Over the last few years, I have dabbled in watercolor, normally picking up a brush when I didn’t have anything else that I really wanted to work on.
Over the last few months, I have found Youtube Shorts from Andrea Nelson Art
I love her painting style, and she does short, little videos that help me to play.
I started out with one of her ideas of making blobs of paint on already wet paper.
I enjoyed adding the “ladders” to it and then a few red dots….
Those additions were completely my idea and I like what it added.
After it had dried completely, I went back in with some pen to further differentiate the areas…..
Next, I found another short about making cone flowers….or things that resemble cone flowers!! This was my result….
Finally, I dipped into a book that I got for Christmas and played with one of the first designs……
Now, honestly, by this stage I was pretty much OVER my watercolor session, and although the trees are nothing to talk about, I was very happy with the sky…..
So, that is one painting session under my belt for the summer. I hope to do at least 2 each month for the next few months.
Although quilting is definitely MY art, it is fun to dabble a bit in other things.
What do you do when you aren’t making quilts??
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By Sunday morning we had finished all of our interviews on the Takla Lake First Nation Reserve and were ready to head back to the blissfully peaceful camp.
Our drive was relaxing, except for the yelling of “BEARS” from Michael (our guide). We stopped four times to watch Black Bears as they danced across the road and into the fields.
The first one sat and watched us watch him for a few minutes…..
….and then decided that we really weren’t that interesting, so he could head to his Sunday brunch……
The second one was a small female who peeked out at us from the bushes…..
Two others crossed in front of the truck but didn’t stop to let us visit with them.
And then we turned a corner and Michael yelled “GRIZZLIES!!!……
We spent the next 20 minutes watching this pair as they walked slowly down the road.
The lighter colored female seemed fairly oblivious to our presence as she kept to the road, but the male was agitated by our being close and he kept crossing back and forth by the female…
It was a totally surreal experience to watch these massive creatures in the wild!
We came upon a small Mule Deer and expected it to run away, but instead it pranced it’s way toward the truck…….
In addition to the wildlife, we also enjoyed some amazing scenery. Seeing these mountains in the background is always awe inspiring to me….
One of the things that we noticed was that the weather was constantly changing. It would start out cloudy….then get sunny….then rain a bit…. then fine back up again. But, when it started hailing I knew that I wasn’t in Georgia anymore……
But, when we arrived in camp 10 minutes later, it was sunny and warm again!!
Since we had been so busy at the Reserve, we decided to loll around camp for the afternoon. I started to lay down and take a nap, but instead decided to go outside and play with some watercolors that I had brought with me.
When I am doom-scrolling on Facebook Reels, I often watch videos about painting and I have learned that your paintings look much better if you tape off a border to start with. I had brought a small amount of painters tape with me and started there….
WOW….I feel so professional!!!
The other thing that I have learned is to start by covering the page with water using a large brush….
….and start adding colors to the water, allowing them to blend together….
I kept playing with this background, adding yellow and purple flowers….
….until I had a painting that I liked…..
Next, I decided to tackle the trees in the background. I knew that I needed different colors of green and had so much fun mixing until I got the color I wanted….
I struggled to get the Aspen trees to show up on top of the dark pines, but eventually added enough white to it. There are probably 15 layers of paint on those lighter trees!!
I was happy with the final result….
Having this little guy visit….
….was the perfect end to a varied and amazing day!!
The month of July is a busy one for me!! Clients need 2nd quarter financial statements, payroll reports need to be filed and fiscal-year non-profits need tax returns prepared. Consequently, I wasn’t sure exactly how much creative time I would have.
I shouldn’t have worried!!
As it ended up, I have even found time to get in some “other art” practice!!
A few weeks ago I posted about playing with watercolor and this past week I found time to do a bit more. This new class that I found starts with brush strokes I had fun seeing exactly what I could do with just a few brushes.
We started with a fully loaded brush and looked at what happens when it starts to run out of paint…..
We played with adding paint to wet paper. It was interesting to see what the paint would do….
Next, we played with making lines of various widths all from the same brush…..
Finally, I played with a large brush that wasn’t in great shape…..
It was fun to see what this bristle arrangement could do…..
I loved making ribbons with this large brush……
…..and I really love the shading that “happened” with this ribbon…..
Finally, we had to find an object at hand to paint, and since I was at my cutting table, guess what I used as a model…..
As far as realism goes it isn’t great, but I loved the fact that I painted it without drawing first.
AND, if you get REALLY far away from it, it actually looks good!!!!
I have NO idea whether I will EVER use anything that I am learning, but I am surely enjoying trying different mediums!!!
Is it possible to have fun when you aren’t quilting????
That is the question!!!
One of my plans for this wide-open summer was to spend time trying some different things…..things that would push me outside of my comfort zone
To this end, I purchased an online lesson series about watercolor painting!! As a teaching tool, It has not lived up to its hype, but at least it made me START!!!
In the first sessions, she spends a lot of time talking about all of the best equipment and supplies to buy, but I simply couldn’t justify the expense. So, one day I took all of my art supply store coupons and purchased paints….Watercolor, Gouache, and Acrylic.
This past week it was time to break the out and give them a try!!!
It got everything set up……
….but facing the blank page was a bit much!!
I watched the videos for a few minutes and finally mixed up some yellow paint……
….and made the first stroke…….
Well……THAT was anti-climatic!!!
Then I realized that I hadn’t added any WATER…..you know, the thing that WATER-colors work with!!!
With the addition of a bit of water and a peach color paint, it started looking better……
I let it dry for a few minutes while I watched more of the videos. The tutor makes lots of flower bouquet arrangements so I watched her and decided to try to copy what she was doing. The first step was a stylized flower vase…..
Well, it is a start!!!
Next, she suggested adding leaf groups around the outside of the “bouquet”. I watched her paint the leaves, starting with a thin line for the leaf stem, pressing the brush down for the leaf proper and then releasing off of the brush to make the leaf point.
I practiced a few times……
….and then took the plunge……
After making lots of leaves, I followed the teachers lead and started adding stylized “flowers”…..
It was fun to think of details that I could add to the flowers……
This is the final result……
It certainly isn’t fancy, but I am happy with the effort!!!
I have since found another class on Craftsy (which cost me $1.25 for a one year membership….check out their specials). I had looked at this class last summer but didn’t have time to play, but remembered that she starts with basic brush strokes and then goes from there.
Now I am REALLY looking forward to the next day that I can…….
