Got a request from my daughter's teacher to do a sketch from a photo. I recently discoverd Tim Souers' Cubby Blue blog where he does watercolors concerning all things Chicago Cubs. They are very well done and really exploit the abilities of watercolor in a small format. I decided to try a watercolor rather than pencil sketch for the teacher's photo and spent a couple hours last night giving it a go. Fortunately, I had my 6-year old son at the table who was also creating a watercolor (until the urge to go play with his friends took over).
I think I was successful capturing the likeness of the three people in the photo, but I was reminded how I never really had a true knack for watercolors. The final image is over-worked in a few spots. The water is rather flat and lifeless. I think I should have used a larger brush in places too. It takes a special skill to really work it properly. I've never really taken the time to develop my skills with watercolor, but since it is so easy to clean up, and relatively quick to perform, I'd like to try it more often. I'd also like to try some higher quality paper.
I'm going camping this Memorial Weekend and will try and take the watercolors with me to do a couple small paintings. It's supposed to rain one evening, so maybe that will help whatever image I'm working on at the time!
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