My Cup of Sea – Waves of Art

I’m so pleased you stopped by! My name is Silje, and I create art.
My preferred medium is watercolour, but I also tinker with coloured pencils, graphite, ink and digital art.

mycupofsea

Spring is in the air, and the daffodils are bloomi

Spring is in the air, and the daffodils are blooming! I was inspired to try and paint one, forgetting that painting yellow is a pain... 😂 BUT: The important thing is not the result, but that I got my brushes out after what feels like forever. Hopefully this time I will make painting a habit. 😊

#watercolorpainting #watercolourpainting #watercolour #watercolor #akvarell #watercolourist #watercolourart #watercolorart #instaart
#WorldWatercolorGroup
#watercolorillustration #watercolourillustration
#royaltalens #rembrandtwatercolour #botanicalwatercolors #botanicalpainting #daffodilpainting #påskelilje #narscissus

Forests are magical places. It's been ages since I

Forests are magical places. It's been ages since I painted, so it's time I got familiar with my brushes again. Time to create some magic of my own! 🪄
Thanks for looking 😊

Materials used:
- Arches NOT 300gsm watercolour paper
- Sennelier l'aquarelle paints (indigo and transparent brown oxide)
- round brush size 8

#watercolorpainting #watercolourpainting #watercolour #watercolor #akvarell #watercolourist #watercolourart #watercolorart #instaart #WorldWatercolorGroup
#watercolorillustration #watercolourillustration #watercolourforest #watercolorforest #watercolourlandscape #watercolorlandscape

Learning to paint montains. I have done dozens of

Learning to paint montains. I have done dozens of attempts at painting the northern lights the last couple of months. The result is stack of mixed quality nightskies with no foreground.

🤔 I've been pondering what to do with them, and have decided to use them for mountain studies for now. Tip: I wish I had taken notes on what colours I used for each painting, as that would have made it a lot easier to get a cohesive colour scheme when adding foreground.

#watercolorpainting #watercolourpainting #watercolour #watercolor #akvarell #watercolourist #watercolourart #watercolorart #instaart
#WorldWatercolorGroup
#watercolorillustration #watercolourillustration
#landscapepainting #aurorapainting #auroraborealis #northernlightspainting #northenlights #mountainpainting

A little coloured pencil drawing today. Anyone els

A little coloured pencil drawing today. Anyone else finding it challenging to draw white? Drawing this inspired me to learn more techniques for that! 😊

Materials:
- Moleskine sketchbook
- Polychromos coloured pencils

#polychromospencils #polychromosart #polychromosdrawing
#colouredpencildrawing #coloredpencildrawing #polychromos #polychromosdrawing #fabercastellpolychromos
#coloredpencilstudy #colouredpencilstudy #colouredpencilpractice #coloredpencilpractice #coloredpencilsketch #colouredpencildrawing #coloredpencildrawing #colouredpencils #coloredpencils #colouredpencilbeginner #coloredpencilbeginner #drawingpractice #instaart #cupoftea

Practicing coloured pencils with Alyona Nickelsen'

Practicing coloured pencils with Alyona Nickelsen's "Colored pencils painting bible".

Struggled to find colours in my selection matching the ones Alyona used in her book, so I will either have to get better at colour mixing OR buy more colours. 😉

Note to self: use good art paper next time, instead of printer paper... 🤔

#polychromospencils #polychromosart #polychromosdrawing
#colouredpencildrawing #coloredpencildrawing #polychromos #polychromosdrawing #fabercastellpolychromos
#coloredpencilstudy #colouredpencilstudy #colouredpencilpractice #coloredpencilpractice #coloredpencilsketch #colouredpencildrawing #coloredpencildrawing #colouredpencils #coloredpencils #colouredpencilbeginner #coloredpencilbeginner #drawingpractice #instaart #cherrydrawing

My never ending quest of painting the perfect nort

My never ending quest of painting the perfect northern lights piling up on my desk... 😂 September is nearly here, and with that the aurora season. With a bit of luck, maybe I get to see the real thing again soon!

#watercolour #watercolor #watercolourstudy #watercolorstudy #watercolouraurora #watercoloraurora #northernlightspainting #aurorapainting #watercolorart #watercolourart #instaart #practicemakesprogress

I have always been envious of artists making these

I have always been envious of artists making these beautiful, themed spreads in their sketchbooks. Today I gave it a go myself, and I must say washi tape/masking tape makes wonders! 😂 I encourage you to try this on your own sketchbook, if you haven't already.

Materials used:
- Fabriano Classico 5 RKB FatPad 300gsm HP (50%cotton)
- Winsor & Newton Designer's gouache (primary colour set)
- Brushes: Aquafine round no 4, flat shader 10
- Palette knife for mixing colours (a tip I picked up from @sarahburnsstudio )
- Reference photo from Unsplash.com by @jehhsiikaa_wong

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#gouachepainting
#gouachelandscape
#gouachebeginner #gouacheart #beachpainting #instaart #sketchbookart #beautifulsketchbook #sketchbookspread #practicemakesprogress #ilovewashitape

Some gouache practice following Jess Chung's class

Some gouache practice following Jess Chung's class on Skillshare.

#jesschungtutorials #gouachepainting #gouachelandscape #gouachebeginner #skillshareproject #winsorandnewtongouache

Lemonade. #doodlewashjune2021 #doodlewashjune202

Lemonade.

