Watercolor State Art and a Gallery Wall Update

Have you been seeing all the fun state art lately?  Infarrantly Creative is even doing a whole series on state pride decor.  I just love it, such a fun way to add personalization to your space.  I was born and raised in the ‘exurbs‘ of Chicago, Illinois, am a proud Illini alum and currently live in the suburbs of Chicago.  So, I guess I’m an Illinois girl through and through!

Let’s face it, I’m sure there are things that everybody likes and dislikes about their state (am I right? or do you all just love everything about yours?).  But, despite some of the downsides (and dirty politics), I can still be proud of my home state and appreciate the people who worked hard to make it my home. 🙂

To show my appreciation for my home state, I tried my hand at watercolor state art.  It has yet to find a home, but for now here it is! (See below for a quick step-by-step tutorial)

Overall, it was a very simple and fun DIY.  I used a couple of tricks I learned from watercolor class I took several years ago.  To show where we live, I left the area blank and painted pink around it in the shape of a heart.  I just love it when families who have moved across the country, show their different homes in this way!

I borrowed a frame from my gold leaf bird art project to snap a few pictures.  Originally I made the watercolor state art to add to our picture ledge gallery, but I thought it looked too white with the white frame.  Perhaps it will end up back there after I find a better frame for it.

I’ve been trying to keep the gallery wall mostly neutral colors which is why I used gray and a touch of pink for the Illinois watercolor state art.  As you can see we have a mix of blacks, whites, browns, and grays going on :).  I have slowly but surely been adding to the gallery.

How adorable is that deer silhouette??  My dear friend (no pun intended! ;)) gifted it to me, and it is just too perfect with the Illinois watercolor art!  Clearly I’m going to need to find a frame soon and get it up there to keep Mr. Deer company.  Other frames and art I’ve added include the wood 5×7’s (one in picture above, other below) which I used to frame photos of our families from the wedding.  I used a black & white sepia mixed effect on the pictures, to set off the pretty wood frames (they were only $4 each at Marshalls!)

And finally, I’ve added the the running deer locomotion print which I found at Vintage Printable, a great resource for free art prints!  See…. the gallery wall is getting there! Slowly, but surely  🙂  And now a tutorial…

DIY Watercolor State Art

1. Find a picture of your state online, resize it in word, print and cut it out
2. Lightly trace around the the state outline with pencil onto watercolor paper
3. Draw a heart around your hometown/place of residence
4. *Quickly* use water to wet down the entire area, taking care NOT to wet within the heart (If you don’t go fast enough, your page will dry before you finish adding the color)
5. Once the state is wet, use your water colors to drip and paint within the space, the paint color will stay within the boundaries of the water borderline (if it starts to dry, just re-wet and use a brush to blend any water lines that dried)
6. If you want, use a distinct color to highlight your heart
7. Let dry and frame!

 

Linking up at Inffarantly Creative, Work it Wednesday, and Five Days Five Ways,