Art Process

9 posts

Satisfying Art Videos

If you’ve ever wondered how I paint with watercolor, you can see my art painting videos on YouTube. In these soothing ASMR painting videos, I share my timelapses of a painting being created, how to use watercolor in actual speed, and various watercolor techniques as part of my paintings on this website.

This playlist will be updated every Tuesday morning with a new video. Subscribe here so you don’t miss them.

Paint with me in watercolor & ink new weekly painting videos

I also share the art materials I use in the description of every video so you can pick up the brush and paint with me. Or if you’ve just always wondered how I create my paintings, you can sit back and watch and enjoy. If you enjoy the videos, please click the thumbs up button to let me know that you enjoy them.

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Tree’s All That

A watercolor & ink painting of a Christmas tree decorated with red, yellow, and blue bauble ornaments that imply the tree has two eyes, a mouth with a sad expression, and a blood-like tear streaming down from one of the eyes • The mood of the illustrations is dark and whimsical ∙ Art created by Tatyana ∙ razorberries.com

Merry Christmas Tree
5″x7″ watercolor & ink

I created this painting in 2016. I wanted to paint a Christmas tree with a sad expression and how it might feel in contrast to such a joyful season, as a joke.

One evening on December 1st of that year in Chicago, I decided I wanted to spend time sketching at a cafe in the Lakeview neighborhood. Ordered a plate of fries and a glass of water for dinner.

A spiral-bound sketchbook of variations of the sketch of the Christmas tree on a table at a diner. There's a glass of water and a basket of fries on the side.

Thumbnail sketches of various ideas

Sketching at restaurants and cafes is super fun for me, especially when I’m sketching my ideas instead of sketching the cafe environment exactly as it is, or sketching the food in front of me. I sketched 3 thumbnail drawings in pencil first. If you haven’t heard of the term, I didn’t actually sketch real-life thumbnails, like the type on your fingers. It’s called a thumbnail sketch because the sketch is small and messy, like thumbnails.

Pencil sketch of a Christmas that was used to create the final watercolor & ink painting later. In this sketch, the tree is also with decorations arranged in a way that are subtly resembling eyes and a mouth of the tree making a sad facial expression.

The pencil sketch that was used to create the final painting

Or maybe it’s just the thumbnails on my fingers that are messy because they cracked in the past when I fell down the stairs at my house, not unlike Rachael Leigh Cook’s character Laney in “She’s All That.” But I really committed to the bit and continued to pick at my cuticles, mostly in high school during Algebra class. Since then, I’ve been fixing them by filing them and painting on vitamins and strengtheners. They’re finally getting better and look almost normal. This took several years. If you need advice on what nail strengthener I used, I’ve got you but you should probably go to the doctor.

After I completed the three sketch variations on my tree idea, I chose one idea and sketched the final pencil sketch underneath the thumbnail sketches. That’s the one transferred onto watercolor paper using a light box underneath the sketch and the watercolor paper.

To make your tree feel better, always place a mirror on the opposite side so that the tree can see how beautiful and loved your tree is.

Happy Holidays!

♥ Tatyana

A Ghost Story

Watercolor & ink painting of a glowing ghost surrounded by specs of dust and spider web.
You’ll Get Through This
5″x7″ watercolor & ink on 6″x8″ paper

I’ve spent my childhood and adolescence with TV noise in the background because, I was told, it was too quiet. The problem is, it wasn’t just ambient background noise to me. I paid attention to it. If someone was home, the TV had to always be on, which taught me that I should always be watching TV. Since striking out on my own at 19, I gave myself the gift of this “too quiet” but for me, it’s “perfect.” I won’t focus on the past too much, because I can’t change the past like a TV channel, but I can shut it off. Here’s why:

I grew up watching a lot of American TV, learning English, and was raised by sitcom families like The Brady Bunch, Family Matters, Full House, I Dream of Jeanie, I Love Lucy, Bewitched, Happy Days, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Taxi, Sabrina The Teenage Witch, Boy Meets World, The Wonder Years, America’s Funniest Home Videos, Two And A Half Men. That’s just a few off the top of my head. A lot of those were a part of Nick At Nite and TGIF on ABC. Oh, and I was raised by MTV music videos, but hear me out: first thing in the morning and immediately after school, because TRL on MTV.

