I’ve been avoiding watercolours for ages - there were attempts to get into it but I never produced something good by itself; i had to add ink or other medium to feel good-. This is my reference sheet. I experiment with the brush that mini-water-container, the regular brush, with paste watercolour and cubes water colour. Each has its own feeling. While mixing colour, I found it interesting to see the results on the sheet. I wasn’t satisfy with the tone mixing, I felt there was something wrong with the grey. However, after I left the sheet, went away, and came back I was fully satisfied with the tone and tint. Looking at the shades, I think my hesitation is visible n all of the shades, most probably I had fear of ruining the colour with the black - and so I did ruin the sheet because I brushed over it twice or more. I guess this is a very sensitive medium, if i’m to use it I have to understand all my tools’s pros and cons; that goes for the brushes, colours, sheets and the WATER - yes, I need to understand how the water interacts with the tools. I fell in love with the brush which has been recommended for the class. In fact, I bought 4 types ages ago but I never used them. This session motivated me to try them - and now I know I’ll stick with it!

1. It was my first experience with watercolors and I enjoyed them very much. I liked to experimetn the tint, tone and shade and to find different colors. By experimenting many possibilities I realised I tend to experiment with dark colors even if I would like to have more lighter colors. In the future I want to use more white and yellow to see how things work. I struggle to make violet. I truly enjoyed this exercise very much.

This was a labor that wore me out. I have never been successful at drawing and painting, primarily because I could never keep my attention focused long enough to complete a project ... ADD or whatever, but I stuck with it until I couldn't any longer. I am happy with what I accomplished, but I wanted it to be better, but I reached the point of No More so I quit. I have never followed a photograph that so clearly showed so many specific feathers and it was overwhelming. Matching colors is a beautiful mystery, so much to know and so many possibilities.  Thank you for looking.  

XX My son created this color pallet from the Mountain photo and forgot to draw the picture with it 😂

1. Taking this course is my first experience with watercolors, although before beginning working on this course I tried out the brush & just using the colors in the set as they were on a couple of drawings. I really love the brush with this set & the water in the brush instead of using the traditional brush & watercolors. This way is much easier than the other at being able to control the amounts of color applied on the brush & the fact that you don’t have to pre-wet the paper, which is always difficult for me with traditional watercolors. 2. I have created a 150 color palette 🎨 chart for my whole set of 30 colors; as is on the original palette, as tints, tones with Payne’s Gray, tones with 1/2 white & 1/2 Payne’s Gray, and shades. I haven’t done a subject yet, because I was curious to the outcome of the 30 color palette breakdown first. Not sure yet on all the colors, especially when it comes to the making of shades. That one is very tricky with adding the black. I need to work on that part still. 3. Actually while focusing on the colors for the Grey-crowned Rosy Finch (Hepburn’s) I was noticing that it was more of a tints color palette bird compared to the original colors palette. I’m seeing birds at my feeders in palettes of color based on original, tints, tones, & shades now.

I had fun doing this, but might try again now that I have seen the next lecture on the three ways to lay down watercolor.  It was fun to mix the colors.  I actually created a reference with all the colors in my box with a few of their tints, tones and shades.  It is interesting to see the color bias that comes through when adding white, gray and black.....it sure can reveal the other colors that make up the other hues.  Thanks for this lesson it was fun.

I used other references for this activity. It was my first time using watercolors and it was fun but also challenging trying to get the colors matching the photograph

This is the first time I used watercolors since middle school in the 70's.  You can tell I'm much more interested and spent more time on the bird (finch) than the landscape.  I'm actually kind of amazed on how well the Rosy Finch came out.  The Landscape was extremely challenging for me and did not come out how I would've liked.  

