Author: mlitzinger

watercolor illustration of hanging plants on a desk with art supplies

What’s better than houseplants? Houseplants suspended in midair of course! While sitting in a local cafe admiring an impressive plant wall with cascading macrame plant hangers I was struck with the idea for this pack. I snapped some inspiration pictures and got right to work on an illustrated watercolor hanging plant clipart pack!

I wanted to capture the unique personality that comes from combining both the plant itself and the plant hanger. No two are ever exactly alike!

As usual, I painted each watercolor hanging plant super tiny. I just can’t help myself sometimes. I centered my color palette around terracotta since that’s such a classic indoor plant color scheme. It was really fun to branch out and try some fun pot and cord colors though!

Now the thing with hanging plants, they have to hang from something. So the watercolor illustration pack could not just have the plants but also needed some grounding features. I painted some rustic branch hangers, shelves a window and then some leafy vines to round out the botanical aesthetic of this graphic pack!

Sky Garden watercolor illustration pack
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What makes this watercolor illustration pack special is how versatile and user-friendly it is. My signature style is watercolor and ink and I’m really happy with how that look turned out!

As a designer myself I aim to provide as many possibilities in each pack as possible so it includes non-ink versions and with-ink versions.

These watercolor illustrations can be used as clip art, digital scrapbooking embellishments, blog web illustrations and so much more! I hope the process and the final product inspire creativity in your designs! And also maybe remind us both to water our plants today!

More than 14 unique, hand-painted watercolor hanging plant illustrations and just as many other embellishments await your creativity. Get inspired and check out the full pack of hanging-plant decor!
Sky Garden watercolor illustration pack
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sketchbook filled with watercolor cottage kitchen clip art

Cozy kitchen hygge is an aesthetic that perfectly combines old-world cottage crockery with moody vintage nostalgia. I channeled all of the historic kitchen vibes I could when I put this pack together filled with cottage kitchen digital watercolor illustration clip art!

watercolor painted pink pottery teapot held in front of art supplies

I used mineral watercolors for each illustration which gave a beautiful earthy and granular effect to each one. Perfect for the crockery look and hand-glazed pottery aesthetic.

mineral watercolor swatches

I used a combination of granulating mineral watercolors, mixing some with brighter pigments for a more vibrant hue. The effects of certain mineral colors are so stunning, one of my favorites is this mortar and pestle.

mortar and pestle illustration held up on small paper in front of art supplies

Here’s one of the two that I painted! (check out the other one in my graphic pack)

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Using airy neutrals I channeled some Magnolia vibes for these antique-white vases and pitchers.

I also created linens and herb botanicals to meld into the theme. My favorite though might be the rough-hewn wooden cutting boards.

I so enjoyed entering into an imaginary old-world cottage kitchen and creating this collection of unique watercolor illustrations. They can be used as clip art, digital scrapbooking embellishments, food-blog web illustrations and so much more! What do you think you would create?

More than 70 unique, hand-painted watercolor illustrations await your creativity. Get inspired and check out the full pack of cohesive cottage kitchen clip art!
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Creating visuals to accompany text is at the heart of illustration. I love when multiple mediums come together to give an impression. When words of a quote are paired with a scene it can create even more resonance and impact.

This project was painted for my best friend, a soon-to-be counselor, for her future office. It was so fun to pick the colors for this piece that not only captured the scene but also fit with her style and office palette.

The granulation in the sky is my favorite. It’s a combination of Vivianite and Azurite, both Poems About You handmade mineral watercolors, with the addition of Maya blue by Ruby Mountain Paint Co.

The finished piece was matted which gives some weight to the white space.

Illustration on White, 5×7″ (paper size left at 8×10″)
White mat add on
Paper: Arches Cold Press
Paint: Winsor & Newton professional, Poems About You mineral, Ruby Mountain Paint Co.

Here is a handful of 5×7″ recipes I’ve done over the years!

Nana pancakes (2016) This was a recipe I painted for myself of my Nana’s amazing pancakes. It’s still one of my favorite color palettes and layouts to date.

Puff Pancake (Commission 2018) – This was commissioned as a Valentine’s present from a wife to her husband of his signature breakfast special!

Sweet Potato Chili (2019) This sweet potato chili is actually a recipe I invented and painted as a party favor one time. It is my family’s go-to meal for cold autumn nights. Packed with tons of veggies and the perfect combinations of spices.

Mimi’s Red Velvet Cake (Commission 2019) I’m absolutely in love with the way the red and turquoise pops in this commission!

Set of four Nana’s Recipes (Commission 2020) These four were painted as a commissioned set. Click the image for the full post and in-progress shots!

Recipe Illustrations

Your cherished family recipe brought to life!
Check out the details, including sizes and pricing.

COMMISSIONS

This was a special piece to illustrate. A thoughtful wife reached out to coordinate something special for her husband. His father had passed away and the two shared a love of motorcycles together. To celebrate his memory, she commissioned an illustration of his Dad’s Honda, Indianhead motorcycle for his birthday.

