Month 11 - Holiday Cards

Sarah Burns Studio X Craftamo
Gouache Subscription Box 11

Part 1: Unboxing


Inspired by Scandinavian Folk Art, these holiday cards are full of flora motifs and traditional designs. I like to have lots of these on my screen as reference as I paint these cards.

 

Search for “Traditional Scandinavian Folk Art” or replace “traditional” with “contemporary” on a search engine or Pinterest.

 

Supplies

 

Materials in Box #11:

  • Paper
  • 2 brushes
    • ¼” Angle
    • #2 Round
  • 3 colors
    • Copper
    • Silver
    • Rich Gold

Prepare to Paint

 

Metallic gouache behaves differently to normal gouache. Not only is it shiny/sparkly when it dries, but the paint itself has some unique properties.

 

I find that the pigment separates from the binder more quickly. I usually squeeze my metallic paint into paint cups because it’s easier to mix up before each use.

 

 

I buy these from a local craft store (you can probably find them in a physical art/craft store near you, if not, they are online by various names. Buy (not affiliated)

 

Part 2: Card #1

Part 1

 

Part 2

 

Starting with a basic outline, I drew the bird a few times on paper. You can probably fit two on an A5 sheet, or four on an A4 sheet. Click here to download the tracing paper.

 

Feel free to change the angle of the wings or make the tail feathery.


 

Carefully cut each bird out. I start by cutting around each bird with larger scissors. Then I use nail scissors (available in most drug stores) to precisely follow my lines.

 

Next we will paint the entire bird blue (I chose prussian blue because of its rich dark color). On top of which we will use metallic gouache to paint our designs. 

 

I was improvising my design but you can plan it out ahead of time (or just copy mine). I used the inspiration above to guide me.

 

 

Fold the A5 sheet of paper in half. Paint a simple border with red.

 

Tape the bird onto the card using some tape near the center, so that the wings slightly stick up off the paper and give it a 3D effect.

 

Part 3: Card #2

Part 1


Part 2


Disclaimer, the message I wrote on my card is not the usual spelling of “God Jul” - in the video I explain that I wrote “God Yule” because it’s an inside joke with the recipient - but please use the correct version on yours.

 

Finally, if you’d like to protect the surface of your cards, you can try a few things.

 

Fixative spray (like for drawing or pastels) is popular. 

 

I’ve used cold wax medium to protect my gouache sketches successfully. Here’s a video talking about this: 

 

 

My DIY Holiday Cards


I hope you enjoyed this! See you next month.

What’s coming in Box #12

 

For our final box, we are going back to my favorite subject - the forest! This time we’ll be painting a moody, mystical, mossy forest, focused more on tree roots and mossy details. Can’t wait!

 

Supplies included in Box 12:
  • Paper
  • 2 brushes
    • Fan Brush
    • #12 Filbert
  • 3 Colors: 
    • Carmine
    • Shadow Green Pale
    • Primary White

Brush Care 

 

Never leave your brushes in water for too long. After rinsing, dry the hairs as best you can with a towel then let them dry on a flat surface. Leaving them in water for too long can cause the wood of the handle to swell, which can crack the handle coating. If that happens, the brush is still usable, just not as pretty! 

 

I usually clean mine with brush soap every few uses. You can find brush soap on the Craftamo website or any art store.

 

Community

 

Don’t forget to join my Discord chat server! You can share images of your sketches/painting and enjoy a sense of community. Or if you’d like to share your work with me on Instagram, use the hashtag #sarahburnstutor so I can find you.

 

Additional helpful resources:

 

Brand new to gouache? As you discover questions about gouache, I hope to answer as many as I can. For now, you can start with this blog post which goes very in-depth about what gouache is.

 

If you want even more instruction, I often post free tutorials on YouTube. Otherwise my Patreon is a great resource to learn even more. 

 

Additional suggested materials:

 

I use lots of different gouaches, papers, sketchbooks, and palettes for different purposes. You don’t need anything extra right now, except maybe paper as you will probably run out of that first. 

 

Craftamo sells extra paper (same as what is in the boxes) and it’s very affordable. 

 

Otherwise, I have lots of recommendations. I keep an updated list of all my favorite art supplies here.

 

How I use my different brushes: video

 

This video shows all the brush types you will receive over the course of the 12 month subscription. At the end of the video I show how to care for your brushes.

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