Let’s Hit the Beach
by Roni Johnson
Time for fun in the sun and what could be more fun than hitting the beach on hot afternoons. This cute summery beach bag is just the ticket to hold all the essentials you’ll need on your trip to the beach.
Skill: Beginner
Time: 1 hour or more
Directions
Step 1
Iron the canvas bag to remove wrinkles. Insert a piece of cardboard or several layers of news print to protect the back of the bag just in case a bit of ink soaks through the canvas.
Step 2
Choose where you would like the palm tree to reside; using Desert Sand All-Purpose Ink (API) and a Fantastix draw two parenthesis marks where you would like the top of your palm tree; join the next set directly below the first loosely joining them. Continue making sets of parenthesis a bit larger with each set until you reach the height you would like the palm tree to be. At the bottom of the tree flair out the last set of parenthesis and add a couple of feet pointing left and right.
Step 3
Color in the palm tree trunk using the Desert Sand ink. Draw a line across the bag using the Desert Sand somewhere near the bottom quarter of the bag. If you would like a shell, starfish or other item lying on the beach, pencil them out below the line. Coloring around the items, fill in the “beach” with this ink as well.
Step 4
Outline and refine the trunk of your palm tree with Chocolate API and a Fantastix. Iron to set the inks applied thus far.
Step 5
If desired, add a few coconuts to your palm tree with Autumn Leaf API. I also added a couple coconuts lying on the beach beneath the tree as well.
Step 6
Add palm fronds to the palm tree by feathering Spring Green API outwards from the top of the trunk. Add as many or as few fronds as desired. Add one or two additional layers of color to add mid-tones and shadows to the palm fronds. Green Apple and Emerald were used on the example. Once satisfied with the palm fronds, iron to set the ink.
Step 7
Approximately half way up the bag draw a line across the bag using Sky Blue API. This will become the sea. Begin loosely filling in the area between the blue line and the beach line with the Sky Blue API. While the first layer of ink is still wet, go back in and add high-lights and low lights using Cerulean Blue, Tropical Lagoon and White Frost API’s blending as you go along. I used more of the White Frost at the beach line where I imagined the waves coming ashore creating foam. Once you are satisfied with the colors in your ocean, iron to set the inks.
Step 8
Add any additional images you wish at this point. A pair of birds and a starfish were added to the example. Iron to set these inks.
Step 9
If desired, go back over certain areas to define the images even more using Fabrico Dual Tip Markers.
Supplies
Imagine
- All-Purpose Ink – 10 Green Apple, 19 Cerulean Blue, 20 Tropical Lagoon, 21 Emerald, 22 Spring Green, 33 Rose Pink, 38 Sky Blue, 52 Sand, 53 Autumn Leaf, 54 Chocolate, 72 Frost White, 74 Champaign Mist, 80 White
- Fabrico Marker – Chocolate
- Fantastix
Other
- Canvas Bag – I happened to make mine, but you can buy pre-made ones too, like the one Neva Cole found for her project.