All of this every day, usually 1-2 hours in the morning and then 4-5 hours in the evening. I’VE BEEN PREPARING MY ENTIRE LIFE FOR: nothing.

I’m not upset. I’m just disappointed.

I remember none of my training because now, all that TV is a blur. I don’t remember much detail about what I watched. I couldn’t recap a single episode for you (I could probably rap some of Eminem’s The Real Slim Shady for you, though, please.)

But all of those shows and music videos weren’t a waste of time, because they have been ingrained and programmed into me subconsciously. When I think of them, they feel like ghosts of the images replaying in my head, whose unfinished business is to support and encourage me, to make up for the support and encouragement I needed but didn’t have. Since being on my own, if I watch TV, I’m watching TV intentionally. I pay attention, from start to finish, until the credits end, because I read the names, like I did as a kid.

My real art desk.

And like a totally well-developed adult, I continue to develop healthy boundaries, standards, and practices based on these fantasies, idealisms, and images that are not real but were written by real people, whose names I’ve read in the end-credits – people who believed in their ideals so much that they created and worked on these shows, and had so many viewers, like me, love them.

My real painting process of “You’ll Get Through This“

I’ve never had the TV on while I paint. If I haven’t been painting, instead of TV noise, I’ve been talking to myself, a lot. Like, entire conversations, out loud. Talking to yourself requires that you are there with your thoughts and that you pay attention to yourself. You are your own TV.

A real rainbow I saw in November.

♥ Tatyana

Lighting A Can’tdle

A colorful surrealistic watercolor & ink painting by the artist Tatyana of an apple core skull candle.
Can’tdle • 5″x7″ watercolor & ink on 6″x8″ paper

My last year’s resolution was to take more selfies and I failed miserably. To take a selfie, you need a certain flick-of-the-wrist to turn your hand with your phone at your face and take a photo, and also to remember to do that, and I don’t have that. But at least I have a cramp in my hand and a headache.

I might as well learn to play the guitar – this would take just as much effort, but make the world a better place. Instead of learning a whole new instrument, I’d like to use the flick-of-the-wrist I already have and write. I’ve decided that my 2024 resolution is to share more of my stories.

If you’re reading this by email, you’ve been getting my newsletters for a while and now you’re about to join me and 73 other subscribers on my new adventures every Tuesday: in painting, hiking, and grocery shopping. Or you’re about to unsubscribe. Choose your own adventure, no hard feelings.

The rollercoaster of life is taking us through a series of holidays again and there’s a lot of apples. I’ve been loving Honeycrisp apples, in particular, and painted “Can’tdle.” It’s a juxtaposition of candles and apples, and apple candles.

Just don’t go too far into the core because the apple seeds can be poisonous. Can’tdle is how an apple can be angry for having its fruit eaten but not the seeds from which it can be reproduced. Something to chew on…

This painting was brought to you by a series of carefully-placed boops.

♥ Tatyana

How I Painted “Remains” With Watercolor & Ink On An Easel Standing Up

"Remains" watercolor and ink painting I painted on easel

”Remains”
11×14
watercolor & ink

This new painting has been in the works for most of August and because I recorded the painting process, the painting took longer to complete. It’s September now and I’ll never shut up about it.

Remains watercolor and ink painting on easel videos on TikTok

I have a weird habit of trying new things, so of course, I signed up for TikTok. But now I regret that I didn’t do this sooner because it’s fun making mini-movies about my art. Here’s how I created the “Remains” painting – a story in 3 videos. Sound up.

