Yesterday was day 1 of my watercolor workshop with Charles Reid. In the morning, he demonstrated how he paints, what he starts with, and how he selects colors, all the things that go into making his work just lovely.
In the afternoon, it was our turn to try a still life, and let me say this one below was actually my FOURTH attempt at getting even close to pure, rich color! So many things were wrong – my back hurt a bit from the 4 hour drive the previous day, I’m not used to behaving in a classroom situation (heehee), and I couldn’t relax and paint like I normally do because I was trying too hard to paint like him!
And, the flyer said to bring colors you are comfortable with. It did not mention that Charles himself would be attempting to use your palette to show you what you are doing wrong!
So, let’s just say my palette didn’t pass muster, as it was too discombobulated for him to use!
(No cerulean, I thought pthalo would work!! Wrong! I think he’s bringing me a palette of his to use today!)
At the end of the day, I decided to practice the same still life in my room, with my ink and unprofessional palette and came up with this:
Eh, not so good. I’d better stick out the rest of the week. No, seriously, it was a great day, and I am looking forward to day 2!
Wish me luck!
