Tag: watercolor practice

Creative Exploration

Glorious Progress

Mireya

Much better painting today! I was thinking about agua frescas and the notion of parties in certain cultures. Everybody’s invited because everybody’s family. What a wonderful idea for life, loving yourself and loving others.

Still need a few details. The beautiful blue and yellow will look even more beautiful digitally scanned.

That’s a week. There’s not much of finished paintings but the progress was good. Glorious wonderful progress!

Next week I want to paint a drum, a few flowers, lettering and…

Creative Exploration

Watercolor Sunburst

Mireya
Sunburst painted in tones of Watercolor Yellow

Nothing to see here. Seriously today wasn’t a good day. It’s ok. It happens.

I started with a good sketch:

  • I couldn’t mix up the right green. (I was going by the photo)
  • I painted leaves over the flower
  • size 1 was too large for fine details
  • size o kept splitting
  • leaves looked washed out so I painted over them with a darker green
  • looking at the image I could see that stem wasn’t green but yellow brown (why didn’t I use yellow ochre)
  • Ok forget about the picture and just paint. Usually this works, not today!
  • Take a break. How about painting over the flower petasls that scanned in an ugly brown instead of a beautiful peach. Didn’t work either
  • Ok get out a stamp, mix a little paint and see what happens. Looking good, maybe
  • Time to go for a walk

There is light and hope in every day

Here I am writing this post. Wasn’t sure what to write. Then I find last Thursday’s Sunburst. That was a good day! Today is a good day too. I am grateful for the warmth of the sun. That I could walk, for my lunch, for the tea I’ll make and for the jug I’m about to paint. Thank you CatCoq. Your classes are amazing!

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Creative Exploration

Make a Wish. Now Make It Happen.

Mireya

Now this is what I like to paint. Flowers and leaves are beautiful. Last week I went out for a walk to observe leaves. Today it’s going to be flowers.

I’m trying to work on lines and blending. Tomorrow I think I want to paint on a full sheet of paper.

Today’s practice leaves me with two ideas. The flower on the left is a reminder to take care of each other. The Dandelions on the right are a reminder to have your wish but go out there and make it happen one step at a time.

Ok time to clean up and go for a walk. Oh right, I need to start writing when I get back.

Creative Exploration

Night Skies In Payne’s Gray

Mireya

Night skies are a wonderful companion. I have trouble finding the right deep blue. Payne’s Gray is such a lovely tone. I’ve been drawing lots of stars. Transitioning from one color to the next is another skill I want to improve. Mixing Payne’s gray with a Prussian blue is another lovely tone. I want to paint the beautiful Peter Pan ride skies filled with yellow stars. The moon has been so beautiful these last nights of 2020.

I am practicing with student grade paint on ok paper. Highly pigmented blues are a must. The blues in my student pan set are transparent to begin with. I need a high pigmented opache color. Sure I can add water but then the color changes. Canson XL is low cost good paper but not for heavy washes. I want to test my higher quailty paint.

Ok, so all those terrible night skies I painted aren’t exactly my fault. Here’s to more practice. I should look up a few videos. I’m already there.