Spring Break!

About these watercolors - when I paint with them I still paint somewhat like an oil painter.  Some of this I would like to keep, some of it I would like to adjust.  I still stand at the vertical easel, and I don't always do a pencil sketch before I start laying down paint.  These two things I want to keep.  It makes me literally think on my feet.  Watercolor painters typically sit, but I've been trained to walk back from the easel frequently to see what's going on with the painting - so it can 'tell you' what it needs.  I still do this with every medium and it works for me.   

The Pencil Sketch.  I need to do this when the subject matter must be correct, by that I mean it must be in proportion, (the subject has several windows) it must have the right perspective (one point, two point), and it helps when there are white areas that MUST be kept clean of paint.  However, when I'm doing something like a still life - I will just put down light dots of blue paint to give me the start and stop of an object. (I'll talk more about what I would adjust next time).

 The way I've heard it put is that when painting in this watercolor, let the paint do all the work.  Let it go and don't try to control it. When I get that right, there is a vibrancy to it.  And I love the challenge of that, on the easel and in every day life.

On another note -my older daughter came down from Northern California for spring break this past week. I thoroughly enjoyed the 77 minutes of waking time we spent together. Seriously - I did!  And I miss her already.  (What I did when I was her age is totally irrelevant!)