Painting the Anna Karin Style vase in watercolours II

The last session we saw each other is almost a month ago and we are now in 2025! But I am pretty sure that you are all very interested to see the video that we made while Anna Karin was giving her demo on how to paint her amazing vase. Here it is:



You must have noticed the enthusiasm! and you can see it in the results too - not everything is finished so this will come back later (and it will keep coming back I am sure, so great and rewarding to do).
For more examples you can also visit previous posts:

Link to previous post 1

Link to previous post 2


Anyway, it was very inspiring! Roxane has continued training, and she has patiently taken the time to perfect and plan and study and work on the colour. Her vase will no doubt be finished soon.



This creation is from Anne, very daring colour-wise - and still created from  mixes of 3 colours

Our lovely and entertaining guest Armin from the US had never touched a watercolour brush before and look what he created! Two conclusions: Anna Karin is a fantastic teacher and Armin has talent! We hope to see him back one day.

Anna Karin's finished vase is amazing.

And yours truly (Marina) painted one too - it has come out so delicate, 

I have it in my atelier, look at it every day and I quite like it! Thank you Anna Karin...

And then there were other projects. Like this Phenomenal 'abstract Village' for our expo by Glen

And what about Sue's wonderful minimalist wreath, how light and airy and still a true Christmas mood...

next to demo-ing the dark to light Vase, Anna Karin  still found the time to proceed with her Christmas cards. The spheres look finished and shiny.

This incredibly subtle hand-painted card I received from our correspondent in Toulon, Michele. With heart warming good wishes. Thank you so much!

And the last one of 2024 - the amazing 'waterscape', with beautiful clauds and reflection and the bird with reflection in the water That detail determines the character and the story behind the painting. If you ask me. Fabulous, Anne!

 

That was it Aquarellistas! 2024 is over.

Fingers crossed that 2025 will be even better in all respects!

A variety of Watercolour subjects I

 We're near Christmas, next week will be our last session, and everything slowly changes toward festive thinking, decorating and wrapping presents. We have made our cards and bookmarks and had a wonderful and creative session last Tuesday, with all kinds of ideas and expressions. Also we finished projects. The subject 'du jour' was Precious Vases (prepping for an Anna Karin-project) and one hero painted one 😀:

Anne painted this lovely shiny vase, the highlights are strong!

Fantastic Abstract Village by Anna, so tasteful,  colourful and playful!

This amazing little impressionistic French street with beautiful sunset was also painted by Anne

This is a true work of patience, Glen has already spent 2 afternoons on it - but it is worth every minute, the result will be fabulous, can't miss!

A beautiful village, hidden by olive branches created by Charlie. She's not convinced, I love it!

WIP of the village of Opio by Laura, all different pieces calmly falling into place. 

One more session and it will be complete, and very beautiful

These are abstract flowers (and birds) by Marie-Françoise. Not finished and very exciting to see it change as she is planning a vibrant background colour...

 

After some tweaks, Roxane is now happy with her abstract flower painting. She also created the lovely wet-in-wet below - not on our usual Arches paper. This paper reacted so different, But still, it looks very good, also because of the sharp dark tree trunks

The amazing abstracted Parrot flower by Corinne, now finished. It is so beautiful and tasteful -  and it has a lot of depth and  poetic sadness.

Laura did two small projects as well, a little boy under water and a snowman -card. With soft blue glitter that you can't really see on the photo - but it gives it an extra festive quality...

Abstract Flowers in watercolours

Because last weeks' subject 'Abstract Villages' was such a success, we decided to continue with that inspiration, and paint abstract flowers. It went well also! Look for yourself, all the pictures below:

Anne's abstract flowers are amazing! So vibrant and free. With just a bit of masking fluid and paint. Well done!

 

Very beautiful, stylized flowers by Anna. So happy with this. Clear proof that less is more!


WIP by Corinne, an awesome painting of a Parrot flower. Looks good already, but knowing her work it will be even better when finished, count on it.

