Painting the Coast: A Watercolor Day at Wolfe’s Neck State Park
If you've ever wandered the trails at Wolfe’s Neck State Park in Freeport, Maine, you already know how special it is. The rocky shoreline, the way the trees bend toward the water, the bright green against that bold Atlantic blue—it’s one of those places that just asks to be painted.
This watercolor was inspired by one of my visits there. I always bring my sketchbook and a little paint kit with me, just in case the mood strikes (and at Wolfe’s Neck, it always does). On this particular day, the light was perfect. The tide was rolling in, and the green on the cliffs felt extra vibrant. I knew I wanted to capture that moment—the stillness mixed with the movement.
I kept the painting loose and fresh, layering watercolor washes to build up those beautiful contrasts. A little pen and ink added some crisp edges and textures to the rocks. It’s one of those pieces that makes me feel calm every time I look at it, like I can hear the waves again.
If you’ve visited Wolfe’s Neck or just love Maine’s rugged coastlines, this one might speak to you too. It’s now available in my shop as a framed original, ready to hang. Perfect for anyone who needs a little piece of Maine on their wall.
And if you're curious how to paint places like this yourself, I have some beginner-friendly classes where I walk you through simple landscapes, layering techniques, and working with nature as inspiration. (Feel free to check those out on Patreon or my website!
Have you ever been to Wolfe’s Neck? Or do you have a favorite coastal spot you’d love to see turned into a painting? I’d love to hear.
Just wanted to share some exciting news about my Mom today!
A few months ago, my mom, Shelby Crouse was approached by Author Barbara Walsh, to illustrate a new children's book about Ginny Oliver, Maine's 102-Year-old Lobster Lady. She is currently heading out each day with her son (who is in his 70s) to haul lobster traps! That is not an easy job.
I am just so proud of my mom's illustrations and hard work, and I knew you would be too. She is the reason that I found my passion for art.
Watch the interview with her and the author below. They made it on our local News Channel Show called 207! You can Watch the Video Here!.
I snapped this photo while watching her finish up the last illustration (page 14) of the book. She is so proud, but this was just before she had to have a big surgery on her neck of all places.
Not sure if you feel the same way, but summers always tend to be my downtime creatively. I am definitely not lazy, just enjoying my family, the outdoors, and my gardens. The lupines have gone by and are just about to turn to seed so I can replant soon.
I've been testing out something pretty cool this week!
You know that masking fluid is pretty expensive and comes in the smallest jars right? Well, I thought I would give regular old monster latex a try in place of my Winsor and newton masking. I decided to use some Strathmore watercolor cards to start. Tested both of them three ways just to make sure.
1. For the first test I let both the winsor and monster dry naturally on the paper.
2. I used a heat gun to dry ( I wanted to see if it would adhere to the paper and not come off as easy.
3. Let the masking dry and sit for over a week before I attempted to remove it.
You can watch the new money-saving test that I did withMonster Liquid Latexvs. Winsor Newton masking, it worked great.
It's a huge saving. (16 oz of Monster is $12.95 vs 16 oz of Winsor Masking would be over $85.00.)
Well during that test, I felt the urge to paint from this gorgeous reference photo that my friend, Benjamin Williamson took (which you can purchase by the way if you don't want to paint it).
This painting is loose and fun, and I hope you'll join me and paint along. I've added it as a new course on my website, and it will be going up on skillshare soon if you are a member there.
Special Watercolor tags to spice up your package or gifts!
Supplies needed:
Scrap pieces of watercolor paper, Watercolors, String, Craft scissors, and a whole puncher.
Cut out any shape you like, I decided since it's Mothers Day coming up soon that I would cut out that classic heart shape. The design and holidays are endless so do what fits you. Think about it, you could cut out Shamrocks, Easter eggs, Trees, Leaves, Xmas Stockings, or ornament shapes....the list goes on.
Once your shape is cut out add some watercolors, and have some fun. You could even add some pen and ink abstract details to yours once it's dry. I like to leave it blank so I can fill in a little note with a black sharpie or white gel pen.
