Winter Landscapes make perfect greeting cards for the holidays!

I've had so many requests from those wishing to purchase my Christmas and Holiday Cards

(THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!)
I've been working on a little gift shop on my website to share them with you.
After several long weekends it's now open for business! I'm still adding the finishing touches but you are welcome to stop in and see what's happening!

Susie Short's Gift Gallery

Happy Holidays!

SUSIE

Happy Holidays! Greeting Card by Susie Short

Warmest wishes for a wonderful holiday season!

When I sit down to paint winter cards I usually don't have an exact composition in mind. I like to paint on 4 or 5 at a time and let them evolve as I go. Do I ever mess one up? YES!

But I like to give myself permission to try something new and if it doesn't work try again or do something different.

One of my favorite techniques for starting a winter landscape card is using a plastic card (expired credit or gift card) to "scrape" or "scratch" out the white birch or aspen tree. Then I add the darker bark features and darker evergreen behind the 'scraped trees' to make them stand out.

If you are interested in learning more about this technique you will find instructions on my watercolor tips page on my website. Try it!

For my original cards I use blank greeting cards made for watercolor. Two brands that work well for me are Strathmore Watercolor Cards and Canson Watercolor Greeting Cards. Both come with envelopes in economy packs of 30-50 cards. Enough to goof up a couple and still have plenty of cards to paint on!

Of course you can always use regular watercolor paper and cut it to greeting card size.

If you do try this technique I'd love to hear your comments.

Happy Painting!

SUSIE

Winter Landscape Christmas Card

Season's Greetings!

Brrrr! It's been snowing at my house in Washington state. Talk about inspiration for winter snow paintings! This is another card I painted with a winter landscape theme. It is a composition that "happened" as I added brushstrokes to my paper. Instead of being painted from a real place it evolved from my imagination. I like to paint on several cards at the same time and while one card is drying I add something to the next card. Its always surprising how a little detail in one card is just what the other card needs too. That happened with the rocks in this card. And after the rocks I decided to add the hint of frozen water. I like the final results, don't you?

Being a gal from Texas where it doesn't snow much and when it does it usually melts almost as fast as it hits the ground I try to take advantage of "snow days" and soak up as much as I can. I do take photos for reference but nothing beats good observation and painting from memory.

Thanks for your comments! I enjoy reading each one.

SUSIE