Roxane's abstract flowers are so original. All of them make a different statement, the background is fabulous and  reinforces the image, with its' different colours

WIP by Marina. I cut masking tape in leave-shapes and also used the leftovers. Then added some masking fluid. Put my fingers in it while still wet hoping to create fingerprints. Then layers of paint, felt pen, more layers. Then removed tape and rubbed off masking and - it actually became snow. Not yet sure what to do next, but it was fun!

Then there were hidden villages created:

Laura is painting a second version of her lovely Opio watercolour, this time 'hidden' behind flowers and a bird. This is WIP but already interesting

Charlie continued with hers, the village will be hidden behind olive branches, that are now still in masking fluid. On the right there will be more branches, now still in masking and already giving it depth!.

Breathtaking painting by Sue, all kinds of techniques, she used cling film, masking fluid and lots of loose brush strokes to create this dark and mysterious hidden village. Absolutely fantastic and there is so much more to see in it!!

WIP by Anna, she started a hidden village that will be playful and quite abstract - and beautiful and warm in colour

Sandra started with two villages, one (above) on handmade paper, that absorbs so much more and is very different to paint on. But you can already see the build-up and how wonderful it will be when finished!
Below a village in the mist, on our usual paper. The mist and everything around it is so gorgeous!

And then there were our true abstract painters:

Thecla, who works from home at the moment and finished her amazing composition in red.

And Judith, who's back from her travels and dripped her adventures and impressions on the paper. We even found a hidden village in there!

Roxane painted this gorgeous vase, 'Anna Karin - style'. I will explain more about that next time (if I have enough boards) because many of us wanted to also learn this technique, and we will!
She also finished this lovely, quiet picture of  two Vietnamese girls.

 

Charlie is still producing the most beautiful Christmas cards and personalized bookmarks. They are so delicate and what a lovely gift!! a hand painted bookmark with your preferred landscape or your view. Wonderful!

 

EXPO Theme III: Hidden (abstract) Villages & Christmas card ideas..

We continue with our expo theme, 'Hidden Villages' and as you will see below, there are a lot of great ideas and serious gems to be admired. Such cool work!

Marie-Françoise is definitely on a roll! The fabulous hidden village above is an atmospheric masterpiece and after she finished that, she quickly magicked the abstract below. I love it!!

Glen is in a similar mood, she produced 'Hidden Gourdon' above and started an abstract village that is going to be a lot of work after she returns from her travels in 2 weeks - but totally worth it!

This misty mysterious wonder of a village is painted by our hero Anna Karin. With a very clever use of dry and wet ways of painting. And of course the colour mix of indigo with Opera Rose, making it just a little bit more interesting.

This will in a later stage be a village hidden behind olive branches. But first the masking fluid has to dry. Charley started the project and also did research on the characteristics of Olives, resulting in this lovely piece:

Martine is having a good time with a small brush and very geometrical shapes that will end up being an abstract village! Watch this space for more!

And now for something completely different, Glen started with a very different kind of abstract village, more simplified and with lots of rounded shapes, very promising! We will have to wait a couple of weeks for the next step as she is travelling the coming time...


This WIP by Sue is already so full of atmosphere! mid-below is a bit of cling film that will give an exciting effect when the paint has dried. And there is masking, and amazing colours and the loose touch so typical of Sue. Absolutely stunning, already.


Marina (that would be me) started very abstract with a piece of paper, a couple of pieces of tape and wet-in-wet painting. Byy way of demo. And somehow it ended up very cutesy,and not-so abstract with the snow. But great fun was had.

Not really a  hidden village,not meant for the expo, but landscapy and that counts too- Ingrid painted this as a card for a loved one. It looks like a fantastic memory!

Sonya created this Stunning Northern light (with a hidden village). It really shows the fantastic forces of nature. I am in awe.

Al-most finished, Sandra's still life. It is so transparent and playful, I can't stop looking at it to discover more new things. A couple of tweaks and then it will be done, can't wait!

And then there is our Christmas Corner.

 Glen produced a couple of great Christmas cards, it is a whole collection! she stuck them on coloured cards, which gives a very beautiful finishing touch! Here's inspiration for you...