Mixing Tray

 

Even the mixing tray can look so pretty by the end of a painting.

The Creative Habit

I just finished reading The Creative Habit, by Twyla Tharp. It was a quick read about how she, a famous ballet choreographer, maintains and improves her creativity. Here's what I took from the book:

1. Getting started with your creative endeavor on any given day is hard. Create a routine that kickstarts your creative process without having to think about it. I know I have a hard time getting started with my watercolor painting. Even though I love the process once I get going, I seemed to get sidetracked so easily. Suddenly laundry seems appealing.
2. Practice. Practice. Practice. But with purpose.
3. Work on the aspects of your creative endeavor that you're not good at. I've got lots to work on.
4. Find out what your creative DNA is and work with it, not against it. When it comes to photography, I naturally gravitate toward macro shots. I'm interested to see if I prefer up close images when it comes to watercolor painting.
5. Skill is the basis to execute. This is exactly why I'm taking my watercolor class.

There's plenty more in the book too.

Super Mario Brothers Plant

This past Halloween, a couple of my coworkers and myself dressed up as Super Mario Brothers characters. We totally won best costume. Not only that, but we decorated my coworker's cubicle as if it was a Super Mario Brothers landscape. So for his birthday, I made him a card of the plant. I think I got a little to carried away with the splatter. I wanted it to be noticeable, but with darker and larger spots.

Just for Fun

I couldn't let this little scrap of watercolor paper go to waste, so I had a little fun.

Practicing My Watercolor Color Mixing

I'm struggling with getting my watercolors to mix and blend together smoothly, so I decided to practice. The leaves started to come along nicely with a few washes. The bottom squares, however, did not go very well. I tried a new wet-on-wet technique of painting a strip of the top color, a strip of the bottom color, and then a middle strip of clear water to blend the two together.

Blue Green Landscape

We painted another landscape in our class this past weekend, but this time we got to use more than one color. We were able to choose four analogous colors, so I went with greens and blues. 

This time my initial mountain washes weren't too bad and I liked how some of the trees turned out. However, the grass in the front is a disaster! Not a total disaster, but not really what I was going for. But at least I went for it.