GUEST ARTIST: “Chosen by Watercolor” by Camilla Damsbo Brix

Hi there! My name is Camilla Damsbo Brix, from Denmark, and I am so happy to be here introducing myself to you. In keywords I would describe myself as flowerlover, watercolorartist, sketcher, mother, treehugger and crazy cat lady. I live in the country with birds, fields and an occasional cow in the backyard. I live here with my 2 sweet kids aged 3, 5 and 5, my loving hubby, 2 chubby cats and 3 chatty chicks in the garden.

Since you are reading this blog post you probably already know this (but I’ll tell you anyways). How incredible is painting and creating?! For many years I didn’t create a thing. Just working as a grown up having a life with chores and important responsibilities. All of which made me way too tired to create anything. And too much in my head to sleep either. And then at some point my body realized that this was no fun.

So, I went down with stress.

And that’s when I noticed the dusty box of art supplies tucked away under my couch.

Now my life is so very different. Watercolor somehow chose me to create and now I teach 1000s of amazing students to enjoy and master flowers in watercolor and line & wash. I seek my inspiration in the surrounding nature especially in all the wonderful blooms. I find this to be the most powerful of all subjects when it comes to relaxing and grounding ourself. Emerging in nature by sketching and painting is the very best way to be present and in your senses.

I do tend to switch between styles depending on the time available. As a mom you gotta be flexible right? When I only have a few minutes, I turn to sketching. Either just pencil or if I have a bit more time, I also add Fineliner and watercolor to the sketch. Sketches like these are so satisfying because you create something beautiful in a few minutes – everybody has time for this. But I also love loose watercolor!

So, I always have a painting going I can walk to and from. Then I can go and add a wash when the kids are playing or sleeping. I always start out with a big very watery wash, let it dry and see where it goes from there. Often the paint and water work in mysteries ways creating shapes and patterns itself. All we as artists have to do is react to whatever is happening on the paper.

My Supplies

I actually don’t use that many supplies but the ones I do use are the ones I love. My paint is always from Daniel Smith and I have around 20 different colors in my set. They are dried in pans but are actually originally tube paints I just squeezed into pans. A small money saving tip right there.

My best friends – aka my brushes – are mostly from Betty Hayways. They are synthetic but work as a natural hair brush. I absolutely love how they hold a great amount of water and paint as if they were made from hair, but no squirrels got killed in the process of making them.

When it comes to paper, I work almost primarily with Canson. Either Canson Heritage which is cotton or Canson Montval which is a cellulose paper. Always 300g and almost always Cold press. That way it can handle the amount of water I use and has a wonderful texture. Of course, when I do sketches, I use sketchbooks which is a bit different. Here I just reach for one on the shelf. But my favorite is probably my sketchbook from Etchr. It has a nice fabric on the cover making it so nice to hold.

Then I have a few sketching tools of course. I use Fineliners that are waterproof and lightfast, mostly Microns but also Staedtler and Unipin. The brand does not matter that much as long as they don’t smudge in the water. Then I use pencils and here I actually prefer those that are made of 100% graphite instead of the ones with a wooden surface. They are just so much easier to sharpen and they look really cool.

My painting community

I am so fortunate to have people who love to hear about my process and learn how to do it themselves. So, I build a small floral universe around me and you are so very welcome to join! I have classes in my online school that are super easy to dive into, tutorials on Youtube all ready to be watched, an open Facebook group with incredible artists all sharing their work and supporting each other.  And if you are curious about me, just jump into my Instagram. Here you can see my work, get notified about news and get a glimpse of my life as a floral artist, teacher and mom.

And if you’d like to learn even more especially about flowers in watercolor and Fineliner, I actually have a book coming out in December. That is pretty exciting if I dare say so myself.

I look forward to meeting you online at the links below. After all, the world has become so small now that we can meet like this across borders. We are so lucky.

Camilla Damsbo Brix
Website
Online School
Instagram
Facebook Group
Youtube

Charlie O'Shields

Creator of Doodlewash, founder of World Watercolor Month (July), World Watercolor Group, and host of the Sketching Stuff Podcast. Sharing watercolor illustrations and stories while proudly featuring talented artists from all over the world!

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