The past few weeks we’ve been having such terrible weather here in the Netherlands. Though not too cold (daytime about 13℃ max), it’s been constantly raining and on the rare days it is reasonably clear, we meet with pouring rain in the evenings. Days are getting shorter too which is not helping. What a miserable season it’s been! This is typical Netherlands, though, so nothing unusual. But let’s not lose hope! Rather than mope about it, I decided to look forward to the warmer months by painting something bright, vivid and cute to cheer myself up. How about some watercolor abstract art?
Watercolor Wonders
So away I went and logged onto Alena Hennessy “Watercolor Wonders” on-line classes. Another practice session for me in the Beginnings unit during which we familiarize ourselves with watercolor techniques, experiment with different brush sizes and play with color. Here I merely used a cheap set of watercolor pans from Amazon. Not the greatest quality, mind you, but they come in a variety of colors including a few pretty fluorescent shades which I wanted to check out. Also the paper used came with the set which also explains why it is very important to seek good quality supplies! Not to worry, I was merely testing out and practicing…
Adding Details
So far so good, but now what? Lost at what to do with the painting, I decided to rotate the paper around to see if I could be inspired. The paper then got turned upside down, giving me some ideas. For instance, I really liked the way the fluorescent orange bit turned out and used it as a focal point. The rest I was not too keen about, especially seeing how poorly the strokes came out, although the colors were beautiful. I blame the mediocre quality of the watercolors and paper but I was expecting that. Those less desirable areas were then doodled on with Uni Posca and Molotow markers. As finishing touch, I went for Glitter glue to see if I can make the painting more interesting. And here goes!
Not my best work, as this merely started as a practice session with Alena’s classes. As I just loved the bright vivid colors and how uplifting they were, though, I jumped at the chance to develop it into a cute painting. A great way to express what is on my mind and how much I long for warmer days. How fun was that, and I definitely want to practice more on watercolor techniques and see what I could develop it into!
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My Kawaii Quarter 