I have been dabbling in watercolor painting since last year. I have taken three workshops with Ray Snouffer here at Howard's Art in Hagerstown, MD. I also have painted on my own and at a community center nearby.
This particular painting that I recently did was a homework assignment and came from a photograph provided by the instructor. We were not allowed to use pencil to draw it first. We were supposed to focus on adding detail to the foreground and less detail to the background. My biggest issue was the negative spaces between the yellow leaves and not having the ivory black paint seep into the yellow flowers, as I did the dark colors last. The best way to view this is to step back and see the whole picture.
The brushes I used were called "Silver," which is a blend of squirrel and synthetic, and the paper was Master's Touch, which is not cotton, but I had run out of the cotton paper so I used what I had to work with. The watercolor paints I used were from Schmincke and Renesense. I also added some Grumbacher to it.
I realized that painting relaxes me, and it feels good to become tuned into nature. My work as an online professor of English classes has me focused on the computer for stretches at a time. So this is a nice respite and eases my eyes from the computer screen. I will try and do this more often, as time permits.
I have ordered the Arches 100% cotton and hope to use it in the near future.
