Morning Sketch 1 – Pumpkins

I have been waging a bit of a mental war with myself, and the monkey mind is everywhere and nowhere. Now, though, after devoting myself to several days of following exercises on painting rocks and rugged coastlines with a Shari Blaukopf class, I have at last decided to make watercolor my main medium. Acrylics just do nothing for me, but there is a small love affair beginning with oils. I take an oil painting / acrylic painting class on Tuesday afternoons, and that is where I will continue oils while pursuing watercolors with more focus and less of a scattered approach.

Watercolors have always held sway as a “first love” – partly because they are easy to clean up, partly because they are devilish hard to master. So, with the decision I made this morning, I have decided to try to do a watercolor every day, even if just a small sketch before I begin my day. Today, pumpkins.

I just put some water in a cup, took out a small travel palette with a few colors, grabbed a brush, and started to paint on some student grade paper. Nothing serious! But, at the same time, some thoughts in mind: contrast, hard edges, lost edges, verticals and horizontals, light and shadow, focal point.

Not a great beginning, but fun. Maybe I will paint it again tomorrow . . .