The Easy Way to Draw Flowers With Marker Tips

May 13, 2019 4 Comments

How to create flowers {without drawing} + Video Tutorial | ChocolateMusings.com #florals #floral #draw #howto

The Easy Way to Draw Flowers (Without Actually Drawing!)

Drawing flowers without drawing them? Sounds like a trick, right? It’s not. Last week, I showed you how to create 3 simple circles for floral wreaths. Today, I wanted to show you the easy way to draw flowers without {actually} drawing them! Now you can add easy flower wreaths to your bullet journal or around quotes or add flower doodles… The possibilities are endless.

The Trick to Create flowers Without Drawing Tutorial | ChocolateMusings.com #howtodraw #drawing #flowers

Supplies Needed:

The only supplies you need for drawing easy flowers are a brush pen with a flexible tip and a piece of paper.

In my video, I used Tombow dual brush pens, but any other brush pen would work, too! A brush pen works well in this case because the marker has a pointy tip and a rounded base, kind of like a rounded triangle. The bigger the pen, the larger the flower. See below for some examples of easy flower doodles. Guess what? They’re all created without drawing and only using the tip of a brush pen. I even tried it with Crayola markers and they worked too!

Create Easy Flower Doodles {Without Drawing} Tutorial + Video | ChocolateMusings.com #tutorial #howtodraw #flowers

Featured from left to right:

Sta Metallic Brush Pen
Sharpie Brush Pen
Crayola Markers (I know these aren’t a brush pen, but they seem to work, too)
Tombow Dual Brush Markers
Water pen with watercolor paint
Pentel Touch Brush Pens

Can’t see the video? Watch it on my YouTube Channel.

The Technique to Create Flowers Without Drawing Them:

Depending on the way you tilt your brush, you can make different shape flowers or leaves. Press straight down with the brush pen to leave an impression of the marker, like a stamp. Make sure you press down from the tip to the rounded base and lift straight up, so you don’t smudge it.

Point the tip inward to create a rounded petal shape. If you turn the pen the opposite direction so the tip points outward, you can create a leaf or a bud. I added a darker color on top, in some cases, for more contrast. You can blend the two colors together, but that’s not necessary. You can also choose to stack your petals closer together and create the look of a daisy or separate them out as well.

TIP: Just remember to push straight down and pull straight up with the marker tip – if you move side to side, you’ll leave a streaky mess.

Another fun detail to add once the marker is completely dry on the paper is to add loose outlines with a fine-tipped black pen. Then add in some extra details – like change the shape of the petals or add an interior layer of petals.

Create Easy Flower Doodles to your planner or bullet journal {Without Drawing} Tutorial + Video | ChocolateMusings.com #tutorial #howtodraw #flowers

The No-Draw Brush Marker Flower Tutorial - Add Outlines for Fun Detail | ChocolateMusings.com #tutorial #drawing #flowers

There are lots of ways to easily create flowers without drawing them! One other way is to add dots and specs of color like the freehand wreath below.

Freehand Floral Wreath - Different way to draw flowers | ChocolateMusings.com #floralwreath #silver #doodle

Let me know what you think in the comments below and tag me on
Instagram @ChocolateMusingsCreates because I’d love to see some projects you create.

How to Draw Circle Wreaths – 3 Simple Ways

May 6, 2019 2 Comments

How to Draw Circle Wreaths – 3 Simple Ways

If you haven’t noticed, I LOVE using circles in my bullet journal, but I also enjoy using them for quotes or drawing floral wreaths. Drawing circles for floral wreaths isn’t as hard as it seems. Here are 3 simple ways showing you how to draw circles for floral wreaths or any other circle outlines.

Ways to Use Circles

I like to add mini-floral circular wreaths for the numbers on my weeklies. I filled My May Plan With Me with circle floral wreaths. Floral wreaths are also a great element to add to quotes. Check out my other posts using circles in your bullet journal or art projects.

Note: I drew these circles in pen so you could see them better in the video and I would recommend drawing with a pencil so you can change elements if needed.

Watch How to Draw Circle Wreaths

Can’t see the video? View it on Youtube.

Tools Needed to Draw Circle Wreaths

Basic Art Supplies for Creating Floral Wreaths | ChocolateMusings.com

Paper
Pen/Pencil/Marker
Compass/Circle Maker (optional depending on the type of circle)
Good Music (optional)

Notes about the tools for drawing circle wreaths:

If You’re Watercoloring:

Paper – Canson Watercolor Paper
Pen – use an archival pen like Pigma Micron Pens – be careful about how hard you press on the tips of these pens.
Watercolor Paints + Brushes of your choice

If You’re NOT Watercoloring:

Paper – if you’re not watercoloring I use HP 32 lb paper
Pen – if you’re NOT watercoloring, using a felt-tip pen like PaperMate Flair or the bullet tip of a Tombow Dual Brush Marker will work and creates great lines

Supplies for Drawing Circle Flower Wreaths | ChocolateMusings.com #floral #flower #wreath #circles

Need ideas for drawing your floral elements?

Check out my post highlighting my favorite Flower Drawing & Reference Books.

Favorite Flower Drawing and Reference Books (and why) + Video Flip Through | ChocolateMusings.com #floral #flower #howtodrawflowers

Create a Single Circle Wreath

Using a compass or a circle maker, choose your center point and how big you want the circle. I always mark the center point with a pencil, by marking the center point makes it easier to add circles in the future if you wish.

Follow the path around and then end your wreath. There! You have a single line wreath that you can add additional elements along the whole way or just partially.

Because there the circle maker has moving parts, it does shift a little when making the circle. I tend to pull outwards with my pen, so my pen doesn’t shift within the little circle and the ring ends up the same size. Try it out, you’ll see what I mean when circle start and ending points don’t exactly match up. A little practice will turn you into a circle-making pro!

Create Easy Floral Wreaths - Single Circle | ChocolateMusings.com #floralwreaths #flowerwreath #howto #circle

How to Draw Circles in Multiples

Following the same pattern for the single circle, create a circle once then slightly move the compass up and over and trace in the same selection as the first circle. Then move the compass again just somewhat off your first center mark. (Didn’t I say making that mark would come in handy?) Do this as many times as you like and then add your other floral & leaf elements.

Alternate Technique:

Mark the center point of your circle, that way you could make a single circle as a reference, then draw your floral elements and add more circles afterward.

How To Draw Circle Wreaths - Multiple Circles | ChocolateMusings.com #floralwreaths #flowerwreath #howto #circle

How to Draw Circle Wreaths – Freehand – Organic “Nest”

This technique might seem the most daunting, but it’s also the most fun (in my opinion). The trick is to use your shoulder not your wrist to draw the circles and let it do the work. I’ll try and explain it the best I can here, but watching the video gives you a better idea of what I do.

First of all, I raise my hand above the paper so I’m not tempted to use my wrist to make the circular motions (you’ll get weird, uneven circles if you use your wrist). I hold the pen higher than usual so that I can increase the distance from the paper and my hand.

While still holding the pen in the air and not touching the paper, I start to draw circles using my shoulder to guide my arm around. I do this a few times without writing anything, so I can gauge the movement in my shoulder and see how big I’ll make the circles with the current flow.

After I’m happy with the size of circles, I follow the same movement with my shoulder only and gently touch the tip of the pen to the paper and keep going. I usually go around 7-10 times because none of the circles will be perfect. Making several passes helps even out the circles. It also gives a more organic feel, and I think it looks like the start to a bird’s nest.

How To Draw Easy Freehand Circle Wreaths - Freehand | ChocolateMusings.com #floralwreaths #flowerwreath #howto #circle

Go and Create!

Where will you use your circle-making skills now? I’d love to see how you draw circle wreaths and how you use them! Tag me on Instagram @ChocolateMusingsCreates

How to Watercolor Paint Raspberries & Blackberries Tutorial

April 18, 2019 Leave a Comment

How to Watercolor Paint Raspberries & Blackberries + Video Tutorial | ChocolateMusings.com #beginner #watercolor #tutorial

How to Watercolor Paint Raspberries & Blackberries Tutorial

I had so much fun with the fruit infusion recipe inspiration for my bullet journal. Painting the raspberries and blackberries was more fun than I expected. So today I wanted to show you how to watercolor paint raspberries & blackberries. It’s really easy and requires just a few items.

