Classy and Opinionated Lifestyle Mom Blog
To me, tahini has always been an essential ingredient when I make hummus, but I never explored tahini’s potential beyond that. However, Mighty Sesame Co. Fine Sesame Tahini in its convenient squeezable bottle has opened my eyes to a whole world of new tahini possibilities! …
Suppose you wanted to exercise your creativity without having to learn a new craft or invest in complicated supplies. Well, you can! Meet the Buddha Board, a surface you paint on using only water. Your artwork flows from your brush then fades away as the …
I have always loved the night sky and its changing constellations, the Milky Way, auroras, shooting stars, planets, and moon phases. I also love watercolor paintings, and several are hanging in my home, although I have not yet taken up a brush myself. If anything can move me to become a watercolorist, it’s the lovely new book called Celestial Watercolor: Learn to Paint the Zodiac Constellations and Seasonal Night Skies by Elise Mahan with D.R. McElroy (Rock Point, April 2019).
* Complimentary book received for review. This post contains affiliate links.
This charming hardcover book is an interesting read, aside from the lessons and discussions about painting. In particular, I enjoyed the chapter detailing Native American and other traditions surrounding each month’s full moon, as well as the section about the Zodiac, including the constellations and attributes associated with each astrological sign. That’s the sort of information I’ll be turning to regularly, to keep me in touch with what’s happening in the night sky and how it relates to the changing world beneath it as the seasons pass.
But of course, watercolor painting is the real focus of Celestial Watercolor, and in that regard, it’s truly inspirational. The authors begin with an extensive tutorial on the tools and techniques used in watercolor painting, emphasizing experimentation so you can discover what works best for you, with the end goal of fostering your own creativity and style. To that end, the tools portion includes a range of suggestions for several brands of papers, paints, brushes, and other materials, with an accompanying description of the differences between them and what might work best to achieve a certain result. As a complete newbie to watercolor painting, I learned a lot from the authors’ discussions of why they use certain tools or techniques for specific reasons and effects.
As you progress through Celestial Watercolor, you learn about the subjects being painted accompanied by step-by-step projects with variations to help you create your own watercolor paintings. When considering the night sky, you might expect the paintings to be dark, but the color palette is full of soft blues, greens, pinks, and purples. The paintings are beautiful, with an ethereal quality that evokes the sky in all its moods and seasons.
I’m definitely going to keep this book in mind when I need a gift for anyone interested in astronomy, astrology, or painting. It’s delightful on its own, and it just might provide a creative recipient with the incentive to break out their watercolor supplies and get painting the night sky.
Celestial Watercolor is published by Rock Point, an imprint of The Quarto Group. Rock Point Gift & Stationery specializes in encouraging creativity through products such as books and kits on arts and crafts, journals, and calendars. And visit Quarto on Facebook for up-to-date information on book releases, authors, and more.
* This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, we may or may not receive a small commission which helps to support this site. Thank you!
Giveaway: One lucky winner is going to win their own copy of the Celestial Watercolor Book from Quarto. Good luck!
Giveaway Details: This giveaway is open to residents of the US ONLY age 18 and over. Please read our Terms of Service & Disclaimer Policy before entering. This giveaway will close on April 29th, 2019 at 11:59 pm EST time. No purchase necessary to enter or win.
Disclaimer: A. Bailey received a complimentary product for review purposes & feature on The Classy Chics blog. No monetary compensation was received. A. Bailey’s thoughts, opinions and words are 100% her own. Your thoughts may differ. Please read the blog’s terms of service policy before entering any giveaways. The Classy Chics are NOT responsible for prize fulfillment or shipping of any items won from this blog. This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through an affiliate link, we may or may not make a small commission which helps to support this website. Thank you!!!
A good food thermometer is a must-have item in today’s kitchen, and EatSmart’s Precision Pro Digital Food Thermometer is my top choice. For me, being able to quickly check the temperature of all sorts of foods using this well-designed thermometer gives me confidence in knowing …
It has always been a mystery to me that the word “vanilla” can be used to mean “ordinary,” because good vanilla is one of the most divine flavors known to humanity. Seriously, let’s start using the word “vanilla” to mean “awesome!” * Complimentary product received …
If you’re serious about beginning to learn to paint or draw, you might focus on one medium, like colored pencils or acrylic paint. However, the surface you use with your chosen medium has an equally large impact on your results; for example, imagine the difference between painting on stretched canvas and on silk. Walter Foster Publishing is here to help you choose the right surface for your desired result, with the release of a new book in their Artist Toolbox series, Surfaces & Supports: A Practical Guide to Drawing and Painting Surfaces—from Canvas and Paper to Textiles and Woods.
* Complimentary book received for review. This post contains affiliate links.
We recently posted a review of another book in the series, Drawing Tools & Materials, which gives an overview of the pencils, pens, erasers, and other tools used in drawing. Surfaces & Supports works in concert with that book to provide detailed information about the surfaces commonly used in drawing and painting, giving the beginning artist a fuller understanding of how the equipment and materials they choose can impact their artwork.
Five different artists have collaborated to author this book, each with his or her own expertise on the topic. Together, they cover all aspects of the many types of surfaces and supports used in drawing and painting, ranging from different papers and canvases to panels and textiles, and even alternative materials like metal, stone, ceramic, and glass. They describe how to prepare the surfaces as well as which media work best with each surface. The illustrations and examples clearly demonstrate the different textures and techniques used to produce a wide variety of results. Honestly, it’s amazing!
The final chapter, called “Demonstrations,” takes the lessons of the preceding chapters and incorporates them into three detailed examples, each using a different set of materials and surfaces. The step-by-step instructions and illustrations are a guide for reproducing those projects, but even further, they provide inspiration for you to create your own artwork. The fundamentals presented in Surfaces & Supports give you a springboard for your own creative ventures.
The Artist Toolbox series is published by Walter Foster (an imprint of Quarto). They describe the series as “useful, practical reference guides designed for beginning artists and art hobbyists interested in fully understanding the focus and function of essential art tools of the trade.” Walter Foster specializes in books on art instruction, so if you enjoy creating your own artwork, you’ll enjoy browsing through their many books about drawing, sketching, painting, lettering, illustration, and so on.
* This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, we may or may not receive a small commission which helps to support this site. Thank you!
Giveaway: One lucky winner is going to win their own copy of Artist Toolbox: Surfaces & Supports, thanks to the generosity of the publisher, Quarto Knows. Good luck!
Giveaway Details: This giveaway is open to residents of the US ONLY age 18 and over. Please read our Terms of Service & Disclaimer Policy before entering. This giveaway will close on April 5th, 2019 at 11:59 pm EST time. No purchase necessary to enter or win.
Disclaimer: A. Bailey received a complimentary product for review purposes & feature on The Classy Chics blog. No monetary compensation was received. A. Bailey’s thoughts, opinions and words are 100% her own. Your thoughts may differ. Please read the blog’s terms of service policy before entering any giveaways. The Classy Chics are NOT responsible for prize fulfillment or shipping of any items won from this blog. This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through an affiliate link, we may or may not make a small commission which helps to support this website. Thank you!!!
When you’re beginning a new creative undertaking like drawing, choosing your supplies can be overwhelming. You want to be sure you’re spending your money on the right equipment for your skill level to help you achieve your desired results. Well, Walter Foster Publishing is here …
Bread crumbs are a pantry staple that can elevate all sorts of foods to crispy, tasty deliciousness. At any given time, I’ve got three or four different types of bread crumbs on hand, but none as flavorful as the two new varieties I’ve just had …