It’s fun and meditative to sketch everyday scenes. If your subject is stationary, you can sketch from life. But if people or vehicles are moving, it helps to snap a photo. I usually start an outline in pen and pencil, and then add watercolor.
Today (March 20th) is the spring solstice. All around us, the earth is reawakening, grass is greening, birds are headed north, baby animals will soon be born. These sheep will soon be joined by lambs.
Pen, pencil, colored pencil, water-soluble crayon, watercolor.
Many people who paint with oils and acrylics — which are easy to correct — find watercolor intimidating. Watercolor’s virtues are portability, ease of setup, lack of fumes or toxicity, and the translucence of the white paper shining through. The magic (and frustration) of watercolor is that when two wet areas touch, the paint flows between them. Wet paint is attracted to other wet areas, but it won’t go into dry areas. Here, after painting the top half, I “painted” the bottom half with clean water and let the paint do its thing.
