Yay! We are finally have some much anticipated warm summer weather. We have been behind where we live in Ontario Canada. Even people's gardens were held back at least 2-3 weeks or more due to really cold days and evenings. In our neck of the woods summer is not very long so it is disappointing when the weather isn't as warm. I love the hot days, even to the point of having to run back inside because I can feel my skin cooking!
Today our Worlds Collide because this short vlog video combines both blogs, Walking Way Overrated (Our Life Blog/vlog) and my creativity blog/vlog Heartfully Creating. Craig wanted to show what we did when our key ingredient for supper broke. And I wanted to share some samples of todays watercolour learning. I spent most of the day watching/listening to Watercolour (In Canada we use the letter "u" with the "O" in words like "colour.")
Worlds Collide Part 1: Watch Below
Worlds Collide Part 2: Watch Below
Two Artist Channel Recommendations One of my favourite artist tutorial YouTube channels is Kristy Rice's and second best so far is Jenna Rainey. It's because of Kristy first of all, why I am even discussing this topic right now. She helps me to let go of all the watercolour rules I learned over 30 years ago (and why I refused to pursue that medium.) Kristy is the reason why I have now been collecting new palettes, paper and watercolour paints! She uses white watercolour paint! I had learned that was a no no. She loves using colour boldly like I do. Bold colours are not something one thinks of when one (I) think of traditional watercolour painting. I really like how fun and inspiring she is. So check her out here. I also ordered her custom brush set. Don't tell Craig, it's a surprise. He is trying to learn more too about watercolour techniques.
And Jenna Rainey is so far in my opinion, has a good sense of humour and is more traditional regarding the use of watercolour techniques. As well she has very detailed, well explained tutorials like the drawing flower lessons mentioned in my video today. It is very challenging for my way of learning. It feels almost like doing math. I am use to just drawing what I know or see but do not follow any formulas for how to draw something. Which means I may have created some large paintings, drawings and illustrations for cookbooks over the decades, but I'm not that great at how they end up. But I love creating so I try not to worry about tht. Watching Jenna's YouTube channel, is more challenging for my brain and how it works. When I say following her specific directions on how to draw the flowers for example, it literally taxes my brain. Nothing to do with her teaching, it's totally because of how I am used to learning. I have always been terrible at following very specific instructions, it's like brain overload for me. The fact that I was diagnosed with ADHD about 11 years ago, helps confirm why I feel that way. Which helps me to understand that I just learn differently it doesn't mean I can't learn. Which can be applied to all of us. We all learn differently.
Today I did get tempted to just give up and continue creating or drawing the way I normally do. But because, I like the results and and I would like to create a more realistic version of a subject like flowers. I'm going to try not to give up. So in this extremely short video clip, you can see a little bit about what I was trying to learn from her.
A Divided Brain Our brain is divided into two hemispheres the left and the right. The left side is responsible for things like logic and math and the right side is more about where are the creative part comes from and I believe also is where our emotions and feelings emanate from. Women apparently tend to use more of a balance of the left and right brain and men tend to be more left brain driven. Which is why a lot of them are really good at math and logic not super great at expressing feelings and emotion and why the majority of women tend to be very emotional and expressive, and often more able to multitask. This does not mean we cannot learn to use both sides of our brain. It does mean for myself, I am definitely far far away from even trying to learn mathematics. My brain definitely is not balaing it's function between the two hemispheres. We are all wired uniquely. So no matter how your brain functions, you may benefit from teachers using various methods of teaching. What matters most when it comes to art, in my opinion, is that you love making it. So if you want to challenge yourself and learn from others, that's great I highly recommend these two artists for different reasons. If you just want to do your own thing and be self taught like I was for most of my life, that's great too. Personally, I do love the age of the Internet because learning now has become so easy since so many people can share what they know. Some people are great at teaching and some may not be. It all depends on their students and how they learn best to make that determination.
I hope you find inspiration to create however you would like and at the same time find ways to challenge yourself to possibly learn new things and new ways to execute your creative adventures. A really great thing about Kristy Rice is she really focusses on the joy of watercolour and creating with it. Her excitement and enthusiasm is very contagious and is why I am here writing about watercolour and creating with it. If I could learn something new at 56 years old, anyone can.
