Quarantine Watercolor Challenge

After days of sleeping in and not using my time wisely, I decided to get my watercolors out and really focus on improving my skills. I hopped on Pinterest and started looking up "painting challenges". Since coming up with ideas can be difficult sometimes, I would then have no excuses having day-to-day topics laid out for me. I've learned a lot through the few I've done so far. I definitely recommend a challenge like this if you really want to hone in and focus on a skill such as watercolor.

Not only did this help pass time, but I was able to really figure out some watercolor techniques better.

Mixing color has always been difficult for me, but during these challenges I really took the time to mix and test paints so that they were the exact color I was going for. If you struggle with this too, keep scrap watercolor paper around (mine come from cutting up pages to fit a certain size) and test the colors you mix on those scrap papers. It really can be helpful.

I also took time to draw each painting so that I had a solid outline first. Of course, one day I hope I can get to a point where I can just paint without a super solid outline (that would be cool), but for now I draw it exactly the shape and size I will paint it. If you aren't comfortable with drawing, I will use a photo from my phone (turning the brightness all the way up) and put it behind my page and trace it. This can take some pressure off of drawing perfectly and give you more focus on painting.

Maybe this is a no-brainer for experienced watercolor painters, but I took time to layer. I started super light and then darkened the areas that needed to be darker. Sometimes it was hard to know if it should be a wet-on-wet add or let the part dry first then add darkness. It's very situational to the painting.

All-in-all it was so nice to challenge myself. I'm going to continue doing some small paintings like these, but wanted to share them here because they've been so much fun.

Day 1: Favorite Breakfast- Bacon

Day 2: Favorite Song- Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison

Day 3: Favorite Mug or Cup - My Cat Mug

Day 4: Favorite Flower- Dahlia

Day 5: Favorite Movie - Ford V. Ferrari

Day 6: Favorite Dessert - Sweettarts (I'm a candy person)

Day 7: Favorite Shirt - "yay sports"

Day 8: Favorite Bird - Kevin from UP

Day 9: Favorite Fruit - Raspberries

Day 10: Favorite Drink - Pepsi

Day 11: Favorite Moment- My wedding day kiss as a married couple