting them using every art supply she can get her hands on. From brush pens to watercolor, and everything in between!

DIY Bridesmaid Proposals

Spring time brings wedding season! You'll definitely be needing your girls with you on your special day, so here's a fun way to ask them to join you in the craziness that is wedding planning!

 

 

Start by lightly tracing the bouquet stencil from the Faber-Castell wedding pack onto some watercolor or mixed media paper.

 

Using a small, cheap paint brush (this is a 5/0 from a cheap children's paintbrush pack), paint the outlines of your bouquet with some masking fluid. Since the spaces are so small, this will help ensure that your paint will stay where you want it.

 

Now for the important part... let it dry! Seriously. This is probably the most important part of your whole project. Walk away. Make a Sandwich. Got to Target. Take a nap. Whatever you do, make sure you give it enough time to dry all the way (about an hour or so just to be safe).

 

Now that you're well rested and full of sandwiches, it's time to break out your Gelatos! Here I used Guava, Watermelon, Fig, Elderberry, Kiwi, and Silver Ice. Very fruity. Just color a bit onto a paint palette, add a few drops of water, and mix until you get a good watercolor consistency. Paint your flowers until you get the dimension that you like.

 

Now for the fun part. PEELING! Once your paint is... you guessed it... dry (we should be sensing a theme here), pick a spot and rub, rub, rub! When it starts peeling off a bit, grab it and peel all the way!

 

Finish it off with some lettering. Here I used the Pitt Brush pen in Pink Madder Lake from the pastel pack since the colors went together nicely. Then take a small black fineliner and outline your bouquet to make it pop.

 

Pro tip: add this card to a basket filled with a few of your girls' favorite things, or a nice bottle of wine! Spoil them a little.  They deserve it!

 

 

Chelsea has a not-so-slight obsession with all things lettering. Watching lettering videos is what got her started, and you can usually find her posting them using every art supply she can get her hands on. From brush pens to watercolor and everything in between!

Word Art with Iridescents Gelatos & White PITT Pen

Hi everyone, Mou here with a word art tutorial using a beautiful quote by the 13th century Persian poet, Rumi. In this tutorial, we'll explore what the Iridescents Gelatos colors look like on a dark surface and also some handlettering using the White Brush PITT pen.

To do this project, you'll need the following -

Faber-Castell Gelatos® Colors, Iridescents -15 Piece Set (#770175)

Faber-Castell India ink Pitt Artist Pen White set

Faber-Castell Collapsible Water cup (#770310)

Other - watercolor paper (trimmed to 9 x 6 inches), black paint

Now, let me walk you through the steps.

Apply a coat or two of black paint to the watercolor paper. Let dry.

Rub the Iridescent Gelatos colors on the paper as shown.

Blend the colors with water using the paint brush included in the Gelatos set.

Add another layer of colors with the Iridescent Gelatos. Blend with water. Splatter some Gelatos colors after diluting it with a wet brush. Let dry.

Write the quote with White PITT pen, brush tip.

TIP: If you make a mistake, just cover the area with more Gelatos colors and blend with a little bit of water. Let dry completely and go over it with your pen.

I hope you enjoyed today's tutorial and try playing with Gelatos and PITT pens together in your word art!

Introducing the Abstract Art for Beginners Kit from 20 Minute Studio

Hi everyone, Mou here today with a video introducing the newest 20 Minute Studio Kit - Abstract Art for Beginners!

A kit like this is great not only to give as gift but more importantly, it's a fun and inexpensive way to try a new kind of art. As I mentioned in the video, I'm truly a beginner when it comes to Abstract Art. I used only contents from the kit along with a cup of water and a palette. Here are all the materials I used -

Materials:

20 Minute Studio Abstract Art for Beginners (#770804)

Faber-Castell Collapsible Water Cup with water

Silicone palette (from Faber-Castell Intro to Watercolor with Gelatos Kit)

I hope you enjoy the video and have fun making your own abstract art!

'Blooms of Spring' Word Art with the NEW Iridescents II Gelatos Colors & PITT Pens

Hi everyone, Mou here with a word art tutorial using the newest set of Gelatos colors - Iridescents II and PITT artist pens! It has been a long cold winter here in the Atlantic North East and I have to say that I am ready for spring! While the drab winter drags on, I'm filling my surrounding with soft, colorful, florals and some word art using a quote by S. Brown.

To do this project, you'll need the following -

Faber-Castell Gelatos® Colors, Iridescents II-15 Piece Set (#770177)

Faber-Castell India ink Pitt Artist Pen Hand Lettering 8ct wallet pink (#267124)

Faber-Castell Collapsible Water cup (#770310)

Other - watercolor paper (trimmed to 9 x 6 inches)

Now, let me walk you through the steps.

Rub the Gelatos colors on the paper as shown.

Blend the colors with water using the paint brush included in the Gelatos set.

NOTE: Sometimes even watercolor paper tends to turn wavy after you add water to blend. I have a tip for you to correct that - after I finish my piece, I put it under a pile of heavy books overnight to flatten the paper out. And if I want to frame it, I put the paper between two sheets of wax paper, lay a small towel on top and quickly iron over it to take any wrinkles out.

Write the words with the brush tip (B) PITT pens, varying colors, sizes and styles of handwritten fonts. Mix things up. Be loose and don't worry too much about making it perfectly perfect.

Once you have the quote written, doodle some vines with flowers around the words with the Superfine tip (S) PITT pens from the set.

Fill in the doodled vines with the PITT pens to finish.

I hope you enjoyed today's tutorial and try playing with Gelatos and PITT pens together in your word art!

