How are you all surviving during these difficult times? Christmas is not the same this year with Covid lockdown of course. Here in the Netherlands we are on a 5-week full-ish lockdown. Maximum two house visitors per day, but on Christmas day a maximum of three is allowed. Oh well we won’t let it get to us! Kitty, Bunny and Teddy also promised themselves not to despair. Whilst respecting all rules, they decided to enjoy each other’s company as old friends and throw a mini party just the three of them… all dressed up!
Pencil Sketch
I of course had to draw about it. Not having done watercolor for a while, this was a perfect opportunity! It was also a chance for me to try out a few new products that have been sitting in my drawers all these years only to be discovered when I was moving: The extensive set of Holbein watercolors in tubes and a pan of Finetex pearlescent watercolors. And now my pencil sketch! Here I used Strathmore Visual Journal for Watercolors.
Watercolor I
On this layer I used Holbein’s watercolors. It’s the first time for ages since using tubes of paint as I normally use pans. It was an experiment to see if it would make any difference. The thing about squeezing out tubes of paint is that I’m always afraid too much comes out, leaving it to waste. That said, I could always go over the color again if I want it stronger and of course, the paints are reusable at a later time when they dry out the dish by simply adding water. This you can’t do with acrylic paint. First I painted the background followed by the little animals. Colors used: Verditer Blue, Gambodge Nova, Yellow Gray, Burnt Umber, Quinacridone Scarlet and Permanent Green.
Watercolor II
Once that layer of watercolor was dry, I thought adding some sparkles would be an idea. It’s Christmas! In my drawer I also discovered a pan of Finetec Pearlescent watercolors which I bought at a trade fair a few years ago. I mainly used this for the white bits like the outfit collars (in white), the holly on Bunny’s ear (green an red) and the cane. And here are the closeups of the beautiful effects they made!
Finishing Touches
And once that again was dry, I added some fine details with white gel pen and Uni Posca markers as well as some black iridescent brush pen. I felt the black too harsh for the eyes and lashes, and unfortunately had no copper or brown version of the pen and ended up dotting on some white markers on top so they look like snow. And now how cute and sweet they all look!
Once again, a lot of fun painting this piece! It is always exciting to try out new products too. I thoroughly recommend both the Holbein watercolor tubes and Finetec Pearlescent pans, and no I am in no way sponsored by them so this is genuinely my personal opinion. Watercolor is one of my favorite medium I enjoy working with as I love the dreamy effect. And most of all, painting kawaii things like this makes me happy. A Merry Christmas from Kitty, Bunny and Teddy!
My Kawaii Quarter 