We all know how I love to participate in daily artistic and photographic challenges, so I was all in when I saw postings of World Watercolor Month on social media sites from some of the artists I follow. The challenge is to try to paint something in watercolor or use watercolor in some way in your artwork, for each day of the month. The watercolor challenge was made to help support the Dreaming Zebra Foundation, that provides art supplies and opportunities to underprivileged children. I've taken this opportunity to practice my watercolor skills and try some new things with watercolor.
So far, I've missed one day of the challenge, simply too exhausted to paint after a frustrating evening trouble shooting a problem with a digital design situation. I've tried to use different techniques than my normal line and wash painting style, experimenting with different types of paper, watercolor paints, pencils, and markers. I even signed up for a class in painting clouds in watercolor that took place for one evening at the local arts council.
I watch a lot of instructional videos on Artists Network TV, YouTube and such, but I think I just need to actually paint more. I finally tried the Winsor and Newton Watercolor markers that I purchased last fall, and I have to say, I'm very impressed with these and definitely want to experiment with them. I also took this opportunity to start my bird journal in the very nice handmade watercolor book that I bought at Hobby Lobby last year. The handmade paper in the book is not really ideal for watercolor, but the texture is so interesting, it gives a different effect to the finished painting. We are in the last week of the challenge, but I'm confident I can complete it.