Then use a hole puncher to create a space to thread your string, ribbon, etc through and tie it to your package. I love to use just plain craft paper, but again use anything you like.
Feel free to leave a comment below and let us know what special little touches you like to add when you package your gifts or art?
Are you joining us for the April Flower Challenge this week?
Day 1 (today) is painting a Daisy. I love these flowers so much that back in 2009 my hubby bought me 1000 Daisies! I had to use every vase and mason jar in my home. Plus my neighbors got a few little bouquets too.
My original plan was to share part of my painting process live on Instagram, but you know how things work out! Had some time yesterday so I created a full 25-minute video on youtube instead that I hope you'll enjoy! If you plan on joining the challenge, make sure to leave a comment over there on youtube!
Use #flowerchallengekc on Instagram and tag me in your stories so I can see them @KellieChasse_FineArt, hope to share some of yours. Here is the List of flowers you can paint each day. Feel free to use any medium you like.
Tomorrow's flower is the Sweet Pea, hope you'll give them a try! Feel free to share this email with your creative friends and family members to paint along with you in the challenge.
Hey Art Lovelies! I hope you are having a great week! Yesterday was my Birthday so I relaxed, got pampered, and did absolutely "NOTHING" but eat all day. My son has been on a baking kick and made me the most delicious birthday carrot cake and if I could share it with you I would (fewer calories that way)! What else is going on? Well, I am playing more with my procreate app and getting a few small wins. Today I added a quick sketch of the watermelon slice and added it as a FREE Printable Sketch DOWNLOAD for you to copy/trace and paint. Of course, if you rather join me for the full 15 Minute Bite-Sized Class with full voice tutorial steps, I would love to have you! I hope you are having a great week!
Also a reminder for those of you joining us in the Alcohol Ink Art Community Spring Conference, it's almost here. I'll be sharing my new Alcohol Ink and UV resin Cell phone popper/grippers. Here's a peek at what they look like! I'm using T-Rex alcohol ink (lovely colors) and they have been so kind as to offer my followers Discount code to use: TREXINKS10. If you are not planning to join the conference I do have plans to add this course on my website for you at a later date.
We are Kicking off January's video with a quick chat about my favorite color red and we'll be doing a short tulip tutorial with watercolors.
The color red, what does it mean to you?
Today we are looking at one of my favorite reds, cad red! I love the color red but strangely I don't use it that often and it's usually painting flowers. Red is such a bold and powerful color. It means LOVE, Power, emotion, grabs attention, courage, and Strength.
Red has so many shades, think about our fall leaves, lipstick shades, sunset colors, and holiday reds. And since red is a primary color you need it to create some many other colors and values.
I love the winsor newton cotman kit and the tube paints with red, but I find that the pan paints work very well to help new watercolor students learn how water is your friend. Little water will make a lighter shade and less water will give you a stronger pigment color.
I'll be using a squirrel hair brush and tube paints in my tulip tutorial on youtube this week.
I’m super excited to be contributing to Art Bundle for Good #4 andit is available NOW, but it won’t be around for long. The sale ends in 5 days.
Holy Cow.....there are $4000 worth of courses, workbooks, and other resources on topics like painting, watercolour, calligraphy, drawing, mixed media arts, creativity, and more all bundled together for one low price. This is an amazing opportunity to get 98 art resources at such a low price. With so many products, it works out to about $1 per course!
Art is such a great investment in your creativity, personal development and happiness. The Art Bundle for Good is the perfect investment in yourself.
25% of the Art Bundle profits are going to support Courageous Kitchen, a Bangkok based charity helping refugees. Get some top art learning resources from many of the top artists AND do some good at the same time.
P.S. The Art Bundle is backed by a 30-Day Money Back Guarantee. Try out the courses for a couple of weeks. If you are not happy, John, from the Art Bundle for Good, will refund your money.
I have something very specialto share with you today!
I’ve been secretly working with an amazing group of teachers to bring you a special set of classes on Mood Boards!!!
A mood board is an arrangement of images, materials, text, and textures intended to evoke a particular mood/emotion, style, or concept.
