Watercolor Basics

During our second class, we did a lot! It was mostly had to do with values in watercolors. For example we painted around these leave things to make them look 3D by putting shadow underneath. We also did a larger piece  of a barn on a hill using only one color, burnt sienna. With this one color, we still managed to add value to the piece, To get darker areas, I just went over the same area with the same color after the base dried. I think it looks really cool, except for my clouds! haha Larry hated them. 

Watercolor Fail Part 2

The last "fail" I showed you all the last time was mostly because my pieces were still unfinished. This time, it just simply looks horrible. My greatest accomplishment with this piece is how well I restrained from ripping it out of my journal. The thing is, it started out looking horrible, but I gave it a chance and kept going. I know continuing a piece I don't like can get hard for me sometimes, so I challenged myself with this piece. I kept going, but it only got worse and worse. I tried to play around with color, control where my shadows and highlights would be and it just kept going down hill. I just came to accept that not every piece will be a successful goldfish. 

Watercolor Goldfish Update!

It's all done! I ended up sleeping past midnight because I couldn't put my brush down. I get so carried away with it sometimes. It's the same when I'm reading a good book. Anyways, I love how it turned out. You must be wondering why he's missing an eyeball and that's simply because in Islam, we aren't allowed to draw animate beings. So as long as we don't give them the feature in which bring "life", I believe it should be fine. I will definitely look further into that since it's something which I will be working with more often. I actually don't mind that hallow part at all, but I'm interested to know what others think. Nonetheless, I'm proud of the final outcome. 

Drawing Practice

I won't be back at the MAG for a whole two weeks since my next class is on the 24th. Today I decided to paint something that I will draw first. When it comes to picking something I want to paint/draw, I get so indecisive. I want to do it all, which makes it so hard for me to do. For my next piece, I will be painting a goldfish. I already started drawing it, I will most likely finish drawing and painting it all today. I find that when I put a piece to the side, it becomes harder for me to finish I'm not sure why. 

My Favorite Thing About Watercolor

Since I've had a little experience with acrylic, I can tell you my least favorite thing about it. I hate the fact that it dries so quickly and there's no way of make the dry paint reusable again. This leads to my favorite thing about watercolor. Dry paint is reusable. No matter how much paint I squirt out on to my pallet, I can always reuse it the next time by just adding water. I'm sure over time, dry paint won't be as effective and easy to work with. But since I use my so often, it't not an issue at all. I'm sure artist who have several palates don't go back into some of them for weeks or maybe even months and the paint would still be fine. So 1. paint isn't being wasted and 2. If you mixed a specific color, you won't have to worry about mixing the right color for the next time if you have enough of it.

First Class With Laurence E. Keefe!

Today was my first class with Larry. I loved it! The thing I still find a little intimidating about watercolor is that I still struggle with the control aspect. And one of the first things Larry said at the beginning of class was that he was going to teach us how to control our work, basically making the paint do what we want it to do. EXACTLY WHAT I NEED. Since it is a beginnings class, some of the stuff we discusses today was kind of review for me but I did learn a lot. For example, the rigger brush should be used for the last part of any piece (for details). We can live off of using two color in water color and they are: Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine Blue. We played around with the round and flat brushes.

We also learned how to do the beaded wash. This method works best when trying to paint an area with the least amount of texture as possible. All you have to do is load your round paintbrush with paint/water. While the paper is on an angle, you just go from right to left and left to right on dry paper. The key is to never go back in an area you've already painting. For the circle exercise, we were asked to paint the circle with the least texture as possible. We did this before the beaded exercise. Since I already have a little experience with watercolor, it's hard tell that the circle on the bottom is the one I did before he demonstrated. I honestly cannot wait until next class.

Rochester Art Supply

I'm sure EVERYONE has dealt with an experience similar to the one I just had. My next Watercolor class is starting soon and I needed a couple of supplies. A couple, meaning a watercolor pad and a brush (specifically a 10 round). I went to the Rochester Art Supply on W Main street and as soon as I walked in, I felt like a little kid at a candy shop. Tell me why I left the store with $101 less in my bank account. I couldn't help it. I picked up one color and somehow just magically ended up with more than 10 at the register. I'm way more than prepared for my next class at least and speaking of next class, I'm so exited to be back at the Creative Workshop!!

Types of Watercolor Brushes

One of the most important things in watercolor is the type of brush being used. Watercolor brushes come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and hair types. 

Some of the most commonly used brushes include:

ROUND: 

Rounds brushes are very versatile. The point of the brush can be used to make fairly fine lines but can also be used for larger strokes and washes. 

FLAT: 

Flat brushes aren't as versatile as the round brushes but are best used to make strokes with straight edges. The flat brush comes in different forms as well. The one with the angular tip can be used in varies techniques depending on the angle you hold the brush. 

DETAIL:

Although I haven't seen brushes like the rigger used often, they're great to make fine detailed work.