Watercolors are one of the mediums that are often overlooked. Over the last decade or so, the medium started to blossom and many joined the new hobby.
I wasn’t an exception for this.
Life Before Watercolors
Sometimes it feels like a completely different life, when I think about the time before I started painting. Creativity was part of it from the very start. As a teenager I used to draw realistic portraits, even of our pets. I’m still fascinated by how long my budgies would sit still for me to draw them. During university I stopped painting and drawing, but kept creating. I knitted so much, that it became a form of mindless fidgeting for me, which still leads to dozens of socks every year. A cozy evening watching TV or listening to a podcast? That only works when knitting is involved.
In the late years of uni I also started making cards, motivated by a friend, who introduced me to that hobby. A new passion for paper was born. Since then I’m sending weekly postcards to my grandmother. She sometimes is a bit annoyed by the amount of them 20 years later, but she’s still glad to receive them.
Passion For Paper
The new passion for paper and painting lead to experimenting with paints. I would also go back to using the pencil more often, sketched, even bought a sketchbook. Then I tried inks, which at the time was not the perfect medium for me. Until I stumbled upon watercolors.
I remember, that I didn’t like it in the beginning. It mixed weird. This time I was motivated to try again. Travelling through Poland I watched a few videos and went looking for a shop in Warsaw to get myself a set. The ones I got were cheap, cheap paper, I just wanted to dip my toes into the hobby. It kind of worked, but didn’t make me happy. In the mean time I know why that is and am very happy with the supplies I have.
Dragonfly, that I painted using gouache and watercolors. One of the experiments I really like.
The Breakthrough
It was a revelation for me personally, when I watched videos of Kristina Werner on YouTube. She’s making cards and mail art and is using watercolors often. I still enjoy her videos a lot and feel inspired by her creations. I purchased a better set in studio quality and slightly better paper. Painting worked immediately better and I was able to do some of the techniques. This was the spark that I needed. It was also the reason, why I suggest to never buy the cheapest sets but decent quality, it shows in the beginning and makes painting much more enjoyable. There is absolutely no reason, why someone should choose supplies they need to fight during the process. Painting in pure joy!
That is when my journey with watercolors truly started.
In the years after I have painted a lot. Many different things, got to know my palette and paper and learned as I just always did. I love researching and have found not only a lot of nerdy friends, but the most awesome and wholesome community around Eve Bolt.
What Happened Next
Painting alone for myself is fun, sure, but I also wanted to share my paintings and the process. So I created a YouTube channel, without knowing where the journey was going. Through the exchange, painting, learning and sharing with others the hobby quickly grew into more. I switched to professional supplies, built a collection of palettes and paints. I started testing them for lightfastness and created the watercolor database sunandcolors.com. Meanwhile you can find almost 2000 different color swatches there which you can go through using lots of filter options.
A few elephant shrews, which I painted for a friend.
I have sold a few of my paintings. A few I painted on commission, started streaming. In the streams on twitch you can watch me paint every Sunday, join in, ask questions or just chat. A little cozy community has grown out of this, which I’m incredibly thankful for. I love the exchange of ideas and the passion everyone has for watercolors.
Meanwhile I never stopped experimenting and trying out new techniques and approaches with paints and paper. While I do that, I always paint whatever tickles my brain. It can be animals, landscapes, botanical art. Loose or realistic - everything is possible. There are times I use gouache and sometimes ink. Experimenting, painting, reading has lead to a broad knowledge of the medium, which I now feel at home at now.
I also enjoy sharing. Teaching was part of my job, which was not art related, and continued teaching just art. Especially tutorials are something I enjoy writing, but also my knowledge in general. A change to spread the joy was when I got the chance to write for the German watercolor magazine PRO Aquarell.
What The Future Brings
There are so many ideas I have for the future. I want to extent the database, write lots of tutorials and share this passion with people on- and offline. I also hope to get the change to paint as many pet portraits as possible, because I know all of our fluffs just deserve to be painted. I still feel the passion for the beauty and nature and want to join both in my paintings.
And I’m very glad to get to know you and get to talk about your ideas. If you want, you’re welcome to join the community on discord, where I run a very cozy server. It’s a place for worries about supplies, creativity and solutions to problems we face. Aside of painting, we also exchange news about our pets and run a book club!
Have a creative day!
Lana