Online Watercolor For CardMakers Class:
Pre-Class "Homework"
I decided to try my hand at an Online card making class. I've taken craft classes at various times before, from knitting and dyeing to card making. And while I still enjoy the Stampin' Up demos I regularly attend--I generally find that I learn the most by doing it on my own at my own pace in the peace and quiet of my own craft space. I will spare you the story of my 'traumatic' kindergarten coloring experience, but that early humiliation by my 'teacher' (and I hesitate to call her that) definitely left me 'artistically challenged' for many many years. So, I thought it was time to try something a little new--and see what an online class might hold for me.
Watercolor? I must be crazy. Freehand anything is beyond my ability. Ask anyone who has been forced to see me draw pie charts or graphs on a chalkboard--they will immediately volunteer my inability to draw a straight line, much less a stick figure human that actually LOOKS like a STICK figure. BUT... watercolor is forgiving, right?
So I thought about it and thought about it and decided to roll the dice and see what happens. I KNOW I'll learn a lot. The question is whether I'll actually be able to create anything that looks good enough for anything. Here is the link to the class description page if you are interested in seeing what it is I've gotten myself into.
I spent this weekend watching all the pre-class videos (several times) and doing what they told me. Here's what happened:
Step One: PLAY with my mediums. Hey! I can do that!
I dug out all my water solubles, and WOW. I have a lot more than I thought I did. Thank you to Mom and Grandma (whom I miss terribly) who have passed along all their craft and art supplies they no longer use. I found the ones I really enjoyed playing with were the watercolor pencil set that I've never used (72 colors!! I love color!) and finding out how well my Stampin' Up markers (I got for half price when the week I hosted stamp club hit $400 sales. Yippee!) interacted with water. I also played with combining some regular water colors with each other to see how well mixed together... can you guess how many times I made a new Brown color? I had fun playing, anyway! Check out all the swatches I made up above. At least you can say I was thorough. Funny, I just like looking at these. I LOVE color! or did I say that already?
Step Two: Try my hand at a plaid background. Loved the demo video! hmmmm... I can do that!
I used my new set of Sakura Koi Watercolors in the Pocket Field Sketch Box. I'm really glad I got this set for this class (love Hobby Lobby 40% off coupons!) Its so cute and compact. I channeled my inner 80's yuppie by trying Kelly green, pink and grey. I don't think I did too badly for my first time! (from L-R, Top-Bottom in colors--that's 10, 16 & 23 on my swatch chart) I added a hint of white to my first pink swathes. Can you tell I ran out of color and had to mix a little more pink? (top and right stripes!) forgot to add that hint of white again, didn't I?
Plaid take 2:
Thought I'd try using some distress inks here. NOT so pleased with how this one turned out. These are my favorite 3 distress colors together: Mustard Seed, Peacock Feathers and Picked Raspberry. But, c'est la vie. Not the right medium for this technique (this is why we play, right?) Too bright for a background, and no matter how much water I added to these I couldn't tone them down. I Could have tried using distress markers, yes--I know. But I just wanted to see how this would work. On the other hand, it might make an interesting die cut.
Plaid Take 3:
Back to the Sakura Koi. And I think I like this one best.
Blue, Yellow and Grey (on my swatch chart that's 15, 2 and 23) I like how this one turned out. I especially like to find out that when I really try--I CAN almost draw a straight line. After all, it looks better when its NOT perfect, right?
Tomorrow is Day 1 of class. Can't wait to see what it brings!
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