I, too, made book covers 60 years ago! Everybody can draw you say. Well, I would have disagreed with you five months ago because I've always been terrible at it. But in learning to watercolor, my tutors on KZread have also taught me to draw and I'm surprising myself. Who says you can't learn new things at age 68? You've taught me to draw funny cats, birds and sheep, beautiful pansies, butterflies and much more. Thank you!

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

Darcy, you are wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing that! Now I can say with absolute certainty that EVERYONE can draw!!!

@brigittecourtey3364

Ай бұрын

Merci pour cette vidéo. J ai 64 ans et j ai appris à écrire au porte plume et encre. Je débute à l'aquarelle et vos vidéos m aident beaucoup. Merci et bonjour de la France. ❤😻🦋

@sherizapara2992

Ай бұрын

Lovely peaceful yard....thankyou for posting!!

You inspired me again Diane! I'm going to cover my journal with brown wrapping paper and illustrate it like you did. Over 60 years ago, I covered my school books with brown paper bags cut up. This will take me back to that time. Thank you Diane! 😊

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

Yes, Jeannie, I did the same thing. If I could get hold of used wrapping paper to recycle I used that, or else cut up paper bags or even newspaper were used! It was always a September project!

I loved making my book covers 60 years ago for schoolbooks. 😊

@dianesleeman5940

Ай бұрын

What a memory. I drew ballerinas in the back of my exercise books. My friend Jean drew horses. I learned to draw at 50 mumble. Betty Edwards was a wonderful tutor. Find her books. Contour drawing and negative spaces gave me lightbulb moments. We owe much to Utube talented and generous tutors, though. Thank you Diane as always from Australia

Thank you, Diane! This was beyond inspiring ... it was restful and fills my soul with peace! I love the cover you made, and can't wait to get started on this idea. As you say, we can find nature anywhere, if only we look. For me, lately, it's been along the Interstate between Orlando and Tampa, grabbing glimpses of cattails and wildflowers, bushes, trees, and magnificent birds along the highway. It's been a busy couple months with family and health, so I cherish these moments to watch your videos and paint something ... anything! Oh, we used to cover all our school books with brown paper grocery bags, and decorate them!

@dianesleeman5940

Ай бұрын

We so need these refuges in nostalgia in these turbulent times. It's autumn here in Australia. Equally beautiful with golden flying leaves.

Had to laugh when you said if you can sign your name you can draw. A year ago I couldn't sign my name, but practice retraining my brain with the fun of watercolor had given me back that ability. Thank you for making my journey fun 😊. All it took was practice.

I've only recently found your channel, and I've had to post to say what a joy it is to listen to you, you are SO in tune to how I think & feel about everyday things. I'm 76, widowed 4 ½ months ago after 55 years of marriage. So after months of feeling very lost & lonely, your channel has started making me feel happier again, and bringing back my love of drawing & painting...thank you SO much.

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

Thanks so much for sharing that with me. I’m so sorry to hear of your loss, it must have been heartbreaking for you. So glad you’re finding happiness again and enjoying your art and really appreciate your support and kind comments. It means a lot to me to know we’ve reached you xxx Diane xxx

How lovely to wake on a Sunday morning and watch this lovely inspiring relaxing video. It has brought joy to my heart, thankyou❤

That azalea bush was eye popping. And those cats don’t look like they’re missed too many meals. We have just feral cats (20) here in our little chicken and duck barn yard. They are not very friendly. We have taken as many as we could catch to the animal center to be fixed. We inherited them when we moved in. Oh well. Lovely seeing your real farm.. thanks

I always love seeing your farm! It sounds like a lot of us covered our school books 60 years ago! Thanks for the lesson! Can't wait to get started!

My 322th. A local sing a song writer sang ones that he did his little prayer at Sundays just with a cup of tea instead of visiting the church. Being Sunday I thought similar: I just pray my little prayer with watching and listening to inspiring Diane. Thanks for connecting with several touches of living and making art in the accessible and satisfying way. 😊wim

Hi Diane! I make your book covers quite often! And you showed me how easy it is to draw a pansy. Love them! Thank you for all you do!

