Hello everyone!
My name is Megan and I am one of the three new brand representatives for The Smiling Hippo! Today I will be going over a few tips and tricks I’ve picked up while painting with watercolors and sharing an idea that might be fun to try out! As a bonus, there is a kids corner included with my posts, so if you have little artists in your life have them give this a try!!
Spring is turning to Summer, and with that there is a change in what flowers are blooming. So, what better way to start our watercolor journey than to make some flowers! Everyone has seen the run-of-the-mill bouquet painting. Vibrant, bright, fresh cut flowers arranged in a perfect vase. Well for this painting, let’s try something a little different! I’m going to try and capture the transition of seasons by having faded, imperfect, wilted Tulips and Daffodils next to a vibrant and full of life Peony. Now, I know that’s not a “typical” still-life flower composition, but hear me out, this will be fun! Grab your paints, paper and brushes and follow along! Use different flowers, foliage or any kind of plants you want and let’s get to creating!!
First things first. Gotta prep your paper! I like to tape the edges so when everything is dry the picture has a defined border. It also helps the paper to dry flat so you don’t have to wet the back later on. 
As you can see, I have already drawn out my subject matter, you don’t have to, but it helps me to keep a plan. To start I’m going to soak my paper, this helps get an even color for the background. Just get some towels handy! You might get wet!
Once the paper is prepped, grab your color of choice and have fun! Be sure to let the layers of color dry before you go in with a different color if you want them to stay separate.
For the Daffodils I will use the same wetting process as before but for the finer details I’ll only wet the brush with the paints to add in shading. The Peony is a different trick! I’m going to put drops of water spread around on the paper and add color in varying saturations to the drops, then spread them with a wet brush to achieve an ombre effect! 
After this I went through final details with a fine tip marker and voila!
One of my favorite attributes of watercolor is how chaotic it can get. Sure you start with a plan, but the water goes where it wants to and the paint will follow. Go with the flow :)
KID CORNER!! 
Now for the artsy littles in your life I have put together a fun crafts activity. Since the grown up portion of the blog is flowers, why not follow the theme! With my daughter, I made some coffee filter flowers! I gave her the brush and set out a few pans of paint for her to dip in.
The coffee filter was already damp to help the paint spread. Now, I used BBQ skewers with the sharp end removed because I forgot to get pipe cleaners–oops! I used a little piece of tape to secure the stick to the paper. Having your kids or the kids in your life settle in and play with art is a great way to build creativity, imagination and make a fun mess!
Thanks for reading and creating with me! I can’t wait to see what y’all come up with! Remember to follow the Smiling Hippo and check out the website for more beautiful paints, tips and tricks from me and the other brand reps!! Have a wonderful week <3