I was into that in 2020 and 2023! Yes, I know that sounds like I picked up where I left off, but no… I repurchased every single product and tool a second time because I couldn’t find the first batch I mugged off!
I used to draw constantly in school as a way of fidgeting and helping myself focus, so I got fairly decent at drawing at the time. I tried painting with water colors and more specifically gouache back then because I liked the idea of adding color to my drawings in a more “grown up” way than colored pencils or markers, but the experience and novelty of it wasn’t enough to push me past the mediocrity of my results
Do you still paint with watercolors? What’s your favorite subject or style? Did you ever paint something you were happy with?
Lol I doubt that, I just literally never pass up the chance to say gouache, because it’s funny (sounds like gwash, or gowash… goowash) but I also liked how it was more opaque than normal watercolors so it helped hide all my extra sketch lines.
But yes, something I discovered was that the color you thought something was in your head was never the color something actually is due to lighting and atmospheric conditions so if you’re trying to paint something at all representational and even vaguely realistic there’s a whole new dimension to mess up in. Making a 3d thing 2d is surprisingly hard for our brains because we keep wanting to replace what we see with “symbols” of the thing.
I think I’ve tried watercolor pencils? If I did it was only once. I think the experience is like coloring with the pencil, then brushing over it with water to smooth out the scribbles so you get that soft watercolor look. I seem to remember I used the wrong paper so the amount of water I was able to use resulted in the scribbles just getting blurry so I guess if you try them then make sure your paper can handle a good soak, lol.
I met a person who did these neat Zentangle designs, maybe something like that could be a way to enjoy the medium without the pressure of representationalism?
Oh, goodie, watercolor?
I was into that in 2020 and 2023! Yes, I know that sounds like I picked up where I left off, but no… I repurchased every single product and tool a second time because I couldn’t find the first batch I mugged off!
Please, let’s discuss!!
I used to draw constantly in school as a way of fidgeting and helping myself focus, so I got fairly decent at drawing at the time. I tried painting with water colors and more specifically gouache back then because I liked the idea of adding color to my drawings in a more “grown up” way than colored pencils or markers, but the experience and novelty of it wasn’t enough to push me past the mediocrity of my results
Do you still paint with watercolors? What’s your favorite subject or style? Did you ever paint something you were happy with?
You’re already over my head and I’m envious 😂
I realized (both times) that you need to be good at drawing (i.e. the “basics” of translating stuff into 2D) before you can be good at painting.
I got really good at squeezing paint out of a tube and mixing colours woohoo! I’m certain I’ll try it again so there’s hope!
I’ve wanted to try watercolor pencils… have you tried them before? I wonder if that would be a cool hybrid between drawing and painting
Lol I doubt that, I just literally never pass up the chance to say gouache, because it’s funny (sounds like gwash, or gowash… goowash) but I also liked how it was more opaque than normal watercolors so it helped hide all my extra sketch lines.
But yes, something I discovered was that the color you thought something was in your head was never the color something actually is due to lighting and atmospheric conditions so if you’re trying to paint something at all representational and even vaguely realistic there’s a whole new dimension to mess up in. Making a 3d thing 2d is surprisingly hard for our brains because we keep wanting to replace what we see with “symbols” of the thing.
I think I’ve tried watercolor pencils? If I did it was only once. I think the experience is like coloring with the pencil, then brushing over it with water to smooth out the scribbles so you get that soft watercolor look. I seem to remember I used the wrong paper so the amount of water I was able to use resulted in the scribbles just getting blurry so I guess if you try them then make sure your paper can handle a good soak, lol.
I met a person who did these neat Zentangle designs, maybe something like that could be a way to enjoy the medium without the pressure of representationalism?
Ouuuuuuuu! Cool, thanks for the ideas/sharing!!