Covered Bridge Visiting & Doodlewashing

/ Jodi

covered bridge watercolor doodlewash

This weekend, hubby and I went to a Covered Bridge Festival.  There were ten park festival locations centered around  ten different covered bridges where they had a variety of handmade arts and crafts booths, food, historic re-enactments, demonstrations and live bands.

It was fun to stroll around the festivities and capture some photos of the bridges.  We only made it to two, because we really didn’t decide to go or head out until mid-afternoon, but we enjoyed what we did see, and then ended the day with a nice dinner out.

The next day I decided to try to “doodlewash” one.  My blogging buddy, Charlie at Doodlewash.com has stirred my creative desire to play around with this whimsical art style combining doodling and watercoloring.

I struggle with the doodling/drawing part, and then I totally overworked the washing/watercoloring part of this piece, but since I spent an hour and a half doing it, I am sharing anyway.  (Chalk it up to one for the archives.  Hopefully one to look back on to gauge improvement!)

Here is the photo I took that I used for my reference.   It was such a sweet little bridge in a quaint community park.

covered bridge

And then, with some paint still in the palette and the urge to do something else, I decided to recreate a version of the DSP (designer series paper) I used in yesterday’s card post and made this piece below that I can use in a future card or project.  It was fun to mix and splash and see how the colors dried.   Loving the Autumn tones that remind me of the gorgeous weather we’ve been having these past few days!

color wash swash

Happy Monday all!  Hope you have a great week!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

47 thoughts on “Covered Bridge Visiting & Doodlewashing”

  4. Jodi you did FABULOUS!! Charlie makes Doodlewashing look so fun! You, my friend, have it down pat ;-)….. Um…. Shhhhh… I think I’m going to try “Doodlewashing” 😉

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    • thanks JR – it’s pretty wonky and definitely overpainted especially in the shadowy parts – but it was an experience – and hopefully one that will help me improve 🙂 Happy Fall day!

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  8. I think it’s beautiful! I thought Charlie had painted it at first! I had to see the photo to realize the perspective was off a little. But perspective is really really hard (at least for me), so don’t expect it to be perfect. I think this is a fantastic painting, Jodi, honestly! Something to be very proud of!

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    • drawing is hard. I definitely struggle with perspective. I thought about not showing the photo – haha! so you wouldn’t see how off it was – but I was in the mood to show a “not so great” attempt – cuz – hey – we all have those – right?! It was still fun to do – a little disappointing in the end – but – hey – on to the next! and hopefully it will be better 🙂

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      • Seriously wait til Charlie sees this! I promise you he will love it! I stopped posting photos of my subjects when I realized that if I ever sell my work, the buyer won’t see my reference photos. And I noticed people liked my work much more when I stopped posting the reference! Your painting is really lovely and captures the essence and conveys the feeling of autumn so what more could any artist (or viewer) ask for than that?

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  9. LOL – I like showing the reference photo of places I paint on site in my blog posts sometimes because I think it can be helpful to other artists to see how I simplified elements or changed them. A lot of artists embellish – and sometimes you have to make things pop more or look better than they really are in “real life.” Anyway, I think you did a grand job with the covered bridge and your colorful card, Jodi!

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    • Thanks Billie! Nice to hear from you! Many expert artist doodlers draw straight in pen first. I did this one in light pencil first, then painted, then went over with micron pen. I needed to erase a few times as I am not a seasoned at drawing! Hope you will try and join in the fun! 🙂

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  12. Hehe…Laura just wants me to say she was right again. She was, of course, as always…I LOVE this Jodi!! ❤️❤️😃Wonderfully done!! Such lovely color and the depth of the interior is fantastic! And remember, it’s impossible to mess up perspective by definition. It’s your perspective…how YOU see it…so it’s always right! 😉👍🏻

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  19. Oh I love your Covered Bridge Doodlewash! We haven’t got too many Covered Bridges here in CA, but I’ve been and photographed the few I’ve run across. To see 2 in one afternoon is awesome!

    Your painted card base is really pretty too. I also like those warm colors that are perfect for Autumn.

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  20. A Covered Bridge festival sounds like just my ‘cup of tea!’ Jodi, I LOVE your Doodlewash Covered Bridge!! Just wonderful!! I’m so inspired by all of your watercolored pieces, my friend. Your orginal DSP is filled with such wonderful colors of the season. Can’t wait to see how you use it! ♡

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  24. So pretty Jodi! Sounds like a fun new hobby for me haha! I love covered bridges. I grew up in western PA and there are two covered bridges within 5 miles of my parents. They’re so special to find on road trips too!

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  25. You are too hard on yourself, Jodi! I think your doodling and watercoloring are absolutely perfect! Thanks for sharing your inspiration photo, too!

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