Venetian Summer

The sun is shining and although it is not technically summer yet, it finally feels like it is. I made this card over a year ago, during my stint on the Dirty Dozen. It is not vintage style in the same sense as my recent ‘sepia toned’ cards but it does have a bit of an old b&w photo feel. Just as it is possible to highlight one part of a b&w photo, it is fun to do the same with watercolouring. I inked my stamp in London Fog but avoided the hat so I could ink that in red. I added shading to the buildings and the woman by picking up ink with a small watercolour brush. I chose for the sun to be coming from the left hand side of the scene and kept my darkest shading on the right of the buildings, hat and body. You can see where I taped the watercolour panel to begin which left a frame around the picture. Sometimes when I am teaching I am asked what to do about those little areas where the ink seeps under the masking tape. If it is only in a few places or a small area I do not worry about it; I think it makes it look like a watercolour sketch. If it really does detract from the design, I trim the whole border off and frame it with another colour or by popping it up on foam tape to create a ‘shadow border’.

We have had a long weekend in Ontario and the weather has been beautiful. I’ve been bike riding a couple of times and enjoyed the tulips planted by the canal for the tulip festival which is currently happening in Ottawa. I have also been outside planting flowers in my garden and pots. It is hard to believe just over a week ago we were bundled up in multiple layers watching my son play soccer while it was 3°C!

Supplies:

Stamps: Venetian Summer(PB)
Inks: London Fog, Love Letter memento ink (Imagine Craft/Tsukineko)
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper