I’m noticing these days that the more I paint with watercolors, the more natural it feels, and the easier it seems to just do it every day. It still amazes me constantly that I’m taking so well to the medium, after so many years of telling myself it would take too long to learn.
Fruit Slices
Last week and the week before, I was working on the family history comic. So when I got to watercolor class on Tuesday morning and Annette told us to create a series of apples and/or pears from our imaginations, I sketched out something comic-esque without even intending to. I hadn’t meant to tell a story with my fruits but I think you could read one into these panels, don’t you? Honestly, I find the beheaded pear rather poignant…!
Painting feels more meditative to me than drawing. It’s easier for me to remember, while painting, to enjoy the process without fixating on the product that may or may not be as I wish it. Watercolors cannot be rushed. I have to wait for each color to dry before applying other colors near or over it, otherwise I risk a blotchy mess. Or I can create blotches on purpose, which goes counter to my natural inclination for clean edges and smooth fields of color — and that’s useful practice also. Watercolor requires certain rituals, too, like pouring fresh water into my jar before I start, and cleaning my brushes after use. On several mornings I have slipped seamlessly from my morning meditation/quiet time to painting at my desk before breakfast.
I find myself thinking in watercolors even when I’m using other media, like calligraphy inks and pens, or even crayons (which I did yesterday)! When I wrote out the quotation at left, I blended two colors of ink, which I never before thought to try, but which seemed perfectly inevitable after so much paint-mixing this week. I’ll be experimenting with this more in future for sure.
Tomorrow’s Artist Date has lots of music and festive atmosphere — and I’ll show you my watercolor-inspired crayon drawing! 🙂
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painting does feel a lot more meditative to me too! i’ve been painting a very large bookshelf over here (you never realize how much surface area there is to cover until you have to sand and prime a surface and then cover it with 2+ coats of paint…), and even though it’s a different type of painting than you’re doing, when it’s just me moving the brush back and forth across the surface late at night, it’s very zen 🙂
I can totally picture you painting this shelf at night. 🙂 You’re brave! I have yet to tackle sanding and painting any piece of furniture! (Or walls for that matter!)
this is my first “real” home improvement project! i was totally intimidated but figured: i gotta start somewhere! (never even painted walls before let alone tried to sand/prime/paint furniture…) and we got this large bookshelf for free (for textbooks/nonfiction/other office stuff) and i figure it was as good a time as any to try. also the ambiguously light/orange-ish “natural” wood color was too offensive to my sensibilities 😛 so i had to find a way to make it work with my “dark wood” style decor ;-). i’ll post photos when i’m done! i’ve been chronicling the endeavor on my camera :-).
Yay, good good! I’ll look forward to seeing pics. 🙂 I’m a total newb at home improvement too. The garden is as close as it gets, and that’s not doing so well these days because I’ve been neglecting it. ;b
I absolutely love your watercolor fruits! I don’t think I’ve used watercolors in years, but I remember having that same meditative feeling you described, even as a kid. And I love that you broke out the crayons, too. 😉 Can’t wait to see your drawing!
Well, the crayons were because of an event… you’ll see. 🙂 But I do quite like playing with them; I bought a box (the 64-color set, naturally, because I’m a grownup now and can do that!!) and it’s great for tapping into my inner child. 🙂 Erik and I were just talking the other day about how we totally still see colors in terms of how Crayola selected and named them!
Are your watercolors neglected for now? 😦 You’ve been so busy though, it’s no wonder!
Hee. I totally know what you mean about having your entire sense of color dictated by your early experiences with crayons. I was so excited when I learned the word “cerulean” after getting the deluxe box. Speaking of, I am so in love with the smell of crayons–dorky, no? I have a little plastic box of crayons that I occasionally take out for a good whiff, and it always makes me feel calm and creative. 🙂
And yes, sadly the watercolors are neglected for now. After the holidays, though, it’s on!
OMG, haha, I totally remember learning “cerulean” too — in my case it was from my Prismacolor colored pencil set!
I like the smell of crayons too. 🙂 I guess I’d say they make me feel calm and creative too! Amazing what strength childhood memories have! 🙂
Can’t wait to see your watercolor masterpieces after the holidays. 😉
[…] waving delicate fronds on long stems. At first I tried a tomato, but after my previous paintings of pears and apples, the rounded fruit just seemed too much like the others. So I selected a frilly bloom and […]