We had a lot of fun spending time painting in our watercolor art journals while in Orvieto, Italy. We painted scenes from the beautiful convent gardens and palace where we stayed, as well as the nooks and quaint corners of the town itself. One day we went wine tasting at a vineyard that had a gorgeous view of Orvieto. There were white roses blooming everywhere! This was a beautiful, relaxing day of painting as well!
Art journaling to me is not so much about making art but recording my life in a colorful way. My journals are a place where I can experiment with different art mediums, sort things out, write about my life, my sorrows, my adventures and travels. I play with color, sketch, doodle, take notes, make lists, add inspiring quotes and write about my day. The process is fun, and I love when the result surprises me. I have written articles for Cloth Paper Scissor and the Art Journaling magazines about using watercolor and mixed-media together.
Do you ever dream of going on a watercolor painting vacation in Provence, France? Well here is the perfect opportunity to paint and explore the charming villages of sunny Provence! I have just returned from teaching a watercolor workshop in Orvieto, Italy and I want to share with you why I love it so much!
Watercolor Artists in Orvieto, Italy
It is so lovely to be with a group of like minded artists who love to explore their creative side. It is relaxing and fun to paint what you see, describe what you taste, smell and savor. Provence is a culinary, artist’s delight! When you go on a painting vacation, you have time to create a watercolor journal filled with memories.
Painting in Europe
You will grow, evolve and blossom as an artist. Even if you are a beginner, you will start to see things differently and the beauty of it all will make a peaceful, colorful impression on your heart and soul.
Friends!
What a gift it is to bond and share with friends and loved ones. It also a wonderful way to make new friends!
And then there is the wonderful art that you create:
Consider joining me on this fun, relaxing, joyous adventure!
It’s been a lovely time painting and relaxing in Umbria and Tuscany Italy. I brought my watercolor journal and a few painting supplies. Relaxing with a glass of wine on a sunny, warm Terrace, I was able to paint this beautiful scene at our little villa just outside the walled city of Cortona, Italy. My journals have become my diaries. I call them visual diaries. Painting is my specialty and not really writing. I would rather paint, draw, and experiment with mixed media. Therefore, art journals are not so much about making art but recording my life in a colorful way.
I am with a very enthusiastic and fun group of artistic ladies: painting, wine tasting, exploring, laughing, and learning about the rich history of Orvieto Italy. Yesterday we had a fantastic tour of the very impressive Duomo. The labyrinth of caves underneath protects it from earthquakes. They provided shelter during war times.
Jacqueline Newbold’s Next Watercolor Painting Trip
Join me on my next wonderful watercolor, art, and painting workshop in France. We will be on an artistic journey of creative expression! Our home base will be a charming medieval village in Provence, as we have fun painting and creating art in our watercolor journals.
You will learn to incorporate watercolor and mixed-media techniques. We will spend a magical time together exploring the area, rich with sights, sounds, and colors – all wonderful inspiration for developing your artistic eye. Our host will be frenchescapade.com. They will provide many delicious meals cooked by a French chef and transportation to painting sites. We will stay in a charming hotel with a little river meandering through the garden. It also has an outside swimming pool, a hot tub, and a riverside terrace bar all surrounded by impressive mountains. This workshop is available for all levels – beginners and experienced artists are all invited to come along on this delightful trip!
Once in a while, I like to share travel tips for the traveling artist. I call these Watercolor Journeys Travel Tips. I always take a watercolor journal with me when I travel. I am always looking for some smart, fun travel ideas for my supplies.
This Watercolor Journeys Travel Tips is the Nomad Box Pen Case. Here is a great zippered bag to hold a lot of art supplies such as pens, pencils, tubes of paint, erasers, small ruler or small scissors. You can get them at one of my favorite online stores, JetPens for pens and such. It is a Nomad Box Pen Case.
This stylish, large-capacity pen case opens wide. It stays open so that you can easily pick out the pens you need.
Features:
Wide-opening main compartment that stays open on its own and holds approximately 30 pens.
Three pockets inside the main compartment for organizing small items like erasers, lead, and sticky notes. There is one large mesh pocket and two small fabric pockets.
One large outside pocket for frequently-accessed items.
A loop on one end for fastening the case to a clip, hanging it from a hook, or for using as a handle.
Artist Jacqueline Newbold enjoys painting life in color! Her color-filled watercolor paintings capture a moment in time – sunlight on red poppies, the glow of a Tuscan village perched on a mountaintop, or the brilliance of a dramatic Oregon Cascade Mountain sunset. Jacqueline loves to share her passion for watercolor painting and mixed-media art journaling by teaching in her Art in My Heart private studio, the Art Unraveled Art Retreats in Phoenix, the Art & Soul Retreats in Portland, Oregon, France, and Italy. She teaches private watercolor lessons, classes and workshops in her private art studio in Bend, Oregon. Stay tuned for more Watercolor Journeys Travel Tips!