Video 1: The humble beginning…

@razorberries

Prep work for a larger watercolor painting on my new board #artist #foryoupage

♬ original sound – Tatyana Pshenychny

To create this painting, I first enlarged the 6×9 sketch I drew in my sketchbook a while ago. Then I transferred it to 11×14 inch size watercolor paper using a lightbox. Then, I taped the drawing to a wood panel and attached the panel to an easel. While preparing to paint, I specifically used this ambient, serene music in my video to help calm my nerves.

Video 2: Why am I like this?

@razorberries

Painting with ink on an easel – Part 1 #artist #foryoupage

♬ original sound – Tatyana Pshenychny

I painted this in watercolor and ink vertically while standing up. Painting vertically with watercolor is challenging. Painting vertically with permanent ink is challenging insane. Why did I do this standing up, knowing fully well that watercolor and ink are watery mediums that drip down and not up?

Video 3: Oh, that’s why.

@razorberries

Part II: Painting with ink on an easel. Check my profile for Part I ♥️ #neverstopexploring #artist #onthejob #tutorials #smallbusinessowner

♬ original sound – Tatyana Pshenychny

Yup, it must be my weird habit of trying new things, again. And because I’m already good at watercolor and ink horizontally, and now vertically. After adding some black acrylic paint and more watercolor, the work is complete and referred to in all my future conversations indefinitely, such as: “Per my last ‘Remains’ painting…”. So keep my new skill in mind the next time a disaster strikes.

The “Remains” original painting is available for purchase in my shop.

The Tale of Tattletail

I’m excited to be a part of the SPECIES Showcase by Animal, coming soon to New Delhi, India. Artists were asked to create artwork of an animal. The only rule is that it had to be in the shape of the Animal logo. So, I created “Tattletail” inspired by parakeets.

Tattletail_500x300

The title of my Animal artwork is Tattletail, emphasizing the long tails of parakeets. When I was a kid, I got an aqua-colored parakeet named Kesha for my birthday. He was a sweet little bird, who learned how to talk and even tried to compose his own phrases. Eventually, he passed away. I missed him a lot. Years later, I did what any well-adjusted teenager would have done: I got a new aqua-colored parakeet and named him Kesha. But this one had a completely different personality and didn’t talk. That’s when reality hit me like a ton of bird droppings: No matter how similar the characteristics, each animal is unique and tells its story in its own way.

Additionally, here’s a tiny video I made that shows the drawing process and close-ups:

(Song: “I Like Birds” – The Eels)

The Making of “Brainstorm” Illustration

Brainstorm
Brainstorm – 11×14 Watercolor & Ink for IllustrArticles 3 Easy Steps To Total Mind Control

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain” – Vivian Greene

This might be one of my favorite illustrations I’ve done because of the spontaneity behind it. Most of my “brainstorming” happened subconsciously! It was created for IllustrArticles “3 Easy Steps to Total Mind Control.” The idea for the illustration came from a mix of a million things, such as:

– A thunderstorm that unexpectedly drenched me as I was walking down the street one day
– An apocalyptic dream I had, in which it was very windy on a field near a beach (similar to the one I live next to) and the sky was changing colors every few seconds (probably prompted by walking into that thunderstorm the day before).
– The Stepford Wives movie I watched
– I’ve been noticing cloud formations for about 2 weeks straight.
– Stress I’ve been dealing with around that time

I pretty much saw the gist of it the image in my mind before I even started doodling it, and kept making small changes as I went along. See if you notice them. These are some of the thumbnails and sketches I did, first:

IMG_2543IMG_2545IMG_2544IMG_2542IMG_2541IMG_2538

And then I scanned them and arranged them in Photoshop, and traced my computer screen on tracing paper. This is the tracing paper line art and the finished art:

tracing paper lineart & finished illustration

I should have photographed this step, but I forgot! Basically, after that, I attached the tracing paper line art to the back of a blank watercolor paper sheet, and placed them on top of a lightbox. From there, I went straight to inking with a brush. Then, I used watercolor for color. Last, I scanned the finished illustration and corrected the colors in Photoshop so that it looked on screen just like the original.