Fancy Free. 4 x 6 watercolor on paper postcard. © 2017 Sheila Delgado
Daffodowndilly
She wore her yellow sun-bonnet,
She wore her greenest gown;
She turned to the south wind
And curtsied up and down.
She turned to the sunlight
And shook her yellow head,
And whispered to her neighbor:
“Winter is dead.”
A.A. Milne, When We Were Very Young
A set of quick postcards. Needed to paint. And use up some of that yellow still in the bowl. Thought it would be done for, but there is still enough for another painting or two. (Thanks Christine for the postcard paper!)
Breezy. 4 x 6 watercolor on paper postcard. © 2017 Sheila Delgado
Over A Barrel, digital surface design. © 2017 Sheila Delgado
Thanks to everyone who voted for my design! I ended up in the top third! #102 of 354, with 79 votes. To get into the top ten I would have needed 165 votes. That figure is different for each challenge. You can see the winners here. It received many “favorites” from other designers, I was glad for that.
This weeks design challenge theme is “Birds and Blooms”. There are even MORE entries than last week. Spoonflower holds these challenges as part of their “overarching goal: to inspire you, our design community and continue to challenge you to keep creating and growing.”
I neglected to include the prize scale, and a few of you were curious. This is how it works:
One popularly voted grand-prize winner will receive $200 in Spoonflower credit. The 2nd place winner will receive $100 in Spoondollars. The 3rd place winner will receive $50 in Spoondollars. The rest of the top 10 winners will receive $20 in Spoonflower credit. The top 25 popularly voted designs (provided the designers are already verified sellers) will be automatically made available for sale in the Marketplace where they will receive 10% commission on every sale — no $5.00 swatch required! In addition to cash prizes, the top 10 will receive additional exposure in our email newsletters, professional photography of their printed designs, and social media mentions.
Spoonflower has recently changed this. Before, only the number one design received a cash prize.
Birds and Flowers. Mixed media digital surface design. © 2017 Sheila Delgado
In reading the challenge instructions, I found out I goofed. I thought I had read this was a watercolor design. OOPS! Oh well. All of the May themes are to be watercolor, I just got a head start. (Some of the designers made the same mistake.) But no worries. Watercolor is not against the rules. All is well.
Indigo swatches
I started my design by painting indigo swatches. You can see a few of them here. I added drops of water to the drying paint to create blooms for texture. In some of the swatches I used a clean, damp brush to lift some of the pigment in a swirl pattern.
In watercolor, a “bloom” happens when wetter paint is placed in dryer paint. The liquid forces the original pigment out, creating irregular shaped splotches.
In Photoshop, I “pasted” these swatches to the flower shapes by creating a clipping mask. My first round, I had just indigo and white flowers. I added a soft blue, a color sample taken from the watercolor. I decided I needed a pop of color, and added orange centers to some of the blooms. Finally I added a lighter shade of that orange to a few of the larger flowers. While I liked the design with all blues and white, the minute I added the warmth it felt finished.
Wanna help me win? I have already received some favorites. Always a nice feeling when fellow designers give you a thumbs up. You have five days to vote. As always, you can only vote once, but you can share the link with friends.
Have a super weekend!
