Some Thank-You Flowers...

Where did August go? 

For a brief moment, I thought we were just finishing up 

the delightful Summer Faire class. 

I had a blast as a guest teacher in Junelle's ecourse. 

It's such a joy and privilege to be part of her tribe!

Not to mention how inspired I still am, 

from all of the lovely work that was posted.

For a lot of us, this is the time of year 

that brings a season of change.

The sunlight is changing, 

traffic is picking up, as kids are back in school.

Bands are practicing, 

with anticipation of a fabulous football season.

Summer flowers are saying goodbye 

to make room for Fall blooms.

In this time of transition,  

I'm filled with inspiration...

working hard on creating some online goodness 

for the launch of my official website, 

painting away to fill a gallery show,

and sharing whatever artsy goodness I can 

with all of the lovely supporters 

surrounding me.

Stay tuned for more of that artsy goodness, 

coming down the road...

and enjoy this video I made 

to share with you all

with gratitude….

xo Valerie

At Long Last… and a Video too!

 Finally… at long last… woo hoo!

Thank-you, thank-you, everyone... for being patient with me.

 This is the second installment of my blog series… 

step by step watercolor.

In my last post, I had shared a bit about what kind of materials 

I like to use when painting my watercolor sketches, 

as well as a bit about my palette. 

I mentioned that I would do a colorful veggie sketch...

but actually was inspired by this lovely bunch of flowers I found 

at the Ballard Farmers Market, while visiting Seattle.

(No worries...I'll definitely do a veggie sketch on another post.)

I decided to put a little video together, so you'd have 

a true step by step experience.

The biggest take away I believe, will be 

the way I like to use my color wet into wet,

 and glaze over color, 

both, when wet & dry.

Many have asked me how I get such vibrant color…

I do believe it's the combination of mixing paint,

 to create great color

(not straight from the tube all the time)

as well as layering, 

one on top of another.

And of course, leaving some sparkling white of the paper 

to keep those little shimmers of highlight, on your subject.

Here's a little

step by step...

Take a peek and see what you think…

Flower Watercolor Sketch Video

The sketch in this video is done in my Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook ...

a perfect paper for watercolor and glazing.

Next post will be another glazing process- maybe veggies… 

then we'll roll into some how to's... of the script handwriting 

that I like to do on my sketches and my signature block.

Stay tuned…. 

Feel free to leave any comments or questions... 

Check back if you're interested 

or join this blog site by signing up on google connect.

( see connect block in left column.)

Does Watercolor Scare you?

An essential aspect of

creativity is not being

afraid to fail.

-Edwin Land

Fearless, fearless... that's what I know to be true.

The mind says "be fearless"...
but the heart says... 
"Yikes... this is out of my comfort zone"

So many people tell me they think watercolor is a difficult medium.

I don't know why, but watercolor came easier to me than oil and acrylic.

Although I LOVE both of these mediums... 

there's something about the organic nature of watercolor 

that forever calls my name.

I think the "uncontrolled" temperament of the medium 

is what scares & delights at the same time.

I've been asked by so many 

to share some of what I know...

the hows and whats of my process.

Talk about having to be "fearless"...

I finally completed the process of learning how to make a video

that I feel comfortable putting out into the world.

Grateful for a course that I highly recommend...

(by the incredibly talented, 
most fabulous soulful photographer
Vivienne McMaster...)
I now know that I can be 
"be fearless"...

(after really being out of my comfort zone)

 in creating video's to share along the way.

Thank-you Vivienne McMaster! 

This is only the beginning...

(to learn to make "soulful video's" and more... check out Vivienne McMaster's online courses!)