Day 31: that's a wrap!! {31 days of watercolor}

WOW!!!! Here I am at the finish line!! 

 

31 days of watercoloring completed!!

 

while it may not have seemed like it, some days it was haaard for me to find the time/energy/ideas to keep at this little commitment because i love making artwork, learning new things and figuring them out and sometimes failing too, 

but here i am at the end and here is what I learned:

1// don't stress, watercolor {and life} is a learning process, the best things happen when you let go of the stress and embrace the mess :)

2// if you never set goals to learn something new you will never do it! pretty basic huh? but so true.

3// i have some amazingly sweet friends {some whom i've never even met before!!} who were so kind to support and encourage me forward with their comments both on the blog and on my facebook page... THANK YOU my dear friends!!! what would I EVER do without yall!! much love!!!

4// MY KIDS INSPIRE ME!!! looking back on how many of the last 31 days were inspired directly by them amazes me!! they are the absolute BEST part of my heart and soul :)

5// days when i allowed my sweet girl to be a part of my activity were the BEST ones!!

6// quick and loose works for me in watercolor, overworking it = awe.full.

7// practice is key... even on days where it seems impossible {my nana would have been proud. she was a teacher for 33 years and she always said repetition, repetition, repetition....}

8// it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful!!! taken directly from the queen of the 31 days herself, Nester. and i just couldn't agree more.

9// don't be too scared to try something NEW!! that is of interest and worth pursuing. even if it means failing some days and just trying again tomorrow!!

10// on days when you JUST. DON'T. HAVE. ANY. NEW. IDEAS. and you feel like you've been at it for faaaaar too long just push through and do it. even if it's just a little 5 minute thing, that's great!!!

thank you SO VERY MUCH!! from the bottom of my heart if you have followed along this little series of daily watercolor practice... congratulations to YOU!!! :) surely more watercolor to come!!

 

...so now what?? 

i mentioned that i've been working on mosaics behind the scenes, so i will be posting some new mosaic coasters and things in my etsy shop soon... hopefully friday!! i'm super excited to be working on mosaics again!! 

xoxo!!

Day 30: art in the sky {31 days of watercolor}

i'm really, really... reeealllly not a wake up early kinda person.

{as you probably guessed by my late night posting}

but i'm MISSING OUT yall!!

...on the most gorgeous of watercolors painted across the sky by our heavenly father, 

the ultimate master of the arts.

and don't be fooled, that photo wasn't taken by me...  my sweet girl woke up and found that outside her window. she came downstairs and found her mama snoozin' so she grabbed my phone, took it back upstairs, took the photo and then came down and showed me what i'm missing!! 

isn't she the BEST!!!! 

and because i like to find my inspiration for painting in things with completely unattainable beauty i decided to have fun with that phone photo and my measley watercolors...

 

i did a couple different versions but liked this one the best.

it was so much fun to do... and, i'll bet you God has fun with it every single morning!

i really should try and wake up in time for the color show tomorrow...

Day 29: wet into wet {31 days of watercolor}

day 29, i know yall are getting sad... only 2 more days to go!!

but don't worry i will keep posting about other things too!!

thanks for checking in!!

xoxo

Day 28: aquaboard {31 days of watercolor}

today i decided to paint on a different surface for fun. i picked up this aquaboard at the craft store the other day and i really liked it. while it has a paper like texture and absorbs water just the same it doesn't bow with the addition of water. it stays flat and that is SO NICE!! i think the color is consistent with paper as well.

it also says that you can seal it {not sure with what} but then frame it without glass. it says it will never tear, shrink or buckle... also good qualities. the best part is that this brand is not only made in the usa, but it's made right here in texas!! so, of course, i'm a fan :)

for this landscape i used a photo from our trip to kansas earlier this month.. open skies and cows :)

another tip i'm finding useful is watching watercolor artists on youtube. i find it interesting to watch other people and their styles of painting, how they lay on paint, build it up, and move it around their paper. not only interesting but insightful :) 

kind of takes the pressure off, so if you're semi-interested in trying it you can watch and copy or watch and learn!!

what a fun week we have ahead... hope yours is full of sweetness and dress up!!

Day 27: abstract and assemblage {31 days of watercolor}

i went simple abstract for today... 

just a little old fashioned piled rock wall for inspiration and a few cool colors to delight the eyes...

behind the scenes i've also been doing a little mosaic work... 

{which the above kind of reminds me of, funny how that happens} 

but have yall ever seen the work of sculptor louise nevelson...

take a peek...

Louise Nevelson Dawn's Wedding Chapel II, 1959

 i've been thinking on it lately as i work on mosaics. looooove it!!... and have since i first saw it in art history 101. 

she used an artistic technique called assemblage, fancy word for assembly :)

but in all seriousness she made these amazing sculptures from found wooden objects and then painted them either all black or white...

really, SO COOL!!!

okay, that's all for now... adios amigos!!

Day 26: a sweetheart {31 days of watercolor}

so back to portraits....

watercolor and i get along better when i really look and then work looser and quicker

the key is really looking though.

i did this on and off for about an hour today

{while one was saying "mommy can i..." and the other digging around in my stuff }

i tried to focus...

 

i really love taking photos of my work because i see it differently. it's funny how that happens... i notice different things when i see it on a photo as opposed to just looking at it. after seeing these there are a few things i would change if i had more time, but for now it's done. 

love this sweetheart!!

xoxo

Day 25: water brush {31 days of watercolor}

today i used this cool little water brush

i picked it up at the craft store a few days ago. i had one long ago that was filled with ink and it was so much fun to work with. i wondered how this would work as a watercolor tool filled with water. it is so convenient having water easily disposable with just a little squeeze...

 and so i just did a little black and white study of the paint tube sitting right in front of me :)

i have to say that the water brush was really cool! and would be great tool to have if painting out and about where a water cup might be too much to deal with or if you just want something different from your regular brushes.

still aiming to work on a few more portraits in the next few days... stay tuned yall :)

C&B blog feature!!

well hello there! :)

bet you didn't expect two posts in one day!!

a little break in the routine tonight to let you know that Nicole over at Simply Inspired did a great feature on the adorable custom grey chevron napmat that she ordered from my etsy shop last week!

i am so thrilled to be mentioned by her and equally as thrilled that these napmats i make are being loved!!

SO hop on over and follow her blog because she will be featuring her favorite etsy shops every Wednesday {+promos on items!!} 
{it's always nice when others do the digging and then write up their reviews of products}
it's something you won't want to miss :)

thanks Nicole!!


oh and p.s. be sure to check out my etsy shop in the next week or so for some new mosaic pieces!!
...they make great christmas gifts!!

Day 24: jumping jacks {31 days of watercolor}

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if you're just tuning in 

and would like to find out what in the heck this 31 days of watercolor series is 

please click here!!

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so i'm NOT a marathoner!! i'm more of a short distance kinda girl... with the occasional stop for jumping jacks or burpees {you bbc friends know what i'm talking about} and then i'll happily keep on going...

so the fact that today is DAY 24 {whaaaat?!!!} and i've made it every. single. day trying out something new in watercolor makes me SO HAPPY!

in honor of day 24 
 i'm doing "jumping jacks" today... taking a little break from my marathon to rest my mind and  
play paints 

with my girl!!

 she's a wonderful artist!!

today without me even asking {before i had this marvelous idea} she got us all set up on her own.

picked out pages for us to paint, got the paints and brushes out and filled up the water cup!

 and then invited me over to the table to paint with her!!! what a sweetie! kind of reminds me way, way back to day 8 and i can see that my 31 days is rubbing off on her just a tad :)

drawing on the movie tangled for our inspiration...

we talked about choosing different colors, painting the same color at the same time, and cleaning off our brushes...

 we wondered why rapunzel never changes clothes, and when she washes them, and how she probably doesn't get them very dirty anyway...

we had so much fun...

and we ended with a beautiful watercolor!! 

