Week 2 on my Watercolor Mastery journey


This week was intense with watercolor. I went to bed thinking about my paintings, then woke up thinking about those paintings.

Watercolor was on my mind, It's funny how when you are as stubborn as I am, (Taurus) that you just don't back down.
What I mean is, all my free time was spent watercoloring. not on Social Media, not on watching Netflix, although I did manage to watch some Netflix while painting. My point: You can still produce watercolor paintings even when you think you can't find the time.



Going into the week, I knew it was a busy week, PTO stuff, Two field trips for my 4th grader (one was a trip to the art center) Can't pass that one up, the Georgia O'Keeffe and Matisse are my favorite ones! While Family will always come first, I still hungered for my creative time.

So I persevered. Finding those 15 minutes of time here and there along the way. I was surprised at just how much you can fit into a 30-minute painting session. As Artist's, we are so melodramatic! I thought there is no way I can produce art in 30 minutes. YOU TOTALLY CAN!

This week was all about learning to see and paint Value (the contrast between light and dark) I was totally ready as a professional photographer once a lifetime ago (Before Kids) I thought, I got this, This week was harder than I thought.

Seeing Value is one thing, That's easy! Painting Value, and understanding your paint and the value it has is a completely different ball game. I am so glad I didn't give up.

I
used my own reference photo, It had been something I had been doodling for a while and thought now it needed to be a painting. I planned my value studies, and came up with a good game plan and was off to paint.

I am happy with the end result, only because It taught me how to successfully paint a background, (negative painting)  Good I thought the assignment was over.

While thinking I could never paint like Angela, NEVER (again with my melodramatic antics) I thought, I am not supposed to paint like Angela, she wants me to paint in my style, ok, I will... So I actually used her recommended reference photo and really took her lessons to heart, but didn't paint like her. I painted in a way that I wanted too... literally for the first time. And I loved the result. I see lots of things I would change, but I loved the process, and hope to do more like this until I find the right way of how to paint the way I feel.  Thank you, Angela, for helping me feel and paint what I feel!



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Playtime:
I was able to get in some structured play time this week with watercolor, you know that time when you are painting, but it feels more like an escape from your world?
















I loosely followed how to do leaf print tutorial and made those leaf prints into a painting, Third time was a charm!  I was happy with the composition and went to bed thinking of other color schemes that I want to try, watercolor is so addicting!

Snowfall on the river bank

Lastly, I used my new Daniel Smith Colors, (the Primatek set) I like to call it the Mineral set, These colors are amazing! and did another pallet knife/ no brush painting. I loved it, I used tissue paper, a fork, and a palette knife instead of my brush, I can't wait to try another painting like this! While painting this landscape, thoughts of QI (Chinese brush painting philosophy/term) came entering into my mind, and before I knew what I was doing my painting was done. It felt magical.  I'm leaving this piece alone and will frame it. I love this painting, I love how it made me feel while I was painting this. Do you see the snowy river bank? I just love this painting!

Although I had doubts about my watercolor journey this week, I learned to doubt my doubts before you doubt what you are capable of. That I did, and am grateful for my stubbornness to not give up when I wanted too, I would not have had the breakthrough that I did!

If you have dreamed of painting loosely and love watercolor I recommend this free class from Angela Fehr! 

If you are following along with me, Here is week one, 

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