My friend C. came to visit a few years ago and I handed her a piece of paper and a watercolor brush with a tin palette of paint. That's ALL I did. She likes to tell a different tale, but don't listen to her. She's just trying to be nice.
Now she's painting things like this:
Yeah....
Anyway, she is now all the time egging me on to try new things. And yesterday, sent me a flower she found on the internet and said, "Please tell me you are going to try this!"
Well, It's hard not to do what she asks, so I tried.
I'm not going to show you the original because in THAT respect it was a fail. I just can't seem to master the 'watery' part of watercolor yet. It eludes me. That misty, soft edged, pale color effect runs from me like a rabbit. (I just saw a jackrabbit run through the pasture, so the metaphor came to mind.) :-)
So here's my attempt to obey my 'student' become taskmaster...
Oops! The original is showing up top. I'm busted. But you get the idea. I have a long ways to go....
So one thing that I'm trying to learn from watercolorist Daniel Donaldson is to not have certain expectations in your paintings. But to let them evolve. So what if I can't reproduce exactly what I'm looking at... right? That's easy to say, and hard to DO.
So, I sent C. this picture and she upped the ante. It needs splatters!
WHAT?
Oh yeah. She's a big fan of the splatter.
They terrify me.
But if I'm trying to let go of expectations, I suppose flipping paint on a perfectly acceptable 'finished' piece would most definitely fall in that category.
So I did what she said.
What the heck.
It's only paper and paint right?
You know in some areas of life, I'm breathtakingly fearless. I'd scare you with my bravado.
But in this realm, I'm a coward.
Just sayin'.
Yeah....
Anyway, she is now all the time egging me on to try new things. And yesterday, sent me a flower she found on the internet and said, "Please tell me you are going to try this!"
Well, It's hard not to do what she asks, so I tried.
I'm not going to show you the original because in THAT respect it was a fail. I just can't seem to master the 'watery' part of watercolor yet. It eludes me. That misty, soft edged, pale color effect runs from me like a rabbit. (I just saw a jackrabbit run through the pasture, so the metaphor came to mind.) :-)
So here's my attempt to obey my 'student' become taskmaster...
Oops! The original is showing up top. I'm busted. But you get the idea. I have a long ways to go....
So one thing that I'm trying to learn from watercolorist Daniel Donaldson is to not have certain expectations in your paintings. But to let them evolve. So what if I can't reproduce exactly what I'm looking at... right? That's easy to say, and hard to DO.
So, I sent C. this picture and she upped the ante. It needs splatters!
WHAT?
Oh yeah. She's a big fan of the splatter.
They terrify me.
But if I'm trying to let go of expectations, I suppose flipping paint on a perfectly acceptable 'finished' piece would most definitely fall in that category.
So I did what she said.
What the heck.
It's only paper and paint right?
You know in some areas of life, I'm breathtakingly fearless. I'd scare you with my bravado.
But in this realm, I'm a coward.
Just sayin'.