I figure everyone could use a laugh just now, so I will share my tale of inattentive shopping. I have retired to Monteverde, Costa Rica and signed up for this class because I finally had the time to delve into watercolor painting. When I was in the states last Christmas, I dashed to Michael's arts and craft store to buy my supplies. I was in a hurry to get my shopping done so I could break my granddaughter out of daycare early. I asked the nice clerk if they had Sakura 24 color pocket Field Sketch Box watercolor sets. He found one for me, and I quickly purchased it, an extra brush and watercolor sketchbook. Living in rural Costa Rica, I often don't have a strong enough internet signal to stream the videos for this course, so I have been making my way through this course very slowly. Imagine my surprise and consternation when I finally opened my watercolor set and realized that I had purchased a "Creative Art Colors" kit with a metallic, pearlescent and fluorescent palette! NOT what I was expecting! It will be fine for painting some of the magnificent birds and flowers here, but my color mixing adventure will be very different from yours. The biggest drawback is that my kit has no black or gray. The darkest color is bright purple. I think I can purchase a child's watercolor set the next time I go into Santa Elena for groceries and solve that problem. I need much practice, but will share my paintings along the way. (These will also give you a good laugh, I think!)

My husband and I travelled to Delaware in Nov. 2019. We stopped at Kent Island for lunch. Since this assignment involved a landscape and a bird, I decided to do this instead.

I also found the landscape to be very challenging.  The addition of black lines was particularly jarring.  I completed the course but there was not a discussion of how to use the black pen.  Any comments would be appreciated....  Love this course!  Going over the lessons a second time and just keeping at it is very helpful.

I took a water color class decades ago and haven't done anything in years. I have forgotten everything, but love color and experimenting. I think I've got to control my water better because I have lots of blobs. Looking forward to learning more techniques! Love the colors in the Wasatch Mountain picture - the trees and trying to make anything resemble the picture was hard!

It is not my first time with watercolours, but it wouldn't be also the first time I get frustrated trying to convey something on the paper and not happening like I wanted. The bird was actually not that hard, but I was tired and lack of patience made it worse than it should be. However I'm hopeful I'll improve through the next lessons as I improved with my drawings!

I found the landscape harder than the birds. This is my first introduction to watercolours and I really love how the colours can bring the sketches alive. This is a combination of watercolour pencils and watercolours. When I initially bought the paint set for this course, I accidentally got the irridescent sparkly paint set but I've found a good subject to test out those sparkly watercolours!

I have taken a one day workshop in watercolor to expose people to the basics before they commit to a full class.  I enjoyed the workshop and did some practicing at home. I really liked the tutorial and found it very helpful . Mixing colors is difficult for me.  The practice palettes was a very helpful exercise.  I found it easier to "play " with mixing colors when it was an exercise as opposed to an actual painting.  I was a bit easier for me to try various color combinations and began to see the colors more .

My first water color attempt.  Many errors, but at least it is a start. I usually paint in acrylics, so this was quite a challenge.  I will try again later.  Practice makes it better, I hope.

Besides childhood, I have only played with watercolors twice. It didn't go well. I feel I add too much water? I feel like it was what I remember. I do like the water brush, it is my first time using that. I find that I have trouble with like my brush lines. I am not sure how to show layers and textures. I am happy to learn and happy to try out again. Can't wait to get more tips in the next lessons. I did the photos provided. I do notice I am looking at the placement of the colors more. On the bird I didn't notice all the pink at first. Great way of learning field markers. 

I tried to duplicate the two sample watercolors. I had to wait for the watercolors to come because I was coloring with pastels and colored pencils. I have not done a watercolor in over 50 years. Here are my uploads.  I had difficulty with the landscape as I realize I do not know how to make brush strokes to achieve the affect you want.    Carol

This was a challenging and rather intimidation exercise. I haven’t tried watercolor for years — I am very rusty and stiff. I nerd to loosen up. There’s not way I can paint in the field the way I was trying to do for this painting — no way I will be able to see the details as one scan when studying a still picture. I need to practice gestures, quicker color notes. Built I did discover last of patterns and nuances that I would never have appreciated without being forced to translate what I saw to the page.

I found it easier to work with the muted colors than the saturated colors.

I love the water filled brush.  Never used them before.  I haven’t painted a water color in 25-30 years.  Rediscovering the fun during this pandemic is an amazing experience.  Thank you so much!

I need to work on actually painting, but I love making colors. I used to spend a lot of time color matching paint colors to the photographs I took of landscapes. This reminded me of a time in my childhood when I took time out to paint. I'm enjoying this part of the course so far!