Happy Birthday Frida! -by Cristin

Hello again!

Did you know that Frida Kahlo's birthday is in the month of July? True story, she was born on July 6, 1907. For the last couple of weeks I have been celebrating her artwork and legacy and today is no different!

I wanted to do something a little bit different than a portrait this time, so I found a Frida quote and set off on a inspired painting!

Today's quote from Frida is, "I paint flowers so they will not die."

To start, I traced around an Artistcellar Diamond series stencil with a General's Scribe-All pencil. I didn't trace around the entire stencil because I think it makes it pretty interesting if you pick out sections. Next, I used a Koi waterbrush and some watercolors to paint in the entire stencil. I let that dry completely so that it could be an awesome under-layer for later!

Then, I continued with my Scribe-All to sketch in some floral illustrations and of course, our quote of the day. When I had the drawing right where I wanted it, I outlined with a black acrylic paint pen.

Next, I started tossing some color at it. I used some fluid acrylics (in the flowers), and watercolor for the background.  I wanted it to be a little bit brighter and colorful because Frida was a very colorful lady... to do this, I added in Dylusions Spray in "Cut Grass". This added a perfect pop of extra color that I needed. In some areas I was a little more precise with the brush, and in others I added drips and splatters and was just a little more messy.

To finish up the painting I simply added white highlights and doodles throughout.

That's it! What about you? What is your favorite Frida quote?

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