Watch the Video Below – I walk you through all the steps

You’ll see how easy it is to paint raspberries & blackberries. You’ll want to start creating your own today!

Supplies Needed

Watercolor Paper – when starting out with watercolor, it’s important to use the right paper. Printer paper is thin (typically people buy 20lb paper) and it will only cause frustration because the paint will bleed through and you won’t get the same effect. I started painting in my journal after I experimented with water and paint for a while. Watercolor paper is designed for watercolor and will hold up a lot better than other paper.

Round brushes – Round brushes are good because they hold water well and the bristles form a tip which will allow for finer detail work when needed. I have several different kinds and some I like more than others. How the bristles hold water and paint make a difference to me…now. When I first started, I wouldn’t have noticed the difference.

Tip: What I would not recommend is buying that 50 pack of brushes for $5. Choose a brush that won’t fray and will hold their shape. You don’t need the most expensive brush, but you need something more than the cheapo bargain pack.

Watercolor Paint

I used two different types of paint but choose your favorite. I like the rich color with Windsor Newton paints, but I haven’t had any issue with the store brand version from Michaels or Hobby Lobby. As a beginner, learning the techniques is more important than having the fanciest tools. After all, Bob Ross painted with a pallet knife.

One thing to note is if you’re starting you don’t want to spend a lot of money on supplies. Learn the basics, and then if you really like it, keep going and find other supplies. (Read: welcome to the rabbit hole.) If painting or drawing turns out to be a worthwhile hobby to you – it brings you joy and peace to your soul, then there’s time to expand your supplies.

Other Supplies You’ll Need:

Papertowel (not tissue or bath tissue), two sets of water (one for rinsing the paint off your brush) and the other for getting new, fresh, clean water.

Good lighting is essential. I have terrible lighting in my house, very little natural light, so I bought photography lights with daylight bulbs and use them for my art projects & videos. If you have natural light, that’s always best.

Start Painting

To paint the berries, we will use what’s called ‘wet on wet’ which means we will start with a wet surface (add water to the paper) and add a lot of water to the paint. (See the picture below for what I mean.)

If using a pencil – lightly sketch the individual circles that make up the raspberry or blackberry. Draw lightly! Erase most of the lines once done – just so you can see the shapes. Now, dip your paint in fresh water and with the very tip, paint circles with the water, but don’t close in the circles, do mostly outlines. Start in the center and add half-circles around it to complete the shape of the berry.

Tip: if you’re having trouble seeing the water on the paper, try looking at the paper from an angle. The light reflects differently at a 30 or 45-degree angle versus straight down. If you’re still having trouble, use your phone flashlight at an angle to highlight the markings.

Watercolor Painting Tip: Start with plain water outline, then add paint | ChocolateMusings.com #beginner #watercolor #tips

Now to Add Paint to your Raspberries & Blackberries

Now for the fun part. Get some more water on your brush and dip it in the paint, but don’t be satisfied with just one swipe across the paint surface, especially if you’re using the hardened watercolor paint cakes. You’ll have to experiment a bit, but I found that I wanted the watered down paint to almost drip from the tip of the brush.

Touch the brush to the circles of water and watch the color spread. Coax the water along the design you made earlier with the water. Add more paint if needed. Add a little variation of color if you want, especially near the bottom so it looks like a shadow. Fill in the circles a little bit, but not so they’re completely filled in. Use the tip of the paintbrush to direct the pigment where you want it to go next.

The parts left white on the paper act as a highlight for the berry.

For the blackberry, you could try starting with a blue on some parts and adding black to the other parts, so the two colors run together. Follow the same technique for filling in a portion of the circles but still leaving a highlight.

How to Easily Watercolor Paint a Raspberry & Blackberry | ChocolateMusings.com #beginner #watercolor #tips

How to Paint a Blueberry Bonus:

As a bonus – I added How to Paint a Blueberry! Use water to create a circle and then mostly fill it in, leave a couple of parts uncovered and leave a crescent shape near the top as a highlight. Add quite a bit of paint to the water areas and let the paint fill in the water. Once you’ve got it nicely covered, use the tip of your paintbrush to pull the ink upwards into a crown. Basically, little triangles poking out of the top of the blueberry.