#doodlewashjune2021 #doodlewashjune2021day1 #watercolorpainting #watercolourpainting #watercolour #watercolor #akvarell #watercolourist #watercolourart #watercolorart #instaart
#WorldWatercolorGroup
#watercolorillustration #watercolourillustration #lemonade

Summer themed sketch out on the patio. #drawwhats

Summer themed sketch out on the patio.

#drawwhatsinfrontofyou
#sketchingfromlife #sketching #sketch #biancosandals #inkdrawing #inksketching #watercolorandink #inkandwatercolor #watercolourandink #inkandwatercolour #instaart

Lighthouse under the northern lights. I painted

Lighthouse under the northern lights.

I painted the northern lights in this a while ago, and it's been sitting on my shelf waiting to be finished. I didn't make much of a plan beforehand (note to self: make a plan!), so lots of happy little mistakes and impulsive strokes happened along the way. 😉

Swipe to see some wip pics.

Painted on Saunders Waterford 425gsm NOT watercolour paper with Sennelier l'Aquarelle paints.

#northernlightspainting #northernlightswatercolor #northernlightswatercolour #aurorapainting #aurorawatercolour #aurorawatercolor #nightskywatercolor #nightskywatercolour #lighthousepainting #watercolorpainting #watercolourpainting #watercolour #watercolor #akvarell #watercolourist #watercolourart #watercolorart #instaart
#WorldWatercolorGroup
#watercolorillustration #watercolourillustration #practicemakesprogress

Zero calorie cake, what a dream! 😁 Drawn using

Zero calorie cake, what a dream! 😁 Drawn using only the procreate pencil brush in Procreate.
#procreateillustration #procreatedrawing #digitalart #instaart #digitalillustration #cakeillustration #cakedrawing #digitalsketch #procreatesketch

Still working on my northern lights paintings. Ma

Still working on my northern lights paintings.

Materials used:
- Saunders Waterford 425 gsm NOT paper
- Sennelier l'Aquarelle watercolour paints
- Royal Talens Rembrandt watercolour paints
- Winsor & Newton Designer's gouache, permanent white
- Round brush size 4, flat brush size 10

#watercolorpainting #watercolourpainting #watercolour #watercolor #akvarell #watercolourist #watercolourart #watercolorart #instaart
#WorldWatercolorGroup
#watercolorillustration #watercolourillustration #sennelieraquarelle #sennelier1887 #aurorapainting #auroraborealispainting #northernlightspainting #nightskypainting #nightskywatercolor #nightskywatercolour #northernlightswatercolor #northernlightswatercolour #aurorawatercolor #aurorawatercolour

This is NOT a quick sketch. I often see the captio

This is NOT a quick sketch. I often see the caption "Quick sketch" on Instagram posts, and I don't like it. Why? Because it can be so demotivating for beginners to see what they consider a master piece, having that tag. In time I have realised that a "quick sketch" can be anything from 10 seconds to 10 hours, depending on the artist...so it really doesn't say much about the amount of work having been put into it.

I forgot to time this drawing, but it definitely was not quick. It took me maybe 1,5 hours, and I struggled!

I've been wanting to work on my drawing skills, and in particular on drawing from life, which I find very challenging with the constantly changing light. But skills and confidence will come with practice! 😊

Materials used:
- Moleskine art sketchbook 165gsm
- Pentel twist-erase 0.5 mechanical pencil HB
- Lyra art design graphite pencil 2B and 4B
- Tombow Mono Zero Eraser
- Blending stump

#pencil #graphite #drawing #pencildrawing #sketch #sketching #notaquicksketch
#instaart #sugarpot #sugarpotdrawing #drawwhatsinfrontofyou #drawingfromlife #lifedrawing #drawfromlife #sketchfromlife #sketchingfromlife #practicemakesprogress #drawingpractice #graphitedrawing #moleskinesketchbook #penteltwisterase #lyraartdesign #tombowmonozero

My best aurora painting to date! Swipe to see a c

My best aurora painting to date! Swipe to see a comparison of a painting I did in 2018 vs 2021. 😉

I have been struggling for 3 years to get a grip on painting auroras. I have tried tutorials online, but none have given me the results I was trying for. But now I think I am finally on my way to find "my way" of painting northern lights, by combining tips from different tutorials.

The painting from 2018 is done with student grade watercolour and cellulose paper, which I soon learned was not good for painting auroras.

Materials used for the 2021 painting:
- Arches NOT watercolour paper 300 gsm
- Sennelier l'Aquarelle watercolour paints (Indigo, Phthalo blue, Phthalo green deep, Lemon yellow, Sennelier red)
- Winsor & Newton Designer's gouache (white)
- Brushes: Round sable size 6, flat synthetic brush 1 1/2"

#northernlights
#northenlightspainting #aurorapainting #auroraborealis #auroraborealispainting #nightskypainting #nordlysmaleri #nordlysakvarell #watercolouraurora #watercoloraurora #watercolorpainting #watercolourpainting #watercolour #watercolor #akvarell #watercolourist #watercolourart #watercolorart #instaart
#WorldWatercolorGroup
#watercolorillustration #watercolourillustration #watercolourprogress #watercolorprogress

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