I took a "watercolor in a day" class at Saginaw State yesterday --- it ran from 9 - 3. The instructor, Rosemary Hayes, demonstrated her techniques for mixing colors, making water and trees, and chatted about other classes available. She chatted a bit then chatted some more ... and at 1:00 I texted Mike that we had not yet wet our watercolor brushes.
We did a lot of color theory and mixed colors on palette paper. I did learn that Arches Watercolor 140# pound paper is the best, and that you can paint using just Pthtalo Blue, Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Red and Alizarin Crimson. She gave us some violet to use for shadows although she said we could mix it easily enough.
At 2:15 we finally started our watercolor! What you see here is not what I accomplished in that final 45 minutes; it is what I finished by 7 pm when Mike came home and I proudly put it up on a magnet on the fridge.
I am not happy with the sand and rocks on the breakwater, but a bit afraid to make things worse.
I also am debating keeping its place on the fridge or actually getting it framed since my friend Amy's birthday is soon and she loves lighthouses. Unfortunately the paper we used is 10 x 14 and our instructor later told us that common frame sizes are either 9 x 12 or 11 x 14 so this would be a custom frame. Just WHY would they sell watercolor pads of paper in a non-standard frame size is beyond me.
