Lady sings the blues ...

I wasn't going to write this post, but bin my latest watercolour exercise, which was an optional bit of homework. But I can only learn from my mistakes, nothing is perfect the first time (usually!), and a problem shared  ...

This extra piece of homework involved drawing a face, then painting it in one colour, in layers, to build up to five tonal values.

First mistake - I decided to use Cobalt Blue - and then discovered it is very grainy paint (some watercolours can be quite granular), but having spent a couple of hours drawing the face with all the tonal contour lines, I had to stick with that colour.

I also chose to do it in A3, and the paper I used was quite rough, so being grainy paint, it settled very quickly into all the dimples!

Granular paint + quite a rough watercolour paper = help!

Anyway, I persevered and finished it. I think she looks pretty upset about the whole thing - I know how she feels!

Another problem I encountered is lines within my washes - today, in class, I found out my synthetic brushes would be better swopped with real hair ones, which hold more water and release it slower onto the paper.

So, I've now ordered some (very expensive) new brushes!

Maybe when I've recovered from this little misadventure I'll repeat the exercise with a smoother paper and a non-grainy colour - with my new brushes!

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.
Albert Einstein