Altenew’s Statement Flowers

 So, in an attempt to get back into watercoloring, I pulled out Altenew’s Statement Flowers Kit, Antique Linen oxide ink and Arches Watercolor paper. After stamping the image, I first painted the background. I then watercolored the flowers loosely. I painted the background several times to darken it and added palette knife scraping marks to give the appearance of stems. I also painted the image a couple times, continuing to darken the colors and added paint spatters. I wasn’t satisfied with my painting so I proceeded to add colored pencils and pens to continue to give the flowers depth. This ended up adding quite a bit of texture to the flowers that I was okay with for a change. Here’s some of the progressions - 

Finally, I settled on a slightly darker version, added black and patterned paper to offset this 5x7 card, and embossed and stamped the sentiments. I left the busy card unembellished. Here’s the final version!

Welp, it’s a little rustic?, coarse?, rough?? I had considered adding mixed media stamps and scripting in the background, but I didn’t think it would actually help the overall esthetic. Must admit - it is growing on me, not my worst, so I decided to share it after all that effort. Feel free to let me know your thoughts! Thanks for stopping by!