Adventures in Watercolor

L'Shana Tova! It's the Jewish New Year! Pictured above is a painting of the round challah for the new year that I baked. It's quite tasty but nothing compared to the white chocolate challah or the apple pie challah that I had last night at our friends' Rosh Hashana dinner! 

As I mentioned in my last post, I haven't blogged in awhile, not because I hadn't created but because I am learning. I've been somewhat obsessed with learning to be looser in drawing and painting because I love the look! I'm taking three classes (I told you I'm obsessive), two by Marc Taro Holmes and one by Liz Steel. Both are known for urban sketching, where they go out and sketch and paint live. And though I may not be interested in sitting in the hot Arizona sun just so I can create art, I'm really interested in the process of creating loose, interpretive art that capture the essence of my subject. And I can tell you that this is going to be tough for me. For one, I'm a control freak. It's tough letting go the notion of controlling my medium because watercolors have a mind of its own. I'm also still learning about color and you either need a good understanding of manipulating colors or you have to have an intuitive sense of using colors to add depth. Yeah, neither describes me. 

I drew this from a reference photo I found online and worked from gesture lines I created.

This helped me to place the kids and also helped me to see them in action. The rest of the drawing was done quickly, marking areas of shadows. The watercolor wash was done quickly too, focusing on light and shadows. 

Next, I tried drawing a structure.. My house! This was tough! I know a bit about perspective but trying to get angles correct drove me nuts!

This was my first attempt.. It's difficult to tell what's in foreground and what's in background because my color values are all the same.

With my second attempt, I think I did a better job with the house, but the landscaping still needs work. And part of my problem is that I'm too worried about the microscopic details and totally missing the macroscopic feel.

Here are few more pictures of my class submissions. I get frustrated, I see glimpse of hope, and I'm learning.