Watercolor and Ink Practice Whale and Bird

Charlie Eve Ryan · 6 Feb 2016, 23:24

Watercolor and ink practice sketchbook...it is SO hard and fun and frustrating I'm trying to stay loose but things can go south so quickly. Hopefully someday I will overcome and we can be friends...for now it is a strong love/hate thing. Anyone else find this to be the case?

mag · 6 Feb 2016, 23:35

@Charlie-Eve-Ryan Yes! I just love how soft and saddle watercolor can be... But, all my life, I was painting with acrylics, which is soooo different, learning the rules for watercolor is quite difficult, but very interesting... Like discovering entirely new world.
I love the whale - the looseness and how the colors 'flow'.

shinjifujioka · 6 Feb 2016, 23:57

I hope you continue to post the progress in your watercolor journey. It really is a medium I want to be able to utilize. I tried my hand at it not too long ago, and was quite disappointed with my final result. What you have here is leagues ahead of the muddy mess that I managed to make, haha.

Charlie Eve Ryan · 7 Feb 2016, 00:01

Thanks @Mag and @shinjifujioka! Glad I am not the only one, it is a fun journey and yes very much like discovering a new world. I tried to fix the whale's mouth shape a bit added some splatter too. @shinjifujioka you should get back at it, I would love to see it!

7 Feb 2016, 00:34

This post is deleted!

Charlie Eve Ryan · 7 Feb 2016, 00:40

Thanks @Damien-Rambacher
Btw, this whale is not my design. It is a practice run after I watched this video by an artist name Coco Bee. I really love how bold and loose she goes with her color.
As you can see her work is gorgeous!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrYG_zHspSk

I did the same thing with her piece as what I did with @Lee-White's piece from the other night. I watched the video, shut it down and tried to recreate the feeling of it. I am finding these exercises to be really helpful because they allow me to loosen up and not necessarily over think any thing too much.

Charlie Eve Ryan · 7 Feb 2016, 01:03

Here is my second run at her whale. This time I think I got a better grasp on the shape and movement of the whale.

Watercolor Whale practice exercise round 2

Charlie Eve Ryan · 7 Feb 2016, 02:32

Last one for tonight. Pumpkin

Charlie Eve Ryan · 7 Feb 2016, 14:18

This morning's watercolor sketch. A flower-ish...I like the color vibrancy and looseness but I lost control of the shape.

Dulcie · 7 Feb 2016, 17:02

@Charlie-Eve-Ryan Hard and fun and frustrating is a good combination of words to describe watercolour! I feel the same way about it...but the results can be so beautiful I keep being drawn back to it...and you should feel really pleased, these are lovely! Very loose and expressive,...I particularly like your second whale, the way the colours meld and blend is just lovely

Did you see that they've put Lee White's Watercolour class in the calendar? (May 29th and July 26th) Should be good!

Shannon Perkins · 7 Feb 2016, 16:30

@Charlie-Eve-Ryan These sketches are beautiful! I haven't worked in watercolors for a very, very long time, but I really admire people that do. One of the best things about watercolors is the fact that it's so chaotic and raw. There's a vibrancy to the colors and beauty in the bleeding that you don't get with other mediums. It looks like you're starting to get the hang of it, so keep going!

Charlie Eve Ryan · 7 Feb 2016, 22:31

Thanks so much Dulcie and Shannon. I am really looking forward to Lee's class, thanks for the heads up. I'll mark my class!

bharris · 8 Feb 2016, 16:06

I love you'r color choices on these!