It’s been a while since drawing Teddy Bear! For the next lesson, Project 3, of Juliette Crane’s Happy Painting Mini Course, I decided to go for a bear as a choice of subject. I love following her on-line classes with all her vivid colours, freestyle techniques and cute whimsical characters! So let’s see what cute little teddy bear we can create here.
Ink and Collage
For this piece I used Bristol paper as suggested by Juliette. It’s smooth, thick and can withstand quite a lot of paint and ink layers, perfect for mixed media. I began by spreading some India Ink in pretty colours combining pink, orange and yellow with a sponge brush. Dripping some water on the paper and adding a drop or two of the ink also gives that interesting “tie dye” effect. Once dry, I glued on some collages of blue tissue paper and Japanese newspaper.
Acrylic Layer
The beauty of India Inks is that they give a strong colour even with a wet brush or sponge whilst leaving a sheer translucent finish like watercolors. However they are also permanent thus unlike watercolors the colours don’t smear or move around when you add on top. Dr. Ph Martin’s Bombay Inks are great for this as they come in 27 or so colours including iridescent ones. For this next layer, acrylic ink was painted on the sides and edges in green, framing the painting with bubbles. Then following Juliette’s suggestions, I began doodling flowers and leaves using Molotow acrylic markers.
Teddy Dresses Up!
And now time to add Teddy! Once I figured out how I wanted my cute little bear to look like, I loosely sketched her on the painting first with white soft pastel (easy to rub off if you don’t like it) followed by aquarelle pencil so I can properly paint it with a wet brush. More collages were added, including patterned paper napkins and origami paper where Teddy’s dress would be. Then I started with the eyes, first with watercolor but as I wanted the colour stronger, I replaced it with acrylic paint (Rangers Dylusions in Calypso Teal. The face was painted with a mix of Titanium White and Antelope Brown acrylic inks.
Finishing Off
The painting ends up as a semi-negative space painting. The rest of the background is covered with a bright green (Rangers Dylusions Paint in Cut Grass). I glued on more collages on the dress yet toned down the colours by gently tapping some white paint on, also tracing some flowers with pink glitter glue. The eyelashes were also embellished with glitter glue as well, and I added some white in the eyes and the left ear. And now….
Now doesn’t our Teddy look all pretty and adorable? I love how colourful she is, and the background is a perfect green. It’s always a pleasure following Juliette’s classes as she makes her characters extra cute yet mysterious looking. As I also love combining kawaii anime with mixed media, this is a perfect opportunity. Look forward to more and developing my kawaii creativity further!
For more about Juliette Crane, please click here!
My Kawaii Quarter 