Watercolor

I was searching Google for quotes about watercolor…I don’t know why…maybe because watercolors are so amazing and inspirational, so I thought maybe there would be an inspirational quote about them? Anyway I found this one:

“Watercolor is like life. Better get it right the first time – you don’t get a second chance!” -Sergei Bongart

To be honest, I find this quote hilarious because it’s absolutely 100% false. Well, at least the part about life being like watercolor. Please let me be the one to tell you, that you doget a second chance at life. You get a million chances at life. Everyday is a new day. We have many many chances at life to improve and change and get better and live. And then when we die, we keep on living – in Heaven. So there’s that. Don’t ever give up.

But the second part is kinda true. But only kinda. I mean, it is easier to fix a mistake with watercolors than it is with a sharpie. You just add water and dab it off…I don’t know. I works for me. It doesn’t look perfect but it’ll do. I usually sketch out what I’m going to paint before I actually paint it, and the scariest part is adding the paint, because it’s mostly true, once you’ve started, it’s on. For good.

I don’t really know what got me into watercolors. Honestly, I just asked for some paper, paint and brushes for Christmas last year and started going for it. I have no idea what I’m doing. Pinterest is great for inspiration. I remember taking Art in 8th grade. My teacher was a funny red-head with a huge purple birthmark on his arm. I remember an assignment he gave was to take something from Pop Culture and paint it in multiple color variations like, monochromatic, analogous, I forget the others…haha! I need to go dig them out of the attic. In fact, I will. They are classic.

Here are most of my watercolor paintings I have done.

We finally painted and decorated our bathroom in the basement after 15 years, and my mom wanted me to make something we could hang on the wall. Let me tell you, it’s actually really hard to think of a saying or quote to go in a bathroom! For a while all I could think of was, “Please flush.” or “Wash your hands.” or “Aim high. Dream high.” I was stumped. Anyway, the painting above is the final product. ^

I’m going there someday. Actually in a few days.^

I was trying to design something for my mission blog, and the picture on the left was my first shot. Don’t worry. I tried again. You’ll see the real thing a few pictures down.

The picture on the right was a gift for my mom on Mother’s Day, in case that wasn’t clear. It’s from a real picture of us sitting on our hammock. Don’t worry, my head is not usually that huge. ^

This family has a special place in my heart. ^

I surprised my lady friend with this one. There’s something about painting families that I absolutely love. ^

Art class with my girls, once upon a time.^

The painting on the left was one of the first, if not the first things I painted. I love it. I love how the colors blend together – total accident! I’m telling you, I’m not that talented. These watercolors most of the time just do their own thing! And that quote. I love that too. And the man who said it. The picture on the right was more of an experiment than a work of art. I was experimenting with blending and different shades, and avoiding painting in certain areas, and painting words in general. Too much experimenting for one painting. But that quote is so true and it was something that was on my mind at the time that I painted it. ^

My heart. I’m so excited. ^

So this is what my mission blog design actually turned out to be. I started out with the left picture and then arranged everything in Photoshop. I knew I would mess it up if I did it any other way. Ha. If you want to see my new blog for all my mission emails, click here! There aren’t any letters there yet, cause I’m still here…duh. But I would LOVE it if you read them and maybe even write me an occasional letter while you’re at it once I do leave! ^

I sent this to my sister when she was on her mission. I figured the quote would apply, as she was speaking Spanish as a second language. Sometimes a simple smile is enough to get a message across. ^