Christmas Presents

This year I decided to paint everyone something extra for Christmas. It was the first Christmas my in-laws spent with us also. It was fun to spend the day together. 

These took me a few hours each evening to paint but it was lots of fun. A new technique too is painting on something other than paper, I found it more challenging. I used Daniel Smith's Grounding paint, which you can paint onto any hard surface to create a more watercolor paper feel. 

I first painted it onto my wood surface. waited a good 24 hours at minimum then sanded them lightly to give it a smoother finish. I then painted on that surface just like paper. It absorbed very fast but had a bit of a chalky-like feel to the material. It was still fun to paint on. 

After another 24 drying time and in between paintings I feel the material or wood took much longer to dry in between painting sessions. I spayed them after I was done with UV archival varnish that had a semi gloss finish. after another night of drying the varnish, I applied some Doran's wax to seal the entire thing and make a waterproof finish, that had to cure 24 hours also, and then I buffed it off for a nice finish.

All in all, I enjoyed making these so much. Very peaceful to sit and create these for my loved ones! I want to try using the grounding base on other things. I put some on a seashell that I picked up from my last beach trip.