‪Behold … one 16 sheet, 32 page, 3.5″x5″, refillable watercolor sketchbook, currently filled with 140 lb Arches cold pressed paper.‬ When life gives you a sketchbook filled with crappy paper, do something about it!

I’m continuing to play with watercolors while ignoring my poor tubes of acrylics. I’m really enjoying the watercolors too. In ways I never loved acrylics. Maybe it’s just a “new hotness” factor, or maybe I found a medium I can 100% enjoy working with. Only time will tell.

I started this little thing yesterday and finished it a little while ago. It’s the first watercolor I’ve done where I had a plan and attempted to follow the plan. Didn’t turn out quite as planned. Lost control of it all at the center of the bud, and I couldn’t quite get the “shadow” areas just the way I wanted them. Also, I should have erased my sketch more before starting. I could barely see the lines, but once I painted over them, they seemed really dark. Oops. All the same, I’ve only been using watercolors for about two months, so I’m going to cut myself s little slack. I did learn a lot while working on this, and that’s what is really important right now. I’m really, REALLY enjoying them though.

In other watercolor news, I bought myself a small mixing set of some professional grade paints (have been using student grade), so I’m looking forward to seeing how they work. In fact, here in a few minutes, I’m going to go swatch them!