Add a crown to your blueberry to top it off | ChocolateMusings.com #beginner #watercolor #tips

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial on how to watercolor paint raspberries & blackberries. Make sure to follow my YouTube Channel and leave a thumbs up on the video!

Let me know in the comments below what you’d like to see in the future.

Tutorial: How Watercolor Paint with Markers in Your Bullet Journal

December 23, 2018 2 Comments

Marker Watercolor Painting

Today I’ll show you how I use Crayola markers to watercolor paint in my notebooks and Bullet Journal. I like to use watercolor in my bullet journal, but don’t want the overly wrinkled pages, and the bleed through that sometimes happens with watercolor simply because it’s not watercolor paper.

Why Markers?

When I use markers with a water pen, I get the variety of vibrant colors, and it paints somewhat like watercolor, and as long as I don’t use too much water, it very rarely bleeds through. You don’t need as much water when painting with markers, which is nice. One thing to note, the colors don’t blend as well because I use very little water in the first place. It’s rare to have puddles of water like sometimes happens with traditional watercolor, so it dries much faster as well.

What you Need to Start

Watercolor Marker Painting is one of my favorite techniques, and I don’t need a lot of high-quality equipment. Marker watercolor painting is my favorite go-to method in my planner.

What I use to marker watercolor paint:

Markers: I bought the 100 pack of Crayola Markers for about $15 at Target because I wanted all the colors. You can use other types of markers too. I plan on using my Tombow Dual Brush Tip markers when I get more colors.
Next, I use a simple water pen – you can also use regular brushes and dip in water, but I tend to get too much liquid that way.
I always have a paper towel handy for changes between colors.
As a palette for my ‘paints,’ I recruited a simple kitchen plate. You could use a Ziploc bag or laminated paper, someplace where you can scribble the markers then dip the water pen into the colors and paint.

How To Do It:

Once you’ve chosen your colors and scribbled them on your palette (see below for recommendations & what I use), squish your water pen slightly to get the water flowing but not dripping. Then run the brush through the marker scribbles to pick up the color. Brush lightly on your paper. Don’t use too much water and work fast because it will dry quickly! It’s oh so satisfying!

Watch the video below for the techniques I use. I use this method in almost every video on my YouTube Channel where I paint in my bullet journal. Early on, I used watercolor paints and was very disappointed that the paint rubbed off or sometimes flaked off and I couldn’t write over the paint.

Other Benefits

The other thing that I like about painting with markers is that I can erase the pencil marks left under the color when it dries. And I can write over it with any pen. So you can watercolor the background and still use that part of the page.

Supplies:

Markers:

Crayola Markers – inexpensive and comes in several different sizes. I prefer the super tip markers, not the broad tip markers because they don’t take up as much room. When I letter with Super Tips, I get a better result for my style. Though, I have seen beautiful lettering with the broad tip markers. Super Tips come in 10, 20, 50, 80, 100 count varieties (plus lots of other choices). They are not numbered and don’t have a color reference other than on the back of the box, so if you want to know what color you’re getting, you might have to make up a system to keep track of the colors.

Tombow Dual Tip Brush Markers – Find them individually at Michaels, and I think Hobby Lobby. You can buy small packs or a large variety pack.

Water Brush Pens:

I haven’t found a brand that I like more than others. Having a variety of brush widths is my only requirement – but here are some I’ve purchased and use on a regular basis. Sometimes I mix and match brands.

Miscellaneous:

I use this Marker Watercolor Painting technique in every journal. So far, I’ve used it in Leuchtturm1917, Scribbles that Matter, Lemome, and my own journals created on 32 lb HP paper. As long as I don’t use too much water, I’m happy with the result.

Paper towels are a must! I keep a roll near my desk. It’s essential to clean out your water pens when switching colors. Water pens make it easy to clean. Squish the handle a little, so water comes through the brush fibers and clean it off with the paper towel. Another reason I love this technique!

Something to scribble on: I use a plate. Really, a Correll kitchen plate that lives in my desk drawer. Whatever you use, make sure it is a smooth, non-porous surface to where to scribble the markers. A Ziploc bag or laminated piece of paper would do the trick too — really low tech, here.