Back to my roots!

Well, in a manner of speaking because watercolours were the first thing I remember using when I was painting as a child. (I even posted some of those same paintings here!) Anyway, still inspired by Billy Showell's DVD, I followed it, using my own turnip, to paint this. I've written about the colours used over on my other blog if anyone is interested. My turnip looked a bit different to hers in shape and colour so I followed her colours and techniques up to a point and then did a little improvising to give it a more yellow glow.

Before that, I've been doing loads of doodling - playing with colours and how they mix, how much water to use etc. I feel that doodling helps a lot even though it might look silly. I was actually considering starting another blog (just for myself) to keep a track of all the things I'm learning as there is so much to take in - and so much to forget!

I took inspiration from Nina Johansson who often takes a page and does a little drawing every day for a week to complete it if time is short. I used a page in my large Moleskine watercolour sketchbook and just added to it. It's funny to see what develops - I've no idea where those little circles with the hole came from but they were lovely to do and to see how colours mixed. I discovered how less paint but more glazes can really intensify colours. I discovered a brush I'd forgotten buying, by Raphael, that I really like using (moving away from brushes I had previously thought I 'should' like) and I'm getting a feel for the colours in different brands and which ones I prefer.