Watercolor painted poppy from Altenew Watercolor Coloring Book by Nicole Watt

Altenew Ultimate Watercolor Lovers


Have you ever wished that there was a coloring book made for your watercolor habit hobby? Maybe something with big, beautiful florals that you could use to practice your no-line watercoloring, or show off your excellent skill? Well, today is your day! You should be arriving from Jenny Colacicco’s blog. If not, you can track back to the Altenew Card Blog to start at the beginning, or continue around until you loop back here.

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.

brushes would be nice…

Another wish, granted! Not only is there a beautiful watercolor coloring book with black and no-line outline images, you can get some new brushes to get completely outfit! There are two brush sets – one has four detail brushes and the other has five brushes – three round and one flat for washes.

dreamy detailed poppy

Make no mistake! If you are going for realistic, or even semi-detailed, these images will take some time! The images are truly simple line outlines and you will have to bring any kind of movement to the image by creating your own shading and highlights with your painting.

Here’s the thing. Is it time consuming? Yes. Is it kind of intense? Yes. Is it worth it? YES!

I got lost in the creation process. Envisioning the folds and highlights and making them come to life with my painting. I worked on this project over a weekend, taking breaks so I wouldn’t over-work the project, let my eyes (and brain) rest, and come back to really assess what the project needed before starting to work on it again.

Watercolor painted poppy from Altenew Watercolor Coloring Book by Nicole Watt
Watercolor painted poppy from Altenew Watercolor Coloring Book by Nicole Watt

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a study in progress

I used the Artist Watercolors for the poppy project above, but I wanted to see how the Woodless Watercolor Pencils would work on this 100% Cotton Cold Press paper, so I started in on one of the no-line images. I first laid down Ultramarine to underpaint this beautiful bloom. You can see where all of the detail will go as I add layers of Sicilian Amber, Yellow Ochre, Maple Yellow, and Fresh Lemon. Ultramarine is the perfect purple-blue for underpainting and adding in extra shadows. You’ll definitely want to check out my detail image below!

Even in its half-finished state, I have more hours in this project than the finished poppy project. Both of these are definitely getting framed and hung in my studio!

Watercolor painted floral from Altenew Watercolor Coloring Book by Nicole Watt
Watercolor painted floral from Altenew Watercolor Coloring Book by Nicole Watt

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prepping & caring for your new brushes

New brushes often come with a protective coating on them that needs to be cleaned off before first use. And, when you’re finished with your brushes, there’s a way to clean and prep them for drying. I thought I’d do up a little instructional video for you to walk through prepping and caring for your brushes – especially if you’ve only used waterbrushes before now.

New Watercolor Brushes - Now What? | Preparing and Caring for Watercolor Brushes - my tips & tricks!

Thank You!

Time is precious and I’m truly grateful that you chose to spend a few minutes of your day here!
I would love to connect with you on Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest where we have the opportunity to share and interact even more!

Now, about that GIVEAWAY…

To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 2 lucky winners and a $20 gift certificate to 10 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop by 02/16/2021 for a chance to win.

Altenew will draw 12 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 02/19/2021.

Time to hop along!

Be sure to hop over to the amazing Seeka for more watercolor inspiration. And don’t forget to leave comments along the way to enter all the giveaways!

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76 thoughts on “Altenew Ultimate Watercolor Lovers”

  1. Very pretty flowers. I hope you show us the large flower when it is completed. Thanks fir the video on prepping and storing watercolor brushes. Looks like a really nice set.

    Reply
  2. Thank you for trying out the pencils on this paper. My “watercolors” are pencils too so I was curious how it would go. It is also interesting to learn about the purple under yellow technique. It looks way better than black or grey.

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  3. Wow, the under painting with the ultramarine sure gives dimension to the flower. The pictures and explanation are great. Do you use it for other colors besides the yellow? Thanks for the wonderful inspiration.

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  4. I am in awe of your skills. And am happy that you told us that it will take a lot of time to make the flowers come to life. I am impatient…but I am going to try to watercolor some flowers anyway šŸ™‚ Your flowers are very pretty!

    Reply
  5. Never saw that underpainting technique. I need to see a video on that so when I get this amazing watercolor book I will be able to produce more fantastic flowers!

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  6. Gorgeous paintings Nicole! It certainly was worth the time you spent coloring these beauties. I would definitely frame them, even if mine arenā€™t as pretty as yours, thanks for the tips!

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  7. Just fabulous that you used both the watercolor pan set, and watercolor pencils! Your shading and highlights are on point, and so realistic.

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  8. What wonderful colouring on this stunning poppy! The second will be equally spectacular. It is interesting to see it half coloured showing the underpainting for the shadows! Certainly worth the time and effort!! Thanks so much for the inspiration! Stay safe! šŸ™‚

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  9. What an informative video! I learned so much about brushes that I never knew…thanks for all the tips, Nicole!! Your florals are gorgeous and you make it look so easy!! STUNNING

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  10. Thanks for sharing the tips to look after the brushes. I have a few I have had for years and they do last if you take care of them. Love poppies and this is beautiful.

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  11. Thanks for all the great tips – under painting, brush care and first time use. Loved your class on stenciling. Hope to hear more from you in the future.

    Reply
  12. Beautiful frame worthy watercoloring from this super nice release by Altenew. Enjoyed the video on brush prep and care, as I am a stickler for storing my gear and the cases are perfect. I also like the ergonomic handle base for good handling of the brush as you work. Nice release bundle.

    Reply
  13. Iā€™m glad Iā€™m not the only crafter that takes forever to complete a project…your creations are beautifully watercolored! Thanks for sharing all your tips, so very helpful!

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  14. Beautiful water color flower, awesome shading and soft background too. Thanks for good info about the bundle of brushes etc too.

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  15. I’m just trying watercolor and love it. It’s so relaxing and enjoyable to slowly paint your way to being stress free! I think the coloring book is a great idea and can’t wait to try it.

    Reply
  16. Love your poppy print it has so much ‘life’ with the folds of the petals and the colors. Thanks for sharing your amazing creativity with us. šŸ™‚

    Reply

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