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

You are so welcome!

You have a beautiful home environment in which to create. Thank you for letting us in.

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

You are so welcome and yes, I’m lucky (except for the incessant rain this year!)

I too covered school books fifty plus years ago in Colorado USA. We used brown paper grocery bags. Thank you for sharing your use of the jaune brilliant. Some other watercolor KZreadrs might have used gesso or watercolor ground. I bought a sketch book during the pandemic and am now only half way through it. My sister who went to art school told me I needed good drawing skills to learn to paint with watercolors. I have been working on my drawing skills and drawing more often. Thank you for the pansy walk through. My mom loved the tiny pansy Johnny jump ups. I am so glad I found your channel a couple weeks back. I was searching for how other people liked the Kuretake Art Nouveau set. I look forward to the rest of the series. A friend took me to the Botanic Gardens. We got to see toads mating and a couple weeks later we saw the eggs floating. Maybe next week, we'll see tadpoles.

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

Hi there and thanks so much for sharing your thoughts about the video. I’m so glad you found us and I hope you continue to watch and enjoy the videos! I was surprised to find how the Jaune Brilliant worked - it’s really effective at giving a subtle lift to the painting so I’m going to try to remember to try it on regular paper too. I respect your sister’s opinion about needing to be able to draw to paint well, but to be honest I think that these days many people whose drawing skills are very limited to say the least are painting very beautiful pictures, so please, you don’t need to stress about things like perspective, form, shading and so on. Just grab the paints and enjoy the colours!

I love the idea of the cover, brings back memories of being at school! It looks really cute and vintage, looking forward to doing this. Thanks Diane 🥰

Acrylic markers are good to write / draw on PU Leather. I write the year or theme on the spine, to help me find them on the shelves. I enjoy the idea of making covers with brown paper. It is very natural looking and sustainable. I am now starting ting to watch the nature journal series -a month late, I know! 😊 As always, I enjoy your commentary and stories from your farm. Thabks to you and Tamzin!

@DianeAntoneStudio

Күн бұрын

Thanks so much for the tip and yes, enjoy!

Thanks for the inspiring video. I love where you live. Looks like paradise with all the flowers, cats, dogs, sheeps and singing birds etc.

@DianeAntoneStudio

20 күн бұрын

So nice of you to say - it’s very rural here so yes, my idea of paradise!!

Love that cover and the bird song and the animals 😊

Hi Dianne, many thanks for your Nature Journal video. What a wonderful idea. I do love your down to earth unassuming approach you have ......keep on being you !!!!!

I love your beautiful cover. It’s a much better way than I learned in school. Thank you for sharing your fields , gardens and animals. I live in a town house close to the ocean in Southern California so I only have a patio filled with plants and a lemon tree but there is always something blooming and I can just take a walk in the neighborhood for more inspiration. I like to put insects and worms in my flower and garden paintings-fun.

Bonjour de la France et merci pour cette vidéo et toutes les autres qui m aident beaucoup. Débutante à 64ans ❤❤

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

Bonsoir et merci pour votre message. J’espère que vous allez faire beaucoup de progrès dans votre voyage en aquarelle ❤️👍

