I spent yesterday in my favorite way. I ate delicious cheese and cherries, swam in Walden pond and visited the DeCordova Museum of Sculpture. After such pleasures, my brain felt energized and refreshed so, upon returning home, I sat right down and dabbled with the new watercolor set I picked up at the museum gift shop.
I don't think I have tried using watercolor since childhood. I remember I found it a frustratingly hard to control medium. The watercolor paintings I created as a kid were muddy and drippy and worn away in spots from trying to lift the color away with paper towel. I have a stubborn nature so when I made my decision that I did not like watercolors, I held that position firmly for more than a decade!
I am happy to report that as an adult, I found myself more patient with the nature of watercolor. I have only owned my new pigment set for less than a day but I have already spent hours experimenting and getting to know how it works. Unlike my young self, I enjoy the way the color pools and is more opaque in some places than others. I like that it is subtle. I need to learn to be more subtle.
This experience has made me want to return to some things I disliked as a child and see if I am more suited to them now. I'm looking at you calligraphy.
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4 comments:
I like it! I like to buy goauche because it's pretty much the same thing but sounds fancier, because it's a French word.
If you can master goauche more power to ya. I could never get the hang of it. Some people are amazing with it. It takes a while to find your way with watercolor. I think it was my 3rd year in art school before I finally found a technique that worked.
I love watercolor! The toughest part for me is that when I finally mix my color just right, it runs out too quickly and I have to try to mix the same color again. It takes a lot of patience to mix colors, but it's worth it cause layering colors doesn't always work out well (they get muddy and lose that watery effect).
Ashley, I think goauche is a word I can't bring myself to say. It is like some people have an aversion to saying "moist".
Maggy, I am usually not patient enough to master anything but I just hope I can keep things simple enough to not be a mess.
Daphne, you are very right! That is the first problem I've run into. For that reason I'm considering investing in a couple watercolor tubes instead of the tiny squares so I can make more at a time.
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