Have you taken your art outdoors lately? Whether in a man-made or natural setting, halfway around the globe or in your own backyard, creating en plein air can result in wonderful artwork inspired by the world around you. Artist Jacqueline Newbold is often inspired by nature for her mixed-media watercolor creations. In this article from our July/August 2014 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine, Jacqueline shares her easy, stress-free technique for drawing and painting colorful flora and fauna.
Paint the Colorful World of Flora and Fauna
Summer sunshine and blue skies bring out tiny creatures—ladybugs, dragonflies, frogs, and more. Flowers, birds, and animals are out in full force, too. Take a closer look at the wonderful world of flora and fauna surrounding you, and you may be surprised at their color-filled lives.
My interest in flora and fauna started in college when I was majoring in botanty
Along with my plant studies, I took an entomology course (the study of insects) to help me get over my fear of little creepy, crawling bugs. What I discovered, with the help of a magnifying glass, was a fascinating world of insects cloaked in the most amazing array of colorful combinations. I saw bold stripes of black and gold, coats of gorgeous metallic turquoise and copper, and delightful polka dots. These tiny creature had shimmering translucent fairy-like wings. These were just a few of the wonderful hues and patterns I found. Discovering this amazing tiny world of color did get me over my fear of insects. It continues to give me inspiration and great subject matter for my watercolor journals.
When I first began adding flora and fauna to my journals, the drawing process intimidated me. I wanted to accurately depict these things.
Over time I came up with an easy, stress-free technique
I convert flora and fauna into a series of connected ovals, circles, ellipses, and rectangular shapes, and then fine-tune the shapes as needed. It is much more manageable to think of them in this way. Now I enjoy drawing, painting, and adding my field observations of these delightful creatures to my journals.
The Creative Process, A Peak inside my Empty Watercolor Journal
Do you enjoy the anticipation of an upcoming vacation or trip? Do you practice packing your suitcase with your favorite clothes? To me the journey begins way before walking out the door, suitcase in hand. I love preparing my art supplies for my travels. Planning for my upcoming trip, Painting the Italian light, Orvieto, Italy. My smaller journal is a Strathmore 400 Field Watercolor Sketchbook. For years I have had a love/hate relationship with the Strathmore field book. Every other piece of (crappy) watercolor page alternates with a piece of drawing paper. This drawing paper is where my mixed-media imagination soars and I have probably filled at least 20 of these journals with art from my travels.
Pages in my journal prepared for the trip
First page in my new journal with inspiring quote.
in order to compensate for the not so great watercolor paper I tear my Strathmore Sketchbook apart. I kept the metal coil and the black hard covers. I filled it with Arches 140 paper alternating with Strathmore 400 series drawing paper. I prepared the drawing papers with colorful backgrounds and finished the first page with an inspiring quote for my upcoming trip: “To Paint…. to travel…. the combine the two is to celebrate life” (Jack Brouwer).
Artists can get a little bogged down once in awhile and need the inspiration to paint
Sometimes artists need the inspiration to paint. Maybe it is because we tend to paint the same subject matter, use the same color scheme, or feel like we are not growing in our art. One way to get a jump start on the new day ahead is to browse through the latest issue of the Art Journaling magazine. It is always filled with colorful, edgy, creative art. I am excited to say that my Baja Journal is featured in the latest issue of Art Journaling!
I was published in Art Journaling
This is the cover of the new Art Journaling magazine published by Stampington and Co. I love seeing the brightly colored orange flower against the powder blue background. It is so simply painted and with the added splashes of white paint, the artist makes it look loose and lively. Why not try painting this flower to get you started on a colorful day! Simple, colorful and fun.
Another idea for finding inspiration is to paint along with an art DVD. I have several available for purchase with the online shop at the Artful Gathering the online art retreat. Check it out!
Art Journaling Summer 2018 Magazine Available July 1st!
Just out is the new ART JOURNALING MAGAZINE. The new Stampington Magazine is available for purchase. My article, Baja Journey Journal, is about including flora and fauna in my watercolor art journals. I show how I use field notes to collect information about the birds and animals that I observe. The field notes are helpful to my paintings and drawings.
Take your watercolor painting skills to the next level. You will paint along with Jacqueline as she shows how she paints several paintings from start to finish.
Composition, glazing, edge control, layering, adding darks, and self-critique is some of the watercolor techniques she will cover in this step-by-step painting workshop.
Join Jacqueline Newbold in some watercolor fun!
Included will be how to paint loose and how to fix problem areas. Each painting will start with a short “warm-up” exercise. This is a great workshop for beginner and advanced painters that want to improve their watercolor painting skills.
This DVD is a great gift for your watercolor artist!