Diane this is a GORGEOUS idea and design! I haven’t covered a book since high school! I wish I had thought decorating my school books like this! 😂 It’s funny when you were talking about finding nature and you didn’t have to go to the Rockies or the desert, because I live in both regions, at the same time. The state of Utah, is certainly diverse! In Northern Utah, there are many beautiful canyons and lush green hills. Then, in Salt Lake Valley, it’s considered a desert here, although, you wouldn’t think so, at first. The valley, is surrounded by two mountain ranges, on 3 sides. The Rockies sit very majestic on the east of the valley, a little tail that curves slightly to the west, which cradles the southern most part of the valley. On the west, we have the Oquirrh Mountains (pronounced oaker), which lays claim to the largest strip mine, in the world. And, to the northwest, sits the smelly and quite salty, Great Salt Lake. Then, if you were to travel about 4-4.5 hours (roughly 300 miles) to the South, down near the Arizona border, you would be amongst the gorgeous Red Rocks, that are part of the Amazing Grand Canyon!😃 It’s crazy having one of the Seven Wonders of the World, in your own backyard!☺️ It’s really, really hot and dry down there, so you literally should have a bottle of water with you! If your body doesn’t need it, depending on the type you drive, your car might.😉 Anyway, now that I’ve written a novel about a place you probably wouldn’t be interested in visiting,🫣 (I don’t know, maybe you would), I am excited to try to do this Nature Journal with you! PS Jaune Brillante is one of my favorite colors of paint.☺️

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

It sounds like a wonderful place to live, where you are. Lots of variety. I think you have a very wide variety of birds as well - I sometimes look at this photography blog which is mostly around Antelope Island in Utah, you probably know it featheredphotography.com/ Very good photos!

That is true, went to put out grass seed in my backyard, and I ended up photographing some pretty fleabane flower 🌸 in my backyard!

Love the idea. Never made one. But then I'm not much of an artist! ❤

You have really lovely animals and a beautiful garden! Thanks for showing them to us in this wonderful tutorial! It’s all very inspiring. Lots of love and God bless

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

Thank you so much 😊

I love seeing the animals and your idyllic place. Thank you for sharing.

this is such a satisfying video, I love it ☺☺

I put up my Christmas decorations (which are fewer and fewer each year) a few days before Christmas and here it is, May, and I've not put them away yet. Lately I've noticed that people buy beautiful, fancy folded paper towels to put in their "public" powder rooms. At the same time having other real towels on the rack which are apparently only for show. Seems a bit excessive to me. People who come to my home are stuck using the same bathroom I do, and clean terry cloth towels.

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

100% with you on that!!!

I like how your plants look like the real plants. Decorative is ok for a style, but I appreciate your honest approach and presentation. Thank you 😊

@mwGoosman

Күн бұрын

Also, what a great idea for swatching, AND the bumble bee flying into the flowers at the end is such a bonus! I took a screenshot and got him just before he climbed into the trumpet. Are these digitalas/ floxgloves? They are quite lovely. 🥰

@DianeAntoneStudio

6 сағат бұрын

Yes, they are foxgloves and they are doing very well this year! So glad you enjoyed it!

Lovely. I chuckled hearing about discovering the down arrow. Recently, while watching one of your videos on my tablet, I thought why's Diane going so fast through this one. I did eventually realize it was because my thumb was resting on the right side of my screen making you play at 2x. ..lol. A lesson learned.

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

That made me laugh!! I’ve done the same thing too with other people’s videos! We’re funny, aren’t we!

I love your videos, the animals and birds. All delightful and also your way of teaching. I’m 75 and love water color. I have PD and a frozen shoulder so my work is compromised in many ways. Still I make a chance to try at any time of day or night. Thank you.

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

I’m so glad you’re enjoying the videos and hope that your shoulder soon gets better. Brave of you to continue to paint when you can!

Oh, Diane! I just painted a whole bookmark full of pansies using your method! How Fun!! Thanks!

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

That’s great!

@ZeeCeeCreations

Ай бұрын

@@DianeAntoneStudioI also love your statue of St Francis… I’m a Catholic… “fallen away” as the priests would say… not fallen away from God… just Catholicism. Hope you don’t hold it against me😌😊

@DianeAntoneStudio

26 күн бұрын

I‘m a Catholic as well. I had to convert from Church of England to Catholic in order to marry my husband, who is from an Egyptian Catholic family. But I don‘t practice as a Catholic and don‘t go to church. I‘m still C of E at heart and feel I have an affinity to St Frances and his ideas. Each of us finds their own path, don‘t they!

