Aqua Markers Week: First Attempt ! Technique # 1 on dry paper

This week I decided I am going to break out my new Spectrum Aqua Markers!  Only they aren't quite new, They have been sitting on my desk calling to me and I have been afraid to try them! My thought was since I am selling these I should really know how to use them!   I never got the hang of the Tim Holtz distress markers, love the colors but the actual product just ended up sitting on my desk looking pretty!   I love water color and the painterly look that come with them.  I have used them in my card making for years.  The appeal of having a water color pen to me was the ease of applying the pigments to the images.  I don't paint on the larger scale, I just don't have that talent so my water coloring was only for card making.

Right off the bat I have to say I love these markers, this was really no muss no fuss and I liked the results right off the bat!  So I'll show you my very first attempt at using them:

I had a couple of other new things to try and I will give you my honest opinion about these too:

I have a new Wisteria Stamp from the Art cure line at Crafters companion and I thought I would use this pretty out line stamp to try this.  It is very detailed and finely cut.
I used the Waterproof Archival ink on watercolor paper.

I also wanted to try the Crafters' Companion Clear mount block.

The Block held the stamp nicely, however I couldn't hold the block easily

I got a good impression first time, but then it slipped out of my hand and made it unusable

Second try I held onto it, but couldn't get enough pressure for a good impression:

Two more tries and my hand hurt.  I have a problem similar to carpel tunnel syndrome  and hand things I have to be careful about.

Next  I went to old faithful, my Mega Mount!

I also cut a wee but of the rubber away to prevent another smudge

 The impression wasn't perfect but then for watercoloring it didn't need to be

I added color to leaves and stems using both ends of the marker

Simply added a few shades of purples pointillism style

I simply went over the image with my water pen and blended color, in a very random way, this gave it a very painterly look

I pulled a tiny bit of color from the marker nib and applied that to areas I thought need a touch more depth.

Used a brown brush nib on a sentiment stamp

This took about 5 minutes

Here is my finished card - my first attempt with the Aqua Markers

I really like it and I think it came out great for a first try!

Tomorrow I have another technique to feature a A Word Art Wednesday Card!

Thanks for stopping by

Ginny M