A C Moore called and told me that the watercolor set I ordered had arrived, so we made a quick trip to pick it up.  I was so excited to give it a try so as soon as I got home, I filled the pen with water and turned on my computer to the tutorial Lindsay did of a small water scene.  She made it look really easy, but of course, it wasn’t.  I had trouble following which colors she was mixing and how much water to use and couldn’t make thin lines like she did.  In the end, I took some colors and made a lovely abstract watercolor of nothing with a  great background color, mud.  You knew it was coming and there it is.  I have no idea how to blend effectively and used way too much water.  Lindsay said she’d used that tube of water in her water brush on three different paintings.  It didn’t last through the small mess I made, so obviously I don’t know how much water is too much, but am definitely using too much.

Oh well, it was just a first attempt.  I have a really pressing question though, that I’d like an answer for…I realize “real artists” don’t use the blacks that come in watercolor sets, but if there is a black included, why mix a bunch or a couple of colors to create black?  Isn’t black, black?  It’s really been bothering me when Lindsay tries out these sets of watercolors that come with a black.  Is it cheating to use black if it’s provided?  Or is it the mark of a true artist if they refuse to use the black in a set?  These are the pressing questions that keep me awake at night (or I’m just curious about, you be the judge.)

So I’d like to attach a photo of my first watercolor, but that would only reinforce the idea that I have absolutely no artistic skills unless the image is already stamped and I just color it in.  I’m going to continue to work on my watercolor skills, maybe next time I’ll watercolor on a stamped image which would at least give me a fighting chance at having something that looks like an adult colored it. Then again, maybe not.

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