Fun and relaxing-now I’m off to make a book cover. Thank you.

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

Have fun Pam!

Brings back memories. Great idea!

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

Yes! Thank you!

Very Beautiful , Thanks for sharing.🙏🏼🙏🏼👏👏🌹🌹

A few things: loving this series + the vid viewsof your beautiful farm. I remember the 'guest towel' business as a young mom in the early 70's, Cute little fancy towels folded sometimes in a special way for visitors, but we didn't want to mess them up....actually just for looks....sheesh, the stuff we wasted (and many still do) money on and back then not much for me to waste!! Just the other day I came across that same vid as you about some things we don't do anymore as we get older. When they come up every so often, I enjoy them as I've quit a lot of what is now to me a lot of needless bother. Also, thanks to you, again, (my influencer) I am ordering that tube of paint. I saw it somewhere on youtube last year and have been waffling about it. But since it's recommended by you well today is the day and I now have to have it LOL. Your sky in the vid looks like ours here in supposedly sunny southern California except we don't get much rain, basically fog. It's 'May Gray' and then comes along 'June Gloom' which is the same, year after year. It's rather depressing. Give me sunny skies or stormy weather. Have a wonderful weekend and tfs.

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

Hi Kathy and thanks for that lovely message! Those “norms” are catching, infectious like the flu. When I lived in Canada at the end of the 90s I caught the “matching towel disease” and had two bathrooms, one done in dark green towels and one in deep purple (it was the 90s, forgive me!) and I even sewed braid on them to make them look special. Goodness knows why, we never had visitors! But I felt I needed to do it. Not any more. NO WAY! (Although I enjoy going to a nice hotel and having fluffy towels ad lib!)

@kathytincler2446

Ай бұрын

@@DianeAntoneStudio I did the 'matching towels also and pretty patterned ones, plenty of different sets in dif colors because back in the day all homes that we rented were all white interiors. But yep, I don't do that anymore, NO WAY! LOL. Our master bath walls are lavender and the towels in pale greens and purples with teeny tiny touch of pale yellow (my fave palette) and the guest one walls are peach with sage green and coral ish tones. It all looks nicer that it sounds. But it stays the same, 2 sets per bath. no more fussing. Use to go crazy with pillows and sheets. I'm no longer crazy haha.

So fun! Brought back memories of choosing paper each school year to cover my school books back in Denmark 60+ years ago!

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

Yes, it’s fun isn’t it! I still have my school hymn book which I covered with a page from Le Figaro newspaper of all things!

Great cover idea!!Thank you! 💕

❤ SO beautiful, Diane! Great idea!

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

Thanks Katherine!

Thank you for the cover tutorials! I haven’t don’t that in many years…you cover art is lovely!

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

You are so welcome! Turning the clock back a little bit!

I bought myself the Tachikawa wooden nib holder and zebra nibs (Amazon). I love how it feels in my hand when I'm inking. I like it that you combine watercolor and ink in your work. Inspiring me to get back to a nature journal again. Thanks.

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing Jody, I haven’t come across those items, I’ll check them out on Amazon. So glad you’re doing a nature journal again. We probably all ought to have one on the go all the time - I’ve unearthed a few of my old (always unfinished) ones to refer to and I’ll share them in future videos x Happy journaling!

@jodycourt

Ай бұрын

@@DianeAntoneStudio One time I challenged myself to do a fall watercolor journal and that was nice because I didn't have to commit to "an entire year" but just a short time. I also just stitched a few watercolor pages together for my journal. I'd love to see a flip-through of your past nature journals.

I see St Francis keeping watch. I use to do book covers 60 years ago too! Yours is lovely. Thanks Diane

Love this ❤ thank you 😊

Awesome ❣️ This is so fun.

Lovely cover!

I love these videos so much !!!

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

I’m so glad you do!

Thank you for sharing and inspiring.

