Michelle and I have been dabbling in watercolor exploration for about a year. Actually dabbling sounds like we have spent more time on it than we actually have, the last time we brought out our watercolor set was last summer so more like ‘dibbling‘ than dabbling. After starting the botanical sketching, I really wanted to try my hand at some loose abstracts and fluid botanicals. It seemed easy enough, but I failed, I failed a million times over and I’m not just being humble here, my three year old was doing a better job at washes and blobs. At one point Michelle even suggested I ask my toddler to teach me, which I would have but three year olds aren’t particularly known for their patience. Luckily I found a couple of on-line teachers, that are patient and really, really good at explaining things. I can not believe that in 2 mini lessons I learned how to draw leaves and a feather! That actually look like leaves and a feather! Just that little bit of knowledge gave me such confidence and then I learned how to watercolor a moon? My goodness! I have started to feel some rays of hope. There is great satisfaction for someone that wants to do something to actually be able to develop the skill set to do it! If you have tried your hand at watercolors and felt hopeless I hope these classes will give you some confidence. If you only paint watercolor leaves for the rest of your life, it would be a great skill to have/learn, they are so relaxing and satisfying and super duper easy to do!
Let us know if you try it, or if you have found any secret resources. I do want to forewarn you, the graphics associated with the class/tutorials may seem either child-like (one is aimed at children) or maybe not your style, please don’t let that dissuade you, there are real gems here, plus they are super speedy, so you will be in and out in no time and painting something that is recognizable, which is truly exciting! I have become a huge fan of one of the teachers, Peggy Dean, love her teaching style and I truly hope she produces a ton more classes!
//RESOURCES//
Learn to watercolor leaves, wreaths + feathers (and more!)
Watercolor a full moon (all their tutorials are great)
Brushes (I am using cheapies, but will be buying the ones Peggy mentioned in class)
Watercolor pan set (good colors, inexpensive can be chalky)
Watercolor highly pigmented (GREAT price + colors)
Watercolor paper (this is good and inexpensive but it does warp)
Tristan B. is the co-creator of the world’s best + easiest product photography editing tool-Foto Rx | Shopkeeper’s Helper and one of the writer’s of this delightful blog.
