Calligraphy Flourish for Independence Day

I hope my Canadian friends had a great time celebrating Canada Day.

This Sunday, July 4th, Americans will celebrate our Declaration of Independence from Great Britain.

There will be fireworks, parades, and cookouts.

There will also be chocolate cake with carmel icing for my birthday, which is tomorrow.

Yum, Yum!! :-)

I thought I'd show you the step-by-step of the piece above:

Using blue, painter's tape, I masked off an area on watercolor paper. (Before I use a punch on painter's tape, I put the tape onto a piece of the waxy, paper left over from a sheet of postage stamps.)

I brushed clear water over the masked off area.

I then dropped in some red and blue gouache.

Using the small end of my stylist, I made random strokes through the wet paint.

I set is aside to dry.

I removed the masks.

Using a larger, star punch, I added two more masks and added more strokes with the stylist, a pointed brush, and gel pens.

I let it dry, removed the masks, and splattered some paint over the design. I then sprayed the piece with Krylon Clear Finish.

I added the text with a pointed pen and Dr. Martin's Bleedproof White.

Wishing my American friends a safe and happy Independence Day!!

Celebrate!!!

If you are a member of the Yahoo! Ornamental Penmanship group, then you have probably seen the video below.  It is sooooo beautiful and full of flourishy goodness!!  I'm not sure I have successfully captured and copied the video below, so you may have to copy and paste the link at the bottom.

If you like flourishes, then be sure to watch it.

Enjoy!! I know I did!

http://50.drmartens.com/artists/cinematic-orchestra