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

You’re so welcome, so glad you’re here!

Thanks!

You have lovely property . I loved seeing your animals

I love it!

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

Thanks!

From the US Deep South, we do have special hand towels the husbands may not use. They are for guests. Truly. They are the “nice” towels. When family or friends come to visit overnight they get to use the newest clean towels. 😀 Our famous Southern Hospitality. We have to grow our pansies in the winter. Summer is far too hot for them here.

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

Oh wow! I’m impressed 😂👍

LOVE this, Diane!! I'm actually thinking about covering my journal after it is filled. Mainly because I have absolutely no idea of the subjects I will be painting inside. I am taking my journal with me on a family vacation and am hoping and praying for some interesting subject matter that will influence my cover

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

That’s a good idea, and I plan to redo the cover when the journal is full because it will probably get a bit messed up in the process of filling the pages. That’s why I just used brown paper and a simple design on the front.

Bonjour Diane , j aime bien ton idee de couverture decoree avec ce papier comme quand on etait petit a l ecole , et le porte plume , moi j ai toujours le mien ! J en ai achete d autres depuis avec les plumes a dessin , franchement ca me plait ce que tu as fait . Si tu veux tu peux le plastifier parce que dans la manipulation et le frottement contre la table ca va vite s abimer et ce serai dommage ! Bises mon amie , merci pour ta video qui fait revenir tant de souvenirs . A bientot

when we were kids we all covered our books in school because we had to buy them and possibly sell them after the school year. In my case, we had to pass them on to our younger siblings and we had lots of those in my family. I agree with you that everyone can draw or paint. I just learned to paint in my late 60s and just recently my drawing has improved astronomically, Probably because I made an effort to try. I can pretty well draw any thing now and enjoy doing art a lot more because of that. We had ink wells in our desk in grade 1 and learned to use fountain pens. Children had a lot of responsibility back then. And you wouldn't dare write in a book! Do you know that Denise Love mentioned you on her video and recommended your demonstration on the Kuratake Granulating paints. I love your finished cover!

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

Hi and thanks for that lovely message! No, I didn’t know that Denise Love had mentioned me, I’ll go and check her out, I have enjoyed her videos since I found her a while back. Your schooling sounds like mine! We had inkwells too, although I think we rarely used them to dip into, as we also had moved on to fountain pens by then - which were precious tools we cared for lovingly! Thanks so much for your support of the channel (I’m not sure what your name is - I don’t want to call you Eww!)

@ewwwobbie

Ай бұрын

@@DianeAntoneStudio its Shari Guy

Love it great idea🪺🌸🪻

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

Thank you! 😊

Merci beaucoup, c'est très intéressant. Vous êtes dans quelle région de France? C'est magnifique.

Hopefully guests don't stay long enough for towel needs!

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

Exactly!

How do you spell the light white you used first? I didn’t see it linked below anywhere. This turned out beautifully

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

That’s Jaune Brillant, from Holbein. Holbein Jaune Brilliant amzn.to/44pHlUf

Guest towels are for fancy people😂

Is that a Sepia colour ink or the Walnut Senelier ink, that you have in the description,please?

@audreylawrence82

Ай бұрын

If you click on More…. after her hashtags it will show it is Senelier walnut ink, If you click on the link it will take you right to the product😊.

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

Sennelier Walnut Stain Ink amzn.to/3Pf49A0

@greekveteran2715

Ай бұрын

@@audreylawrence82 Thanks Audrey, I appreciate it!

@windywednesday4166

Ай бұрын

​@DianeAntoneStudio Very nice. I actually have a large batch of homemade Walnut ink that I've just started using. I really like it. ❤ 👍

Sometimes when I don’t like what I draw, I turn the model upside down and draw it. That makes me have to pay complete attention to what I am actually seeing and not what I think something looks like in my mind.

@DianeAntoneStudio

Ай бұрын

Yes, that’s a great idea Patricia.