Crossposted from Gotham Chick
If you’re a mom to a gradeschooler like I am, you would have received the leftover school supplies from the previous school year the past week. And I’m sure the thought had occurred to you — “What do I do with these school supplies?”
Some of them, like the pencils, can be saved for use next year. Others, like the broken crayons and the used watercolor set are “barely there.”
Watercolor painting is something I’m trying to learn, and since I have no time for lessons, I do a lot of experimenting. I find myself oooohing and ahhhhing over the fabulous works of the people who participate in Julie Fei-Fan Balzer’s Art Journal Every Day challenge that I have been trying to get creative to make up for the lack in artistic talent that all of them ooze.
I got myself a set of hardware brushes from the dollar store and picked one of the smaller one (around an inch wide). How do you create those seamless overlaps of color? My guess was it was the water. Sunday evening saw me cooking arroz a la cubana for dinner, and between letting the viand cook on the stove and preparing the rice cooker, I whipped out my art journal pages and started painting away.
I have to say I was quite happy with the way it came out for a first attempt. I experimented with just pouring watercolor on the sheet and letting is flow this way and that, and even splashing paint drops onto the paper. If it weren’t for the fact that I had to serve dinner, I would’ve painted on and on. Thanks to the summer heat, the watercolor dried rather quickly, and I pressed the crinkly sheets between the mattresses overnight. This morning, they were quite flat and should be easier to work with.
I intend to use some for the art journal and some for cards and scrapbook layouts. I might even experiment with stamping and handprints with Angelo over the weekend.
Pinay New Yorker 