My very first attempt at portrait painting in watercolor, which I made a couple of days ago.

Gloomy clouds that I think, actually could use maybe some blues or purples to express more gloom

Some purple tulips loose florals

And I can’t say enough how important the paper is. I now use the brand Arches because it holds a lot of water. But I guess, it really depends on what you want to paint. I find that after using Arches, I have become more flexible in using other types of paper. I can adapt the strength of the color and the amount of water to the type of paper I am using. I guess it also comes down to experience and practice. Speaking of which…

I think it took me a week before I got the hang of painting tulips

You don’t know what painstaking efforts go into the creation of a painting. First, you have to be in the mood. Then, you need to check the colors, how they mix and which ones work best together and not create a muddy dirty look when combined. And then, which paper, etc., etc.

Up to this moment, I still haven’t finished my banana leaves painting. These are all just practice.

Yellow is really hard to paint

One of the most challenging subjects to paint for me is anything yellow. I am totally obsessed with daffodils, and I have enjoyed painting some. These took a couple of days to paint.

Studying the structure, shapes, colors of the flowers, stem and leaves. I really enjoyed this.

Watercolor painting is a lot of effort. But I find it so therapeutic. I love how the water just flows, most of the time, out of your control. It’s unpredictable sometimes and you get a lot of “happy accidents”, as Bob Ross would say. 🙂

I had a fun time experimenting with gouache painting poppies on thin, postcard papers.

Remembering how my very first painting looked like from a tutorial, makes me feel so proud of how far I have come into this artistic exploration.

My very first loose florals from an art book tutorial. I was using cheap paint back then. Colors weren’t so vibrant.

Right now, I’m mostly doing postcards of florals and maybe some landscapes of my old travel photos or maybe even some portraits if people would request for it. I’d be selling some in an upcoming Filipino community gathering here in our locality.

An unfinished postcard painting from my recent trip to Amsterdam — the view of the famous canal from my friend’s apartment window.

Loose florals pink blooms on postcard paper

Tulips are my favorite subjects

My roses need to be less intense but I still like how this came out

I’m also contemplating to digitize someday my paintings and sell them online. It wouldn’t be such a bad idea for a sideline, I would say. But still not so sure about this. Still need to do lots of research, etc if it’s feasible.

That’s all for now, cheerios! 🙂