In other words,
A mood board is an inspirational way to convey information. :-)
They can be made with any type of art medium, including collage, traditional art media such as watercolor, and even can be done digitally. But, you can learn more about that in our classes!!
We’ve gone all out to create a unique set of 5 classes that you will love! Each class in the set will include at least one mood board lesson. The teachers I’m working with each have their own specialty. Let me introduce them!!
FREE CLASS LINKS for Non-Premium Members
Each Artist in the Collaboration has generously offered up 5 FREE Links to the courses for Non-Premium Members. Grab it while they last!
I would love to show you how you can create your own Iridescent Shimmer Sparkle Paints with your Mediums! This class is for beginners and up.
Explore pigments and dyes to create some lovely shimmers and sparkle in your alcohol ink and watercolors. We will mix and play with colors and then I’ll take you through the entire video of my steps and process to create this beautiful shell scene. Plus I’ll show you how I create my mood board. Kellie Chasse - Kellie Chasse Fine Art
Kellie Chasse is an amazing fine artist and art teacher! She has taught thousands of students from over 85 countries. Kellie’s focus is on helping you connect with your inner artist by creating realistic watercolor, Alcohol ink, and resin art. Kellie’s teaching is straight-forward, easy to follow, and full of tips, tricks, and options!
"Remember not to take life so seriously and always stay Creative!"
Are you a creative who wants to get noticed? Mood boards are a hot trend, you don’t want to miss out on. Learn how I showcase my artwork in a really unique way using mood boards made in the Procreate app, and get noticed with easy time lapse videos. Great for all creatives including photographers!
Chris V. is a fantastic fashion illustrator and digital artist! She has an amazing passion for watercolor and illustration, and wants to share that with you. From her experience in the fashion industry, she shares in-depth techniques in a friendly, upbeat way that’s compelling for both experienced students and beginners. Chris’s classes are fun and engaging!
In Abbey’s class, Watercolor Mood Letters, you will learn the techniques she uses to create a hand lettering piece using color themed mood boards as inspiration for color and texture. The class will go over some basic understanding of some of the fundamentals of art including: color, texture, balance, and movement. The class will also cover some basic lettering styles including: blackletter, serif, sans serif, and script. Combining all that the class teaches, Abbey will demonstrate how to create a step by step class project consisting of six different styles of the same letter using a specific color theme.
Abbey Otto Wilson is a letterer extraordinaire who loves to use watercolor and brush pens as mediums to create. Abbey’s lettering style is unique. She embraces a lighthearted and playful style - and the results are amazing! She’s only been teaching on Skillshare for a short time, but her classes are great! Abbey’s approach to teaching allows even the most inexperienced student in lettering to be successful.
In this class, you will learn how to paint whimsical floral wreaths to make handmade greeting cards. We’ll take a deeper dive into painting florals, leaves and twigs to create the wreath composition. I'll be sharing tips on how to build a color palette using mood boards and inspiration to paint more intuitively. You will select watercolor based on how you want your project to feel: warm or cool.
Together, we will create a handmade card with 3D elements and glowing finish details.
Lisa Hetrick
Lisa Hetrick is a fun and fabulous flowy, flowy watercolor artist and teacher! Her classes She is a watercolor artist, maker, and graphic designer focused on “Art that Makes You Feel Good.” Her art brings word and image together in an inspiring and JOY filled way. It is her intention to help you create more joy in your life through painting. Lisa’s classes are full of joy, yet she teaches you everything you need to know about the subject, step-by-step.
Let’s paint a watercolor mood board! Even better - let’s go through the whole design process for creating an inspirational mood board - start to finish!!
In this class for intermediate students, we will gather ideas, make choices, design, sketch, and paint a wonderful watercolor mood board. See you in class!!
I am Jessica Sanders, and I believe art can change the world! I teach watercolor and mixed-media art. I'm here to encourage you to explore creativity, to embrace the process, and experience the joy that comes from letting go and working loosely and intuitively. It's my heart to see you enjoy creating while learning to achieve great results.
