DIY Watercolor Landscape Easter Egg

So a few weeks out, and Easter will be knocking at the door. Here at White Cottage Farm we absolutely LOVE Easter. Everything about it from going to church and seeing the more dressy attire, the Resurrection of life and our faith, to basket planning and egg hiding. While Michigan isn’t always a participant as it applies to the weather, we dream of a day with a massive Easter egg hunt here at our farm, with friends, family, neighbors, and strangers.

 

While we were passing through Target earlier this week we came across the craft section that had these fake/foamy eggs, and had the idea to create a few eggs around a table, that could be recycled in to the following years batch to hunt for, you know, similar to a homemade tree ornament that you make and bring out each year. We thought what a cool way to get a little more creative with the family, flex the artist within, and make a memory.

So I came up with this fun little egg. It’s suppose to be picture of “The Mighty Mac,” the bridge that is just off the coast of Mackinac Island, that connects the lower peninsula of Michigan to the upper peninsula. This is a place that LMB hold special to us, and that we are trying to make a family tradition to visit once year. After you have been there a few times, there really isn’t a whole lot of stones to overturn, but its the idea of a city frozen (somewhat) in time, with no cars, just horse carriages and bicycles. We are always going 100 miles an hour, whether it be in projects or in our head, so this place slows us down, and allows for us to take the very much needed breath we look forward to at least once a year. The Bridge can mean so much to us, so I thought it would be a fun and easy little drawing to put on the egg. Here is how it turned out:

Needless to say, I am not a watercolor Van Gogh, but we definitely had a lot of fun. Surfing the webs we came across some very jaw dropping landscapes, but also some very fun sponge bobs, minions, and angry birds. So this can definitely be a fun little side project to have with the family a week or so before Easter, and something you can turn into a tradition.

 

Food Network Magazine put together a little campaign so pickup this months issue, and check out one of our eggs that made the magazine, and for those outside Michigan, check out how your state was represented!!!

Well that is all for us this week. If you want to see a quick video on how we obtained this look, check out the vlog, and also… you won’t believe what Grace did…

Check it out here: https://youtu.be/kjbJzmHkWeQ

Mackinac Egg How-To

Supplies needed:

.005 Black Pen

Basic Water Color Pallet

Electrical Tape (or any tape that will stick to an egg)

Water Color Paint Brush

Brush Pen Set

Egg(s)

 

The How-To:

1. From the sharp end to the blunt end, apply the electrical tape down the middle, creating an edge that splits the egg in half. This will be used as a straight edge when drawing the bridge.
2. Use a black brush pen, draw a straight line along the edge of the tape, this will be the base of the bridge.
3. Draw in the vertical columns and drooping cables that suspends the bridge, using the brush pen for the columns, and the .005 precise pen for the cables.
4. Create the sunset. Using a watercolor red, paint a block of red extending just below the bridge and just above the columns. Let paint dry. Next using a water color yellow, pain the top of the egg along the “equator” of the egg meeting the red. Using just a wet water color paint brush, make strokes from the red toward the yellow, this will aid in the blending of the red to yellow to capture that sunburst look. Take a paper towel and softly wrap the egg, hold for a few seconds and remove the paper towel.
5. Add a very faint line of purple to capture/rich sunset. The purple should be just above and below the base of the bridge. Next using mixtures of green, light blue, and blue; repeat the step number 4, and fade downward, having the dark color fade into the lighter color.
6. Re-trace the bridge with the brush pen to make the bridge pop overtop the water color, and let dry.