Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Day 1 of 21: Every which way

Just tonight, I joined a 21-day creative exercise to draw for 15 min each day thanks to Kate Rietz who told me about the challenge and Alicia Padron and Gina Kelly for inviting all of us to join in. Thanks Kate, Alicia, and Gina!

For my very first exercise, I decided I wanted to watch watercolors. Not paint mind you, just watch. I am deathly afraid of letting my watercolors do what they are supposed to do, like move and flow and blend. So, I quickly drew out an iris and dabbed watercolor ... a little blue there, a little red there, a little yellow and green ... some water ... and watched the orchestra of colors converge, mesh, blend, muddy, diverge! Wow! It was better than the movies!

Of course, my retentive side got the best of me and I busted out my black pen and drew in the outlines after it dried as if to confine the colors again. I have issues. LOL. I guess that's something I'll have to work on and this exercise will undoubtedly help. Wish me luck! :)

11 comments:

Kathleen Rietz said...

Actually, the heavy black outline reminds me of a stained glass! Very cool, Joan. Congrats on your 1st post.

Joan Y said...

Thanks Kate! It was a lot of fun! Thanks for the tip!

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you're joining in the fun too! Watercolors are scary and mesmerizing at the same time, aren't they? I thought the same thing as Kate, it feels like stained glass, nice!

Tom Barrett said...

Agree with Kate as well. I think the black lines enhance the colors. Interesting way to create... let the colors work their magic, and then define the subject. This would be a great way to do a color study before a larger painting, allowing you to see color ideas that you might have missed had you painted defined colors inside the lines.

Susan's Scribbles said...

Joan, you are too funny! This is very pretty. I love how you allowed the colors to do their thing. And I like the black lines too.

Unknown said...

Welcome to the Exercise and what a wonderful post for day 1....I look forward to more of your art!

Joan Y said...

Thanks Gina, Tom, Susan, and Diana! I can feel my creative juices flow already and in only 15 min! Wow!

Paola De Gaudio said...

You describe the experience in such a nice way that makes me want to give my watercolors another chance:)
Beautiful work!
Welcome!

sheree boyd said...

very lovely

Joan Y said...

Thanks Paola and Sheree! Watercolors are amazing, aren't they?

Anonymous said...

I know exactly what you mean about not letting watercolors do what they do. My teeth set on edge just thinking about letting go and experimenting. This is wonderful.