I enjoyed doing watercolor paintings for the World Watercolor Month July challenge
I didn’t manage to do one everyday, but I did do 25 small watercolors…joining a challenge is a great way to make sure you have time for a little art in your day!
I painted on an Arteza 140 lb. cold press watercolor paper pad, which I highly recommend. It’s high quality, yet affordable, great for everyday experimentation and painting for fun. You can get a pack of 2 from Amazon here
I tried to push myself and try new techniques subjects outside of my comfort zone, like today’s portrait of my grandson playing in the sand
My sons grew up playing on this same sand dune, adjacent to our beach house deck, and it makes my heart sing to watch my grandsons now playing there too…
I decided to be fearless and try a watercolor rendering without a pencil sketch
Here’s a trick I sometimes use to help establish the tonal values of a painting, I import it to PicMonkey {or use your preferred photo editor} and try different effects on the photo. I used the Posterize effect on this photo
It makes it easy to see the darkest darks, the lightest lights, and all the mid-tones, as well as simplifying the shapes
I painted the clothing first
Then added his head and body
Next came hair and flesh tones, and a little work on the toy truck
Adding the facial features was scary, but I didn’t over think it, I tried to just suggest what I saw with a minimum of strokes
More colors, details and strokes suggesting the sand dune…
“Sand Dune” 9″ x 12″ watercolor on paper
Here are the other paintings I did for the July challenge
Watercolor can be a tricky medium
Not as forgiving as other mediums, but it’s also full of happy surprises and cool effects…
Plus, it’s not messy, dries quickly and it is easy to set up anywhere
Have fun creating and Be Fearless!
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I will be joining these fabulous parties and blogs:
Meal Plan Monday Dishing it & Digging it, Between Naps on the Porch,
Merry Monday Make it Pretty Monday Celebrate and Decorate,
Tasty Tuesday Oh My Heartsie Girl Full Plate Thursday