Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I certainly hope that Caatje at Caatje’s Artsy Stuff sees it that way!

I found her blog in March when we were both participating in Hanna’s postcard swap. One of the first posts I saw of hers featured a series of four beautiful mixed media houses on canvas.  She even included a tutorial to recreate her beautiful work!  Then in April, she created labels/tags for her readers to print out and include in their own art and journaling.  Over the Easter weekend, she created another watercolor version of her Little Houses in her sketchbook. 

By this time, I couldn’t hold myself back any longer: I had to create some Little Houses of my own!

I had played around with some pan watercolors a couple of days ago, and had a page with a wash over some background swirls. I drew my little city quickly, and with no planning or thought—just a little doodle. Then this morning, I colored the buildings in with watercolor pencils.

I love using colored pencils, but had never tried the watercolor variety before. Because I was afraid that I would ruin the whole thing when I touched a damp brush to the page, I took a few photos before that next stage:

My next step was to "paint" over the watercolor pencil with a damp brush. Not having any experience with watercolor pencil, I’m not sure the small detail of a Little Houses drawing was the best choice. But I enjoyed watching the water wipe away the individual pencil lines to create more of a wash.

I added a quotation by Milton: “Towered cities please us then,/ And the busy hum of men.” Even though I was an English major in college, I don’t, in fact, have Milton quotations at the ready! I used good old Bartlett’s (looking up “cities” in the back) to find something I thought might work with the drawing.

A million thanks to Caatje for such a fun drawing to include in my art journal! She is one of the many inspiring artists I have had the pleasure of discovering since becoming a blogger and blog-reader in the past few months.