Everything You've Always Wanted to Know About Gelatos

We’re asked all the time, “What is a Gelato®?”. Gelatos are a water-soluble pigment stick, they look similar to a lipstick or lip balm. They come in a tube with a twist up feature. When you use Gelatos, you’ll notice that they have a soft, silky texture that is similar to lipstick. Gelatos are made of a combination or emollients, wax and pigments. You can find Gelatos in 80 colors including opaque, metallic, translucent and iridescent.

Gelatos are water-soluble, so you can paint with them. You can apply Gelato straight to your surface and then go over it with a wet brush, dissolving the Gelato into a rich, vibrant watercolor. Another method to using Gelatos as watercolor is to apply some Gelato onto a palette, if you don’t have a painter’s palette an old plate or take out container lid works just fine. Then, drip some water and mix with your paintbrush to create watercolor paint that you can then paint with.

Gelatos can also be used dry just by applying to paper and then blending with a fingertip, blending stump, damp cloth or baby wipe. If you’d like to create art with more texture, you can mix Gelatos into different mediums like Gel Medium, Gesso and Glaze. To mix simply cut off a small piece of Gelato, “smoosh” it up with a palette knife or the back of a spoon, then mix into your medium.

When working with Gelatos, don’t limit yourself to just paper! Gelatos can be used on wood, fabric, canvas, unglazed ceramic – nearly any porous surface can be used with Gelatos. When working on fabric, you may want to finish your work by spraying a clear fixative over your work to protect it, especially if you have used Gelatos with a dry method. They work on dark or light surfaces too!

One of the benefits of working with Gelatos is that you don’t have to worry about your work fading over time. Gelatos have been tested for lightfastness. Gelatos are also permanent when dry so you can layer other colors or mediums over Gelatos.

Hungry for ideas and inspiration? Follow us on Facebook, Youtube and our blog for how to’s and project inspiration!

Word Art with the NEW Iridescents II Gelatos Colors & PITT Pens

Hi everyone, Mou here with a word art tutorial using the newest set of Gelatos colors - Iridescents II and PITT artist pens! Mermaids are everywhere these days - from birthday cakes to crochet patterns to Halloween costumes. I wanted to hop on this trend train and create a mermaid word art using a quote by Anthony T. Hinks.

To do this project, you'll need the following -

Faber-Castell Gelatos® Colors Iridescents II

India ink Pitt Artist Pen Hand Lettering 6ct wallet blues

Goldfaber 6 Ct. Graphite Pencil Tin

Collapsible Water cup

Other - watercolor paper (trimmed to 4.5 x 6 inches)

Now, let me walk you through the steps.

Rub the Gelatos colors on the paper as shown.

Blend the colors with water using the paint brush included in the Gelatos set.

Draw a mermaid tail lightly with pencil. Color around it with more Gelatos.

Sketch some details to the tail as shown.

Write the words with the PITT pens, varying colors, size and style of handwritten fonts. Mix things up. Be loose and don't worry too much about making it perfectly perfect.

Make some marks around the page also with the PITT pens to finish.

I hope you enjoyed today's tutorial and try playing with Gelatos and PITT pens together in your word art!

A Christmas Painting

Hi everyone, Mou here today getting into the Holiday mood!

Today it's snowing out here and I have a little painting tutorial to celebrate the season. Let me show you the steps I took for the above painting so you can create one too.

For this painting, I used the following supplies:

Faber-Castell

Watercolor pencil Goldfaber Aqua tin of 48 (#114648) - 108,109, 115, 183, 273

Deluxe Waterbrush (#770306)

PITT Artist Pens S tip - BLACK

Gelatos® color - Iced Currant

Other - Watercolor paper, pencil

Start with a light pencil sketch of a floral planter with Holiday elements like pine cones, berries, etc.

Color the elements with Goldfaber Aqua watercolor pencils as shown.

Blend the colors with a brush dipped in water or use the Deluxe waterbrush . Let dry.

After the colors have dried completely, give the individual elements in the composition some definition with S-tip Black PITT Artist pen.

Next add more colors with the Goldfaber Aqua watercolor pencils to create visual depth and dimension.

Rub some Gelatos color Iced Currant, a gorgeous metallic red, onto a craft mat or palette and dilute the pigment with water. Dip your brush into it and use it as ink as you hand-letter the word 'joy' under the painting.

Add some touches of the Iced Currant Gelatos on the berries and the planter to bring some added shin to the painting as a finishing touch.

I hope you enjoyed today's tutorial and will pull out your watercolor pencils, Gelatos and PITT pens this Holiday for some creative joy!

Christmas Countdown - Draw Your Own Ornaments Challenge!

Hi everyone!

I'm so excited to announce the arrival of our Christmas Countdown Challenge!

To start counting down to Christmas, create 15 ornaments, and each day, decorate them! The ornaments can be simple or ornate... big or small - it's up to you!

Personally, I'm going to challenge myself to use multiple mediums for this one! One day will be pitt artist pens, and the next could be colored pencils! I'm so excited to get started and experiment! The end result will be stunning, and I cannot wait for you to share your fabulous work with Faber-Castell USA & I!

If you decide to post, be sure to tag me at @plansthatblossom and Faber-Castell at @fabercastellusa and use the hashtag: #fcornamentchallenge so we can enjoy your beautiful creations!

Fun tip - looking for an advent calendar for the kids? This challenge is perfect for that! It's a fun family activity that keeps everyone creative and festive!

If you're not into drawing your own ornaments, but would still like to decorate them - you're in luck! I have a printable for you! )You know I love a good printable!) It can be trimmed to A5 size which is a great fit for the typical bullet journal. Check it out printable and enjoy!

Thanks, and Happy Holidays!!