Day 05: #30x30DirectWatercolor: Into the Weeds

June 5, 2023

To be very very honest, I haven’t been painting very much watercolor over the winter.

In the winter I tend to go towards drawing, or oil painting – or digital art. Things I can do in the studio.

Plus – last winter I was taking French immersion, which – while it’s helped me quite a bit – I still find it too difficult to hold a conversation. Reading and writing is one thing (you can take you time), but an in-person exchange goes by too quickly for my brain.

This year’s #30×30 is a perfect tonic for me! I can already feel the benefits of painting every day! Watercolor is the most instinctive medium. I cant think of another artform where you are painting something, trying to imagine what it will look like after the water stops moving! Colors change, pigment moves. You have to have a gut-instinct of what to do when.

I find it super-important to make throw-away sketches. Things where you don’t care about the result. I suppose it’s like a musicians scales. You have to run the keys, and get the feel of the instrument.