What a wonderful, fun-filled month World Watercolor Month 2019 has been! It’s been work, learning, improvement, crazy, fun, creative. I think it has been a worthwhile endeavor altogether. Those prompts were provocative and simple at the same time – literal, figurative.
Let’s begin!
27: Fruits
Both of these are in gouache. I painted the figs first and then the grapes and apricots. I worked hard on trying to create a sense of depth with the second painting in particular – looking for light and dark, shadow and colors.
28: Metallic
Metallic items, reflective surfaces – in others words, shiny things – can be very challenging to paint. In many ways, the mind rebels. It’s shiny! I can’t paint that! But, in reality, metallic and shiny objects are simply shades of colors, sometimes similar, sometimes varied. Once you think about it like that, it becomes much easier. I chose an old enameled metal kettle, a spoon, and a key. Each one has different colors, with the spoon simply being varying shades of the same color, Payne’s Grey. The kettle was difficult because of its shape (it’s rather mangled) and the key because of the varying shades of brown, golds, reds, and oranges of the brass.
29: Glorious Greens
Pretty amateur, I think, but it was fun to do. I saw a photo of a single tree silhouetted against a stormy sky, and the greens of the field were electric. Colors under a stormy sky always seem more intense (while it’s not raining), and greens especially so.
30: Wild Things
As we were finishing up patching, painting, and refurnishing the studio, I was in a foul mood. Crabby to be specific. Guess what motivated this subject?!
31: Favorite Colors
I had thought of making color swatches of all my gouache paints, but once more, life got in the way. Some thought and I chose magenta, turquoise, and green. Bougainvillea is the perfect subject for all these colors.
Some Thoughts
As I said, #worldwatercolormonth2019 has been a wonderful experience. I learned something each day, even if I couldn’t tell you what. Improvements are visible in color handling and brushwork in both watercolor and gouache. Daily painting is work – and love! It’s a challenge and play. Today (8/1) I haven’t done a bit of painting, but like everything, we need to walk away from something to get a new perspective, to refresh, to let the subsconcious work its magic.
Ink, Yarn & Beer 
Some fab work here Naomi. I especially like the grapes, the tree under a stormy sky and the key. Well done you!
Thanks, Fraggy. It’s always interesting to find out what other people like. I am sure you know what I mean – you like a photo and they prefer another! I appreciate your feedback and stopping by!