{and just a little bit of a 4 year old smirk :)}

  it was just what i needed to refresh me for the next 7 days ahead!! 

thanks for checking in!!

xoxo

Day 23: a portrait, okay {31 days of watercolor}

well it's certainly not hard to see why i love my little bubs SO VERY MUCH!! 

he's is so stinking cute!!

not only that but he has a heart of gold!!! solid gold.

he says okay all the time now, not no, but okay. it's so cute because his changes up his intonation from time to time... oookAy, oKay, ooOokay :) 

LOVE.THAT.SWEETHEART!!!

so what a great PHOTO of him :) 

i probably should have left well enough alone and not even attempted this one but it was fun.

i was reminiscing of my bygone college classes while working on it. i absolutely loved those classes and learned so much in them!! i had one professor say that if you can draw the human body you can draw anything. that stuck with me. and it's really true!

so here is my self-rated "okay" painting of my son. gosh, i need to practice portraits more. i do love the way that his eyes ended up that's why i gave you a close up of them. but, something about the structure of his face is a bit off................ ah, well, perfection is overrated :)

yall have a lovely afternoon

xoxo

Day 22: the dunes {31 days of watercolor}

so guess what... we were painting up a pumpkin storm today!!

okay, so maybe they only did one each, but in texas everything sounds better when the word storm is used right? no? well, i had seen some fun mommies out there {one being my lovely sister} that have been painting pumpkins with their kids and so i thought we'd give it a go!

{i'm guessing that doesn't really count as my watercoloring practice for today}

 so here i am right at the stroke of midnight finishing up this post. when will i ever learn to get these paintings done earlier because they photograph so much better in daylight... {and that getting a good nights sleep is important too}

so here are the wonderful sand dunes of south padre from a photograph taken this summer...

xoxo

Day 21: fall flower {31 days of watercolor}

hey there and good evening :)

lately we have been enjoying these fall blooms on our porch...

and i am enjoying using the masking fluid i talked about yesterday. i masked out the pollen stems on this flower and then was able to go back in and paint them... i suppose i could have done it the reverse way as well {meaning paint them first and then mask them}...

so many options ~ the possibilities are endless really

i hope yall had a wonderful weekend!! thanks to my sweet hubby i have gotten to work on some great projects... he is such a great daddy and huge help with our kids!!

for this next week my plan is to focus on portraits and landscapes, but i'm sure there will be other things that pop up as well... i hope you will come back to check it out cause i've got some cute little subjects over here!!

xoxo

Day 20: i'm a little teapot {31 days of watercolor}

today was a quick exercise in trying out a new tool {or trick} called masking fluid.

masking fluid can be used to block the paint from certain areas of the paper that you wish to protect from the paint. it's really cool because you just apply it on whichever area you'd like to protect. then paint the other areas in. Once your paint dries the masking fluid easily rubs off with your finger and you're left with whatever was masked... blank paper or a previous wash of color.

i used it on the highlights on this little teapot. after i removed it i went back over the white areas with a light grey wash just so they wouldn't be quite so stark white. it was fun to try out and i'll be using it as needed now :)

tooo-da-looo!

Day 19: progress!! {31 days of watercolor}

day nineteen is progress!!

and by that i mean progress in the direction i have been wanting to go and i'm giddy!

there are certain qualities about watercolor that i've always admired. and they have sort of become my unwritten goals throughout this process... and i'm seeing them come to fruition!!

...allowing a brush stroke to be enough for one mark 

 ...letting go of a certain degree of control and painting loosely {but with enough detail} i think this is what gives watercolor it's true beauty

 

...letting the work guide certain choices not in the original plan

...and allowing the watercolor to illuminate the painting

i love seeing these things happen!!

it makes me want to keep working at it!! 

lucky yall :)

and just in case you were wondering... here was the original photo i worked from 

 

thanks for checking in ~ have a great weekend!! 

Day 18: a 30 minute challenge {31 days of watercolor}

*if you're new to my 31 day series on watercolor click here to see all posts from the beginning*


today i went outside on the front porch with the camera... 

took a few pictures and decided to give myself a 30 minute challenge.

ya see, when working on the heart from yesterday i kept going back in and working more into it... which, i'm glad i did because i love the way it ended up. but it got me thinking about how many endless hours i could put into one piece if i let myself.

sometimes {not always} we need to put our foot down,
give ourselves a stopping point, 

appreciate that what's there is beautifully imperfect

and move on.

it's a good exercise anyway :)

so, today my thirty minute challenge was to paint this photo...

a pretty good challenge if i do say so myself... lots going on!

{my kids love to put rocks on the railing :)}

i mapped it out and then started the timer...

this is what was left at 35.7 minutes :) 

i could have kept going for another 30 minutes, but would have most definitely overworked the background... which is the part i ended up loving the most!

so please just try and ignore the elephant, i mean rock, in the foreground.

thanks for checking in today!!
xoxo