Hello friends,
How are y’all doing? (This is me practicing my Texan accent ;) )
After hitting by Covid, I finally had time to pick up my watercolor and acrylic sets (the only thing I still had some energy for last week). This issue is about what I made during this downtime.
But first, the podcast I recorded with my partner Paul on Pathless Path was freshly published today!
Pathless Path Podcast Fun
It’s probably one of the most fun convos I had with him (in front of others). Felt so good to be me on a podcast interview (as compared to the one we did in Mexico two years ago). We chatted about our journey (mostly mine) over the last two years, including my leaving fitness, moving to the US, enrolling in Write of Passage, finding my community, and my journey as a freelancer.
If you want to see us cry in front of the camera, don’t miss this episode lol
You can listen to the podcast here or watch our youtube video below :)
Finally Started Painting Again
Before, when I lived close to downtown, I would walk 20 mins to the riverside just to do some botanical drawing. But ever since I moved to the current apartment right on the trail two months ago, I never took out my sketchbook once. I rearranged my supplies multiple times and spent hours reading about what art table I should get. But I just wouldn’t sit down and paint anything.
This happened whenever I stopped painting for a while. When I lose momentum, I fear I can’t paint anything decent anymore. But once I break through the struggle phase, I will get lost in the flow state of painting and go non-stop. Thanks to the abundance of time I got from my COVID, I finally sat down and pick up my paintbrushes again. Here’s a process of my painting creation this week.
Learned from Youtube
I first followed this youtube tutorial and painted my first page with watercolor. It’s super messy, but that’s ok because the whole point is just to start painting something, anything, to build up the momentum.
Created my Own Patterns
From there, I picked the patterns I liked and started experimenting with different combos and colors.
Sought Inspirations in Nature
Then I felt a bit stuck on the shapes, so I went seeking some inspiration on the Lady Bird Lake river trail ( If you see an Asian girl with a big belly randomly squatting down by the trail drawing weeds these days, that’s possibly me )
Experiment with Different Styles
And from there, I got more ideas of what other shapes and patterns are possible and painted the two patterns below. ( I learned the dotted floral pattern from an incredible pattern designer Polina Oshu on Domestika)
Making Art from Natural Elements
I also picked up some leaves on my riverside walk. I remembered seeing other Mandala artist use fall leaves to make beautiful leaf art, so I found some inspiration on Instagram and made my mandala leaves with acrylic.
More stories on how mandala stones helped me start my journey into art as an adult in Mexico in future issues ;)
Combing Watercolor with Line Drawing
Maybe because doing Mandala and listening to Tríos y Boleros Románticos made me miss my time in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca so much, I felt drawn to my memory of my first (and only) time swimming with a sea turtle larger than me on the Oaxaca coast.
I first used watercolor to make the base of the painting. But because I had no clue how to draw a sea turtle, I literally just googled “sea turtle silhouette” and made a contour on my iPad.
I finished it with a splash of gold acrylic on top using an old toothbrush. This is the final result.
Online Course Exercises
I also finally started an online course on creating a color palette I bought a year ago lol This is the first exercise I did playing with warm, cold, and neutral colors.
Domestika is one example how short-form self-paced courses CAN be transformative, esp the courses I took with watercolor artist Ana Victoria. Highly recommended!
Tell me what you think!
That’s it for today! I feel so happy sharing my painting with you - I feel like a kiddo :) I want to make more content like this! Do you like the paintings I shared today? Is there anything you want to learn about? Lemme know!
Thanks for reading & see ya next week!
Angie
YAY ANGIE
Yooo I love your leafs!! :)
Can't wait to play with youu
Beautiful paintings!