So Now I'm Painting in Watercolor

As previously written, I joined a Brush Lettering Workshop last October 2016.  We tried a few tricks to prettify the words we were writing.  I've since beefed up on my wreath doodling skills, banner-scroll-drapery skills and flower painting-leaves painting skills.  The last one, I initiated, since it was not offered during the workshop. 

Roses and leaves for me are easy because I've had some experience in Face Painting (another blog entry to be sure) so "loading a brush with paint" and "handling a brush" or "brush pressure on paper" are easier to transpose to watercolor techniques.  It's really easy, I promise and swear, and so I've added that to my own workshop syllabus.

April 22, I joined a Basic Watercolor Techniques in Greenbelt 5.  They presented a few of what I'd already discovered through Google.  These (links) are the best and most complete so far from the web:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbDawbOO8XY (Part 1)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxK1dTJ4Nhk (Part 2)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLOvMS2CmAI (Part 3)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttbbXnQsMiw (Part 4)

I received a watercolor palette with little dabs of watercolor paint in them plus two aqua brushes.  There were water cups and tissue rolls to share, too.

 They provided a sheet (Canson Watercolor Paper) with a pre-printed (in light gray) outline, which we painted together with someone on stage painting, real time.  The sponsor was CBTL so we all painted the same thing :)  

My take home nugget of wisdom was to make shadows in the complementary color!  If we do yellow, we complement with violet.  Red complements green and blue complements orange.

 Last Saturday, I also joined a Craft Central workshop on Loose Florals using Watercolor.  One class for P1,350 and two classes for P2,500.  I liked the idea of the P500 savings but for the take home kit that I got, I was not totally impressed.

All the techniques but one (the peony, lone flower painted below) were nothing new.  I'd been doing them already.  The speaker, Patty, made it more complicated when it shouldn't have been!  Maybe it was her delivery (artists do not automatically make great speakers and teachers).  I'm not hungry and am just being factual, since I'm a speaker myself, I have a base for comparison.

Next night, I tried my own flowers based on the lessons I took.  Here they are.  I need work on having the same light source and same brush technique.

The following are Pinterest inspired.  Enjoy!

Pahabol.  Someone asked me to make her a wreath so she could use it for her Instagram pic.  This one is for @pink_osh.  Last I checked, she had not uploaded it yet.

Everything is a work in progress.  The only way I'll know that I can do it, is if I try.  Why don't you stop thinking you can't and that you're not as good as me (or others), and that you don't have time or that it's hard.  JUST TRY.  You'd be surprised with yourself.

Confidence (or feeling confident), just like any skill, TAKES OODLES OF PRACTICE.  Just face the mirror, point at yourself and say out loud, "YOU'RE ENOUGH.  YOU MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS.  YOU'RE READY" everyday.  As I now always say, PRACTICE MAKES PERMANENT!