sefoster
Author, Artist, Swim Instructor and 10+ year survivor of uterine cancer. Shannon has love of all things purple and teal, most greens, paisley and elephants.
30th High School Reunion
WOW I can hardly believe that I have been out of school this long. I don’t know about you but I am always such a mixed bag of emotions leading up to my reunions. I am really super excited until about the week of and then the dread and insecurity sets in and I spend a majority of the week changing my mind about attending. I have gone to all of them except the 15th. The negative voices won out that year. They lost by a very narrow margin for my 20th. It was snowing that evening and even during the 45 minutes drive I was second guessing my decision.…
Quill brushes
Today I am trying the big brushes. I received the Raphaël as a Christmas gift. The two brushes by Silver Brush Limited I got for my birthday after seeing a fellow artist using the 240 Quill on Instagram. I knew I just had to have one. While shopping for that brush I found the white Goat Hair Quill brush and had to get that one too. The largest size it came in was the 180 but they were out of stock so opted for the 160. The size 3 quill from Rosemary and Company brushes I had purchased a while back but hadn’t used yet. Golden Taklon brushes are my…
Blending with Watercolor pencils
A question I get asked often is “Can I use watercolor pencils in your books?” My initial thought based on the fact that it is 60lb paper I wouldn’t recommend it. Traditional watercolor paper is at least 90lb and most artists use 130lb paper. Still being of a curious nature I decided to give it a try. I used my favorite watercolor pencils by Lyra. They are so smooth and once the water activates them they are so vibrant and creamy looking. I used a plastic sheet under the page to prevent any bleed through onto the page below. I used a very light hand and as little water as…
Just one of those days….
I know I am not alone in this thought that I just want to go back to bed and start the day over. I have many things on my mind lately. Today was just another of those days where no matter what I did I just couldn’t keep up. Things were out of sync. I was working on my business cards and none of the graphics were looking right. I didn’t get dinner until after 7:30 and I really try not to eat after 6pm. The icing on the cake was a set of colored pencils I had in my shopping cart went from $29.99 to $49.99 today. So it…
Kneaded erasers
I have to say that the kneaded eraser is a must have for me. I don’t know about you but when I am sketching there is copious amounts of erasing involved. I hate all the eraser shavings. Enter the kneaded eraser. I absolutely love this thing. It erases beautifully and absolutely NO shavings. Once it starts to get dark you just knead in into itself and begin again. I purchased a 12 pack of these babies on Amazon. You will need a small container to store it in so it doesn’t dry out. I got a small paint container from Hobby Lobby to store mine in.
Digital chalkboard
I absolutely love drawing with chalk…with one exception. The dust. No matter how hard I try I still manage to get it everywhere and it makes me sneeze constantly. So I was so pleased to learn I could create the same look with my iPad. I have purchased several different chalk brush sets and they are amazing but for today I chose to use a few of my own. I just love that I can almost hear the sound of the chalk scraping on the board and smell the distinct chalk smell while creating these pieces. Even better that I am not sneezing every 30 seconds. This method of…
Pointed Oval wash -watercolor brushes
Today I am sharing with you one of my favorite watercolor brushes. At first glance one would think you could only use this as the name suggests….a wash brush. I was completely surprised when I found I could make flowers with it. I was hesitant to spend the money for the Silver Limited 3/4” pointed oval brush so my first purchase was the Princeton Neptune 3/4 pointed oval. Now this is a nice brush but as you can see from the picture of them together the Silver brush has a much more defined point. I found it much more versatile in creating thin lines and details on my flowers and…
Pointed Pen Calligraphy
Pointed pen calligraphy is one of my favorite techniques. I just love watching the ink flow from the nib. I haven’t had much time to use this style since late October when I was making cards for my fall craft shows. Needless to say I am a bit rusty. That and my ink consistency was a bit off. I still enjoyed making this quick video. The ink I am using is a custom blend. I find myself creating a lot of custom inks. It opens up so many more possibilities. I am using one of my Mega pens from ErikanXpressions fitted with my favorite Leonardt 33 nib. This particular pen…
Happy 4th of July-FREE coloring page
Happy 4th of July I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday. Here is one of the pages from my book Coloring Through the Seasons with God. I colored mine on my iPad with the Procreate app. As a holiday treat you can click here to download a copy of this coloring page. I would love to see how you color it. You can tag me on Instagram @s.e.foster.author or message me via my Facebook author page and I will post your images.
Christian Author’s July Giveaway
CHRISTIAN AUTHOR’S JULY GIVEAWAY You could win! July 1 – 8 Visit the Christian Author’s July Giveaway to find out about inspirational reads and ENTER TO WIN a variety of prizes, including a $30 Amazon Gift Card and 8 inspirational books from sponsoring authors. http://christianwriterspromo.com/july-christian-writers-giveaway/ This Giveaway is Sponsored by Christian Writers Promo – Karen Cogan – J.E. Grace – Marilyn Turk – Crystal Mary Lindsey – S.E. Foster – Paula Rose Michelson – LeeAnn Bonds