I can finally watercolor!

What a summer I have had. Working every day can get quite overwhelming at times. You feel drained and not inspired to do anything creative in the after hours. After finishing work, I would be lucky to have time to shower, do some laundry, prepare lunch for the next day, and maybe do some skincare to make me feel better.

Being the active and productive person that I am, I knew that I had to be doing something else with my time, even though It seemed like I was too busy. At the beginning of summer, I found myself watching videos on how to use watercolors and how to do urban sketches. The last time that I had held a paintbrush was ten years ago. It was for an oil painting that my mom asked to place in her living room. (pretty cool, I know) Watercolors have seemed too childish to me, so I have never tried them. That was all before this summer. I found out that you can use watercolors in so many ways, and it can elevate your drawing into something multidimensional.

After doing some research, I ordered beginner watercolor paints and a small brush set. I was ready.

During my break at work, I sat down and watched "how to use watercolors" videos on youtube. The one channel that helped me so much was Peter Sheeler. His approach made it seem so easy and he offers step by step tutorials which were the best way to learn how to mix urban sketching with watercolors.

I started by following his instructions while I was learning how to implement his advice into my original works. ( still struggling with that) I prepared myself that it would take time and I would need to be patient and keep working on getting better. After copying his techniques and finishing my first sketchbook, it was time to figure out how to recreate a painting without the step by step tutorial.

I turned to Pinterest. Selected some watercolor paintings and put them on my board. It was time to start my second sketchbook. Started feeling the pressure, because I was supposed to be good by now. So my first drawing without a step by step tutorial was a fail. The fear of ruining my sketchbook made me ruin my first pages. After some tryouts, I was able to understand that I can create my step by step rules. Peter Sheeler had his way, but that doesn't mean that Keisi needs to be like him. The beauty of watercolors is that they allow you to be playful and carefree. You can use your own methods, being that wet on wet, wet on dry, or dry on wet. I was able to get my confidence back, as soon as I trusted my brush and played around with the colors.

Perfection doesn't exist, so that means that I still need to practice and get better in so many ways. but that wasn't the reason why I started painting with watercolors. I was my way to stop time to get into my bubble. It made me so much more relaxed and gave me tranquility.

Saying that I am thankful that I picked on watercolors this summer and added another skill to my resume.

This is my VLOG where I show you my sketches. (don't judge 🤣)