I was really excited to dive into the intricate chrome and reflections. Reflective surfaces are a lot of fun to paint with watercolor. I also might have used this painting as an excuse to try a few new red watercolors…ended up settling on Da Vinci Red. It’s a perfect bright read that doesn’t pull orange or pink. It also is pretty easy to control.

The other element in this motorcycle I was particularly excited about was all that chrome! I branched out of my typical Payne’s Grey and Ivory Black (Windsor Newton) rut and decided to try Shadow Violet (Daniel Smith) and Grey Ochre (Ruby Mountain Paint Co.) for the chrome. I did pull some Payne’s in where I needed blue but for the most part those grey/purples carried the load! Because of the red of the motorcycle the chrome was picking up lots of pinks and purples and not so much blues/greens. Using a grey/purple helped keep everything cohseive.

I like to create a cheat sheet for each project’s color palette. You have no idea how quickly I can forget my color mixing recipes…yes even mid-project! I have my experiments and musings on the larger sheet of paper and my final color palette with recipes and pigment names on the smaller strip. I also used Bloodstone Genuine (Daniel Smith) for the pavement underneath the bike to get that nice gritty granulation.

I’m very happy with how the final motorcycle illustration turned out!

Illustration on White, 8×10″
Paper: Arches cold-press watercolor paper
Paint: Winsor & Newton Professional, Daniel Smith Artist, Ruby Mountain Paint Co.

It’s not every day you get to paint an idyllic vineyard wedding venue in watercolor and ink as a matching set! I pretty much swooned as soon as I heard the words ‘neutral sage greens’ and got a peek at the reference photos.

To celebrate their 10th anniversary, my client commissioned this beautiful set featuring two scenes from their wedding venue. I just love the idea and might copy it for myself! (Matt and I will celebrate 10 years in 2022!)

The biggest feature of this arbor is the depth of the vines twisted about. I realized it was going to be too overwhelming to tackle with paint first since both shapes and colors were working together to build this depth. Instead, I focused on outlines first to get my shapes in order – detail in the foreground and the bunches of leaves in the background. Once I got the ink set I could bring in my color and focus on the way the light danced around and created depth.

Before even starting on this first piece though, I did focus just on color. I maybe used this commission as an excuse to buy and try a few more greens…Good thing because I ended up settling on oxide of chromium from Windsor & Newton watercolors for my green. Here are the leaders of my final palette!

In addition to those four main colors, I used some naples yellow and yellow orchre to tone my green a bit and brought paynes grey in for some shadows. (All Windsor & Newton Professional Watercolors)

My mixing chart for figuring out just the right green might have gotten a bit out of control…pictured above is one of my TWO full sketchbook pages filled with green/yellow watercolor mixing charts!

After finishing up the arbor, I started painting number two without skipping a beat. This scene included the winery in the background and had a terrific view down the vineyard.

Making this matching pair was such a joy. I had lots of fun creating a cohesive palette and painting such luscious romantic views. Seeing the two paintings side by side was incredibly satisfying!

Full Background Illustration (ragged edge), 8×10″
Paper: Arches cold-press watercolor paper
Paint: Winsor & Newton Professional, Daniel Smith Artist, Ruby Mountain Paint Co.

Another brilliant Christmas gift idea! My friend commissioned this sign of a family-favorite vacation spot through the years for her mom.

I started out creating a limited woodsy palette. I used Titan buff (Ruby Mountain Paint Co.) Vandyke Brown, Ultramarine blue, and Olive green (Winsor & Newton Cotman/Artist Watercolors)

Then it was just a matter of painting it all in! Once I reached the end of the painting phase, I realized this might just stand alone without ink. My friend agreed!

This piece was incredibly relaxing to paint and I was really happy with the final result. Made me wonder if I should create a series of NH state park signs!

Illustration on White 8×10″
Paper: Arches Cold-pressed Watercolor
Paint: Winsor & Newton Cotman & Professional, Ruby Mountain Paint Co.

This is a set of four coordinating recipes to commemorate a family’s Nana’s most beloved recipes after she passed away. It was an absolute privilege to be a part of something so special.

I created four coordinating and overlapping color pallets for the set. The green included was chosen to match the curtains from her kitchen.

I incorporated the checked fabric into two of the illustrations for balance.

Her dish set pattern was incorporated in the plates (green leaves motif) seen most prominently on the waffle recipe, and then more subtly in the burrito recipe is one of her.

I love it when clients send through images of family dishes to include in the illustration!

Recipe Illustrations

Your cherished family recipe brought to life!
Check out the details, including sizes and pricing.

COMMISSIONS

Recipe Illustrations 5×7″
Digitized Artwork Add On
Paper: Canson Bristol
Paint: Winsor & Newton Professional, Prima Watercolor Confections