Encouragement

We had our second watercolor class last night and I am thrilled that I've seen so much progress in such a short amount of time.  While we missed Karen, I was pleased to have Betsy join us!

I'm posting this blog to encourage my students in moving forward in watercolors.  I remember when I first started out with watercolors that there were some situations where I was feeling constantly discouraged b/c it seemed like no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get it right and some people were certainly going to let me know!  lol  Don't get me wrong, I am ALL for constructive criticism to help students improve, BUT I believe that criticism must be tempered with encouragement so that the aspiring artist doesn't lose heart in the process of learning this beautiful medium.

So specifically, for my watercolor ladies.....starting with Trish...Trish, great tree last night!  I loved how you started working outside the box and got creative with putting purple on the trunk of the tree!  You have such a positive spirit in class and you seem to really be enjoying the process of learning watercolors.  I also thought that your background trees in your color value painting were very nicely washed on.  The shapes were very pleasing.

Susan, you have such a peaceful way about you and you were doing a great job of softly laying in your colors.  The colors that you chose to mix really worked well for your tree top and you're getting the hang of allowing the paint to blend on the page without overworking the pigment.  Beautiful job!

Betsy, I was so thrilled that you could join us this week and I look forward to having you in the group again!  I was so happy that you brought some of your other work to show me AND I was impressed by how quickly you've gotten the hang of watercolors!  You've only been painting since April and already you have art that is worthy of framing!   You already have your techniques down pat and now you're learning the terms of those techniques.  You're off to a great start!

Sarah, you have such a talented and creative side to you!  I've seen your wonderful photography and I know that you're going to excel in art with just as much panache.  You have a really great eye for balance and I thought that your tree came out very nicely.  The tree top was such a soft and pleasing blend of color.  Keep practicing whenever there's a "nap" break.  :)  I really do think that you're going to do well with this medium.  

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Noella, I was blessed to have met you during the festival and I hope to continue getting to know you!  During class, I was admiring how you were laying in the darker colors on the edges of your tree trunk.  You also were starting to get creative with adding shapes and depth to your tree top.  Very nice!  I can tell that you are enjoying the process of learning.

And, last, but certainly not least, my dear Karen!  What a blessing you have been to me and how I missed you last night!  You have come so far since I first met you over a year ago!  Your cows have such personality and creative colors!  You did a great job last week and I can't wait to see you again soon.  Hugs!  :)

SO, ladies, if you have a chance this week, read over the handouts that I gave you and maybe choose one or two things to practice from those handouts.  Bring your work in next week and don't be afraid of failure or ruining a painting!  I still ruin paintings on a pretty consistent basis!  :)  Every ruined painting is a lesson learned and failure can be one of the best teachers.  I think that I wrote a post about that not too long ago.  

Next week we'll be learning some simple flowers.  I think that I'm going to have our lesson pre-sketched out for everyone so that we can get down to the nitty gritty of painting.  I think that you are ready to start laying on more washes and practicing some of the techniques that we've been learning.  

This week, try practicing some scraping, bushes and I would strongly encourage you to finish your color values painting and then paint it again.  Bring it in for some positive constructive criticism next week!

Keep that tissue in hand and watch your water to pigment ratio.  Experiment with blooms and salt (in moderation).  Enjoy the process!

All in all, everyone has done a great job!  Have a blessed week!

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