Inspiration
Earlier this week I shared with you Jennifer Nichol’s “Gorgeous Textured Fall Crow” lesson [scroll down in the post], which is one you can watch too— on YouTube, totally for beginners and a fun one for experts too. The above “Hello Autumn” card is what I made from the lesson, which includes so much:
- canvas textures,
- color/fill,
- layers,
- clipping masks [though we didn’t use them],
- blend modes,
- smudging,
- and making it less digital.
Sign up for Jennifer’s newsletter to get the texture brushes, pastel brushes, and botanical brushes we used. I also added one of my own botanical brushes– the five leaves with veins, which you can download here. Since it is just one brush, you will find it in your “imported” category at the very end of your brush list when you’ve downloaded and imported it.
I’ve continued with the process to create more. I really like this one:
I’m much better at smudging the hills and placing the textures. I used a different botanical for the leaves; it’s another one I made which you can download here: willow. Remember that it is just one brush, you will find it in your “imported” category at the very end of your brush list when you’ve downloaded and imported it.
I also added a little mouse, a dragonfly, and a setting sun with stars above. There’s so much you can do with this style. I decided to add some text too:
The Illustration is DTIYS
Jennifer has also decided to make this a “Do This In Your Style” challenge — but to just do it “your way” since “style” is often elusive to most of us. Read about it on her IG post:
MY DTIYW: Crow/Hummingbird
I decided to really change it up into one of my favorite “styles:” silk painting. Silk painting is another of Jennifer’s lessons. I also changed the crow to a hummingbird and added the setting or rising sun again. Notice the brighter colors. I kept in the look of the textured hills and colored in the botanicals. What do you think?
Check Out Jen’s Community
If you like the silk painting style or the lesson on the textured crow, you might want to watch a video of Jennifer Nichol’s community on IG or watch her YouTube Crow lesson to see how she teaches and the type of community she facilitates. This month [September 2024] is 20% off Jennifer Nichol’s Creative Journey Community. [affiliate link]. Well worth the cost to be part of a supportive membership of artists learning together through Jennifer’s teaching and resources. Come see what we’re about! I can hardly believe all the knowledge and skill I’ve gained to create all the art in this post! I’ve grown so much as an artist, and Jennifer and her community is a big part of that.
Hope to see you there!
I wonder, if I draw a line... 