It's July once again, which means that it is also World Watercolor Month, and I'm taking part this year. I'm enjoying the opportunity to play with and learn more about the medium.
If you're curious, I'm using a number of paint brands because they're what on my palettes, which are largely Daniel Smith, M. Graham, Sennelier, QoR, and Windsor & Newton. Similarly, I'm using a mix of brush brands. I can be more specific about the paper: 5" x 7" Paul Rubens cold-pressed watercolor book. I found the size is good for me for my skill level, not too big that I'm overwhelmed but not so small I don't have enough space and flexibility.
On to the first week's pieces!
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Day 1: Radiant
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I chose to go with a stylized sun as the main element to reflect the day's theme, "radiant." In addition to the regular watercolors, I also decided to use Finetec gold paint to do the sun's borders.
Things I like: The colors and general application of the gradient background.
Things that could be better: I would slow down a little to let the parts of the sun properly dry so the borders would be cleaner and not bleed into the reds and oranges of the sun.
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| Day 2: Espresso |
A piece with some composition. I added some line work for the glass and cup.
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| Day 3: Ripple |
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| Day 4: Fade |
There were a few ways I could have gone with the theme, "fade," but I was unsure about my skill level. So I decided to use a standard watercolor exercise of a gradient wash.
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Day 5: Lock
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| Day 6: Hat |
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| Day 7: melt |
I enjoyed this one, in part, because of a mistake. I wanted the glass to be full of water with some ice cubes, but the ink I used wasn't waterproof. Because of the ink's dark color in the fude fountain pen, I didn't see that it was a deep red and not black. As a result, the ink smudged on all the items, and the water became a flavored lemonade. I find it funny, and it still looks nice. Still got to work on my patience for popsicles.
