Fearless Friday, Holiday Mistletoe

Fa la la la la, let’s paint some mistletoe!
This beautiful rendering from Clipart Free was my inspiration

I started with a pencil sketch,
beginning at the top of the mistletoe and working my way down,
shape by shape
When sketching a subject,
don’t fret over every little detail or exact placement,
use your own judgement to fill in, add or subtract,
until you have a pleasing composition

Once I’m satisfied with the pencil sketch,
I use a waterproof fine liner pen to ink the drawing
I began to add the lightest parts of the mistletoe with a pale lime green
Next, I added the lightest parts of the red ribbon
Then I added the darkest red areas

I like to work all areas equally as I go
keeping a sense of the whole painting coming together,
so next I went back and added midtones to the green leaves
More greens
Now back to the ribbons for the red midtones


To finish, I used colored pencils to deepen, blend, and shade areas of the ribbons and leaves

And finally I gave the whole painting a few splatters


“Holiday Mistletoe” 7″ x 10″ watercolor, ink and colored pencil on mixed media paper

Be Fearless!
I will be joining these fabulous parties and blogs:
Sundays on Silverado Love Your Creativity Over the Moon
Between Naps on the Porch, Celebrate Your Story,
All About Home/ Common Ground Follow the Yellow Brick Home
Tasty Tuesday Oh My Heartsie Girl Turn About Tuesday
Full Plate Thursday Centerpiece Wednesday Creatively Crafty
Thursday Favorite Things Creative Cumpulsions Meal Plan Monday
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[…] home-bound, or like me, always wanted to learn how to make watercolor pictures, then Jenna from The Painted Apron breaks down the mystery with a step-by-step instruction on a beautiful Mistletoe […]
Lovely! Happy Birthday!
Aren’t you sweet, thanks Rita!
You made such a pretty picture of mistletoe Jenna. I hope you have a happy Friday and weekend.
Thank you Julie!
Hmmm. Rita says it is your birthday — I see nothing of that here! But I will join her in all happy wishes for a wonderful birthday. You sure started my day well with this post! You know, the best tip I learn from you (and one I often forget to implement, much to my chagrin, is don’t add every detail in the beginning. You can add later. Yes, you can. I need to remember that!
thank you Jeanie! Yes, today is my birthday and I’m looking forward to celebrating safely outside by the fireplace with a few friends later this evening! Yes, details can really bog you down, that’s the fun in being an artist, you can edit to your heart’s content! Hope you’re feeling better and better!
Great tutorial to show how you do your graphic style. I love that your pieces are never overworked…and love the colors in your Christmas subjects. Always a pleasure! Sandi
Thanks so much Sandi!
Wow! It’s so fun to watch the progression! Looks like fun too – thanks for the tutorial! 🙂
Thank you Barbara!!
I just love the mistletoe, Jenna! Butch used to bring mistletoe in every year and hang it up. I am not sure what happened to that tradition? 🤷🏼♀️ Happy, happy birthday 🎈🎂🎈 You share the day with our son! Wishing you a lovely weekend!
Happy Birthday to your son! Looks like a rainy weekend, good for Christmas coziness and baking!
Love it, love it, love it, Jenna ! This painting would make a perfect Christmas card! Your Fearless Fridays never disappoint. Have a wonderful Birthday, Jenna.
Thank you so much Rosie!! Thank you for the birthday wishes too!
Cute! Ha, Ken was recently spotted with some mistletoe over on DIY Barbie Blog too! Have a great weekend:@)
Oh how cute, your Barbie creations are amazing!
Jenna, I love your signature ‘splatter effect’ on your watercolors! Happy Belated Birthday! ♥
Thank you Mary!
Jenna, I’ve had it on my radar to try watercolors for some time now.
I’m so happy to feature your post at the next Friday with Friends link party!
Hugs,
RR
Thank you so much Rachelle, watercolor is tricky but such a great medium, I hope you enjoy it and have fun!