Positive Force: Watercoloring Canvas Corp Mixed Media Origins Pumpkins with Prima watercolors

Hello Canvas Corp friends…I'm up again today on the Canvas Corp blog with another Friday with Friends post. This week I thought it would be fun to share with you how wonderful the Mixed Media Origins papers work with Prima Watercolors. I decided that I would use the double pumpkin image.

Supply list:
Canvas Corp Mixed Media Origins Mini Art – Pumpkins
Prima Watercolor paints: Tropicals, Decadent Pies, and The Tropics
White gouache

I like to use a dropper to add water to my watercolor pans and then transfer the individual colors to the mixing areas within each set. I had a general idea of the colors I wanted to use, so I added water to about five of the orange, yellow, and brown pans to start with. I started with the pumpkin on the right and started building up my colors, remembering to leave some spaces for highlights. The Mixed Media Origins Mini Art papers are perfect for watercoloring as it is thick and almost cloth like in feeling and texture. The watercolor floats on the surface of the paper for a good bit allowing you to move the paint a good bit before it finally starts to dry.

I continued adding colors until I felt I had some good depth to the shape. I then moved on to the pumpkin on the left. I started this one by layering the lightest color from the right pumpkin onto certain areas of the image. These watercolor paints are amazing for layering of color. When working on a piece like this it is easy to move from one side to the other allowing parts of it to dry a bit before adding more color to the image.

I decided for this pumpkin that I wanted it have a blue and greenish tint to it, so I added multiple shades of blue and green leaving some highlight areas on this one as well.

I used the remaining paints I had mixed in the pan to color the leaves and the background behind the pumpkins. I love how they turned out. I am not sure whether I will try and add this piece to a card front or frame it to sit on my side table in the living room during fall. These watercolors really are wonderful to work with and the color stays very vibrant when the image dries. I went back in with some white gouache paint to add some extras little accents on the stems.