Acrylic painting of Australian Uluru landscape tutorial on YouTube

Aussie YouTube Hoppers video

I have been very busy these past few months with quite a few different activities.  This particular painting was made specifically for a group of Australians that I am now a part of.  The Aussie YouTube hoppers.  A bunch of 13 very talented ladies who all participate and make their own creative video tutorials on YouTube, with a specific theme.  The theme for this month is Beautiful Australia.  

I had trouble deciding what to do, as I always feel a little out of place.  Most people involved in the projects I take on are either mixed media, or scrapbooking.  Very talented at that.  I paint, it's what I do, it's what I love and I sometimes feel unworthy of being a part of a team.  It is my own insecurities, nothing anyone ever says to me.  So I am doing my best to get over it, yep just get over it lol.

On to the topic, Uluru, Australia's beautiful red rock, notorious for "a dingo took my baby".  I have never been there, but it is on my bucket list.  The red dirt just looks so amazing, and the quiet that I assume engulfs you is magical.  Quiet, ahhhhhh yes.  I used my artists choice and put the fence in the painting.  I don't think it is actually there, I just wanted something closer to the viewer for perspective.  

In all honesty, I threw a tantrum over this painting, the grass, the grass, the darn grass.  You will see from the pictures I place next that I just couldn't get it right.  Like I say in my video, I mainly focus on portraits and doing a landscape is completely out of my comfort zone, which is what I need sometimes.  I am pleased with the result.  The link to the YouTube video tutorial is here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNKqXhZI9kg&t=101s

Make sure you follow the link in the description of the video to see the next project made for this theme, by Niamh Baly.

On to the embarrassing pictures of the beginning of this painting.

This part was ok, Ultramarine on the top, darker to lighter.  Red Oxide on the bottom, with some burnt umber.  Yep, doing well.  I honestly wanted to stop there, because the grass terrified me.

Bam, what amazing grass that is Kristina.  My gosh you got it first time, is what no one will ever say to me lol.  I hated this, but I thought with a little more grass layering it would magically fix up.

Yep, I thought wrong.  Luckily I was doing a practice painting before actually filming for YouTube, so none of this is in the video.  Aren't you lucky.

Still I didn't give up, thinking maybe by putting the long grass in the front it would look awesome.

Cue the tantrum, the sleepless night figuring out what to do and the obsessing over the painting, because I was determined to get it right.

This was my solution, start over with the grass, but first paint Uluru in.  I actually enjoyed painting it, I calmed down and then I got down to nitty gritty of investigating how to do grass.  That damn grass.

Chuck Black, an amazing YouTuber, I watched his videos.  I am nothing compared to him, but I tried his technique.  It certainly looked better than my previous attempt, and this was only layer one.  Many layers to go.

I ended up with this one, with only a few layers left to go.  The anger was subsiding within me, I could look at the painting without wanting to boil up from the inside out.  The green annoyed me though.  My reference picture had green, but in my painting it just didn't look right.  So I took it out for the YouTube video.

This is my practice one for the video.  I was pleasantly surprised.  I had done it, I painted Uluru and grass.  I had done my very own landscape!!!  Now for the filming of the painting.  In the stinking hot heat of Queensland, in summer, in my garage.  Open the garage door get attacked by flies, and I haaaaate flies, with a passion.  Keep the door down, the light isn't amazing, and it's stinking hot.  So I sweated away and made the video, I am proud of that video.  I have a long way to go, very long, but I am taking my baby steps towards teaching people how to paint, while hiding in my garage lol.

This is a quick little part of the YouTube video, just showing the close up of the posts.  I could've spent so many more hours just fiddling with the little details, but I restrained myself.

As a final note, from frustration comes success.  I consider this to be a lesson learnt, a success and it's given me the opportunity to build on what I have learnt here.  Also in the making of this video I realised that I needed to invent something to hold my iPad on my easel.  Being after Christmas and coming up to a lot of birthdays in my family, spare cash wasn't an option for an expensive holder.  Plus I am currently using my husbands old broken iPad, so I didn't want to spend any money.  SO I came up with this.  Hubby obviously did the hard work, I just told him what I wanted done.  And voila, didn't cost me one cent, holds my iPad nice and safe and is very sturdy.

It is absolutely perfect, and I am grateful for my hubbys help to make this.  

So, moral of the story........hmmmm I could say "never give up", "from failure comes success", "Just keep swimming", but the lesson I learnt the most, "Believe in myself".  I never do, and It is hard for me to say those words, but it is something I need to start doing.  I am worth something, I can paint, I am a good person and I deserve to be alive, and so do you.  

To anyone thinking they aren't good enough, think again, because you are.  You are unique, special, beautiful and talented.  And you are worth it too.

If you are interested in painting Uluru, the traceable is here: https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/421860690094329264/

The reference picture for Uluru is here:  https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/421860690094377809/

Please follow me on facebook........... KristinaObrienart
I am also on Instagram.......... https://www.instagram.com/kristina_obrien_art/
Aaaand Pinterest....... https://www.pinterest.com.au/krystalrose316/pins/
And now Youtube.......https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpgFuUdFo0dyREOhcSgXBrw

Acrylic painting Tutorial of Disney's Bruce the Shark, from Finding Nemo.

Making Avengers shoes for less than $7, using gold leaf, paint and decoupage.

From boring and bland $3 Kmart Canvas shoes........

TO THE AVENGERS ONE OF A KIND CANVAS SHOES WITH GOLD LEAFING!!

All for less than $7!!!!

I bought some decoupage glue, stomped through Spotlights aisles looking for tissue paper, or any similar type of paper with a cool pattern.  Then I saw the party serviettes.  PERFECT!!

I saw these Avengers ones and immediately thought of my daughter, who loves Marvel and all those sorts of things.  I cut out the little bits and pieces of the serviette.  I left none uncut lol.  I cut out hands and patterns and faces.  There were 12 serviettes in the pack and I only used 3.  I have a great idea for the left overs, I will wrap the shoes in them.  Perfect wrap for a perfect gift.



Serviettes are two very flimsy pieces of paper lightly put together, you just pull the two pieces apart and the pattern is now on an even lighter piece of paper.  Perfect for decoupage.  I glued and glued and glued.  I was torn about either making the shoes minimalist or just go for it and cover the whole shoes with no particular pattern.  I decided on the latter, and I am glad!  Once the first layer was dry I put more pattern pieces and words on the blank bits of the shoes and covered them in glue again.  I even covered the lace holes, while the glue was wet I poked the holes back through them.

This is minimalist Avenger shoes.















And this is not......

I was going to glitter the bottom edges, but during a sleepless night I had the awesome idea to put gold leafing on the edges.  My daughter deserves the best hehe.

So I grabbed my Mont Marte leafing size glue and I began gluing it all over the bottom edges of the shoes.  Left if for an hour because the longer you leave it the stickier it gets.  I got my gold leaf and carefully placed it all over the glued areas.














I put the gold leaf on with my finger, pushing it down a little, then I brush with an old paint brush along the gold leaf to smooth it down even more, and to make the lumpy bits fall off.  Let it dry.

While the shoes were drying I started painting the shoe laces.

I used normal acrylic red and blue paint, and added about 50% of Chromacryl Textile Medium, it basically turns it into fabric paint.  Makes it not as stiff. 

I just used cheap craft paint that I bought for my boys to use.  I painted a few layers on both sides of the shoe laces and then hung them out to dry.

Once dry I put the laces in the dryer to heat set the Chromacryl additive.  Then I put the laces in the shoes and proceeded to take the GLAM SHOTS!!

I loved doing this and I love the way they turned out.

What's next I hear you ask????

SO MUCH IT NEVER ENDS!!!

I have uploaded my miniature polymer clay Jack o lanterns that glow video onto YouTube.  Here is the link,  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpgFuUdFo0dyREOhcSgXBrw      please like, comment and subscribe, I am determined to make my channel superb.  Next up on my blog and my YouTube is a Medussa Platter, Halloween inspired.  Miniature of course!

I am starting my dollhouse room box refurb tomorrow, and I will be posting that soon, too.

Here is the link for my Youtube Channel.......MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL!!

Please like, comment and subscribe!

Please follow me on facebook........... KristinaObrienart
I am also on Instagram.......... https://www.instagram.com/kristina_obrien_art/
Aaaand Pinterest....... https://www.pinterest.com.au/krystalrose316/pins/
And now on Etsy.........  https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/KrystalRoseCreations?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
And now Youtube.......https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpgFuUdFo0dyREOhcSgXBrw

Until next time.........

Refurbishing my old miniature doll house room box, tutorials soon on youtube. And previewing my miniature lamington and fairy bread polymer clay Youtube video that's coming!

Refurbishing my old dollhouse room box.

This is it.  This was lovingly made by my husband a few years ago when I was in the height of Anorexia.  There wasn't much brain power I had left to enable me to finish this room box, or start it for that matter.  My idea was the left side was to be a bakery with a walk through to a little coffee shop.  

Pink wall paper, hmmm, I know that has to go, and since I have newly acquired painting skills I am thinking the wall needs to be painted.  Should it still be a bakery?  Yes, I really want to do a bakery, with all the miniature polymer clay treats to display in the window.  Mmmm yummy.  The coffee shop I am not to sure of, I might change that into a store room for the bakery shop.  With shelves of all the ingredients and tools they use to make the yummy stuff.  Bags of flour, sprinkles, cream, mixers and whatever else floats my boat I guess.

I will be using the tiles I have made from resin and polymer clay to replace these bland ones I have put down.

Perhaps some green micro bead filled tiles?  I might make a special colour tile just for this.  Gold?  Rose gold?  I am not sure right at this moment in time.  I do know this, I will be videoing my progress and putting them up on my youtube channel.  I will be attempting to make everything from scratch, and that includes the cabinets, the window displays and the furniture.  I will be using a lot of glue, a lot of wood and paint and polymer clay.

I will also be displaying the uses of the products I make that are for sale in my Etsy shop, I think people need to see the product in use.  I will make mistakes, and I will show those mistakes.

This boring old brown room will become the storage room for the bakery.  Everything about this room will be changed.  I might even add some glow in the dark tiles, just for some fun!

I will get started on videoing my progress next week.  This week I have been focusing on getting my first ever Youtube video out there.

My First Youtube Video!!

Making miniature lamingtons and miniature fairy bread.

A sneak peak!!

Yep, those scrummy little cakes, covered in chocolate icing and rolled in coconut, what could be better?  Making them in miniature of course!!  And adding fairy bread to the mix.

In the video I explain the best way I have found to make lamingtons, and how to make the coconut and the sprinkles.  I show a few variations of making lamingtons and the fairy bread.

Lamingtons will be on display in my miniature bakery so I decided they would be a great first video, plus they are Australian!

Here is the link for my Youtube Channel.......MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL!!

Please like, comment and subscribe!

Please follow me on facebook........... KristinaObrienart
I am also on Instagram.......... https://www.instagram.com/kristina_obrien_art/
Aaaand Pinterest....... https://www.pinterest.com.au/krystalrose316/pins/
And now on Etsy.........  https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/KrystalRoseCreations?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
And now Youtube.......https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpgFuUdFo0dyREOhcSgXBrw

Until next time.........

Reviewing Color By Feliks Youtube Painting Tutorial

Reviewing Color By Feliks Painting Tutorial

Ok ok it's not as bad as it sounds, I am not judging him, I am just letting the world know how I think his tutorials are.  One opinion in a billion voices.

Let me start by saying he is a huge Instagram star, and I am slow off the post and have just recently started watching his videos.  The paintings he makes are so peaceful and make me feel like there's something worth smiling for in this world.  

I actually tried his boat painting, the sunset is to die for.  

 Color by Feliks Boat Tutorial

He makes it look so easy, sigh.  First off, my fluffy brush, too fluffy.  Actually no, it worked well, the way his did, it was blending like a bad ass, but, and a big but, for every stroke I did with it, it lost ten hairs.  These hairs stuck in the paint, making it impossible to flick them off.  So I had to scratch them off, leave a mark in the paint, and fix it up with more paint.  I specifically went to Spotlight (Australia's Hobby Lobby I guess), and spent $30 on this Mop Brush.



This is it.  A one inch Royal & Langnickel Mop brush.  $30.  I was super excited to try it.  That is a lot of money for one brush, but I love painting, and I wanted to try his technique.
If I could list regrettable buys, this would definitely be on the list.  It made me so frustrated and upset with myself that I just couldn't stop the hairs from sticking to the painting.  I wet it, plucked the hairs out that I could see were loose, but it would still lose more and more hairs.  I swear it was mocking me.

So luckily I remembered a previous purchase of a mop brush. (Ooops)  I bought it from Officeworks here in Hervey Bay, it is a J.Burrows number 20.  Barely lost a hair, not a hair was there!  By this stage I was too agitated to properly be able to follow Feliks.  I wanted to cry.  This is no reflection on his teaching, this was a bad purchase, bad timing and frustration.

I ended up painting this and then stopping.  It was pointless, I couldn't salvage it sigh.

I will come back to this tutorial when I think I am better prepared.  So, I tried another Feliks tutorial.  It is a snow scene with trees and a little cabin.  Ok, I was ready......


ColorbyFeliks snow scene tutorial


He talks clearly, I can understand every word, he shows the mixing of the paint and uses minimal
colours, which makes things easier.  He isn't selling super expensive brushes to me and he worked at a speed that enabled me to follow his progress easily.  I will say that I am still a beginning painter and I am used to the Youtubers like The Art Sherpa, and Painting with Jane.  They specifically explain every brush stroke, and tell the reasoning why a colour is being put on the canvas.  Feliks does do this fairly well, just not to the extent that the beginniner tutorials do.  I had some issues with the way that he made his trees, I couldn't grasp the concept straight away.  I did have to watch a few other painting tutorials on pine trees to get what I was doing wrong. 

My trees were too pointy. And too sparse, and just wrong.




His explanation of mixing the colours was absolutely perfect, nothing amiss there.  Easy to understand, easy to follow.  The only problem I was having was, he is just a step above the beginner painter.

These are ColorbyFeliks' winter trees, I just couldn't get mine to look like his.  That said, every other aspect of the painting I could follow, and understand his reasoning one hundred percent.








This is what my final trees ended up looking like, after a couple of attempts and some repainting and fixing up of the things I did not like.  Still nothing like Feliks' but I was "happy" lol.  I followed the rest of the tutorial easily.  Not a problem.  He is funny, easy to understnad and most important of all he makes some gorgeous paintings that I just want to paint and paint and paint with him.  In all honesety, I loved it.  I like the way he teaches, albeit not quite as detailed as others, I like that he uses a minimal colour palette, his paintings are, well words cannot describe them.  That said he is not for the absolute beginner painter, unless you are one of those people that catch on really quick.  I am not.  Takes me a little time and explanation to get some things.  Considering he is only "new" to youtube (less than a year I believe), he still has lots of time to improve on the small little things.

I wholeheartedly recommend watching his tutorials and trying them at your own pace, to be able to paint even a little bit like him would make me super happy. I love painting tutorials, and I love trying new techniques and teachers.  To put him in the same category as The Art Sherpa is a little difficult right now.  She does many many live paintings with questions coming in as she paints and so she can answer them. 

If I was to crituque myself on my painting below I would have lots to say.  😉  So luckily I am not lol.

Remember, mop brushes shed, they shed a lot, be prepared for that.  I have not tried all brands of mop brushes though, so maybe one day there will be a non shedder lol.  That said they blend perfectly, like a dream, like using oil paints.  It's just those darn hairs.

I am currently working on a few different things, like I said, trying to find who I am and what is my niche.  I am selling my art items on Etsy, although my goal is to own my own website and be an Artist, whatever that means.

Tomorrow I will be working on finishing my miniature resin geode tables and the miniature resin river table.  Perfect for dollhouses and anyone who likes miniatures.  These are prototypes, experiments, and I have no idea if they will work out.  I am just trying to make a name for myself, make something I am proud of.

This is a sneak peak of my river resin table, not looking flash just yet, but I have my fingers crossed after I have done everything to it, that it will look freaking awesome!

I am also working on miniature resin geode tables.  I just have the legs left to do on these babies.

Anyway, until next time.......

 Please follow me on facebook........... KristinaObrienart
I am also on Instagram.......... https://www.instagram.com/kristina_obrien_art/
Aaaand Pinterest....... https://www.pinterest.com.au/krystalrose316/pins/
And now on Etsy.........  https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/KrystalRoseCreations?ref=seller-platform-mcnav