Friday, December 11, 2015

Masking Tips and Tricks For Watercolor Still-Life Paintings

Ten years ago, I absolutely was terrified of watercolors. They were so permanent. And I was so impulsive. These two forces contrasted into terrible, overworked, muddy messes.

But then, over the past couple of years, something happened. I became less impulsive and started to work on trusting myself. I went back to basics and did the very thing my first and greatest teacher told me to do. I was four years old.


"How do you draw, daddy?"

"Well..." he looked at me with a light in his eyes and placed an orange-flavored Tang bottle in front of me along with a piece of computer paper and a pencil. 

"Draw exactly what you see," he instructed. And that I did.

When we see truth without filters, creativity becomes natural.
My family was astounded to see I drew not just the outline of the bottle, but the label, the different parts to the lid and every detail I could see. To me, it was like putting together a puzzle and I was completely immersed in it for two hours. The fact that it impressed my dad made me so happy because I was in awe of the two paintings I saw of his. To me, he was the most amazing artist alive.