Can I Paint?

I have a board on Pinterest called “Can I Paint?” It’s where I keep all kinds of things I think I SHOULD be able to paint, or that I’d really like to be able to paint.

I don’t have much talent for painting. But I’ve always wanted to do some watercolors. I’ve finally dipped my brush in the water.

A few weeks ago, some friends and I had our “Second Thanksgiving,” something we do every year, typically between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We do a full thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings, and combine it with some kind of crafty activity, and a nice field run for the dogs after dinner.

This time we tried watercolors. We ordered some kits online that were complete with paint, paper and instructions for a painting. My kit was a landscape.

It was pretty simple and it wasn’t bad for my first time out. I did learn a few things. I learned that this is NOT my color palette.  I learned that it’s really hard to control where watercolors go on the page. They just sort of want to go all over the place! I learned that less is more.

But what this did do for me was to solidify my desire to try some more painting. So I’ve been looking at watercolor instructions and tutorials on the internet, and I felt confident enough to strike out. So I went online a few nights ago and bought some paints.

The next day I realized that I didn’t have any watercolor paper. But I do have a LOT of blank note cars just begging for watercolor.

The paints arrived today, so after I got my chores done tonight I pulled them out and dug in. I wanted to paint something simple… something that I could do several of to help me build some skills. So I decided to paint a radish.

This is my second radish, painted on a note card.

Not bad for someone who has never painted a radish with watercolor until tonight!

Here’s my first radish:

And the first and second radishes side by side for comparison. I definitely did a better job on radish number two. I know which one I’d rather eat!

I’ve already ordered some watercolor paper. I have a few ideas rolling around in my head for my next attempt. I can’t wait to get some fun color on the page!