July is World Watercolor Month, a month-long challenge in which watercolor painters of all ages and skill levels are encouraged to paint daily and post their work on-line. I have joined this challenge and am trying to paint something every day using the daily prompts at worldwatercolormonth.com. So far, I have managed to paint something every single day, generally following the daily prompt. Thanks to all of you for your support and encouragement as I have taken this little artistic detour on my photography journey.
If you want to see the first three installments of my painting efforts this month, check out my previous postings ‘More fun with watercolor‘, ‘World Watercolor Month 2020—part 2 ,’ and ‘World Watercolor Month 2020—part 3.’ This fourth installment highlights my painting efforts of the past six days in reverse chronological order.
The prompt for 22 July was “valuable.” I decided to depict nature in a landscape done entirely in Payne’s Gray, because during this time of quarantine, nature has been a refuge for me, of inestimable value for my peace of mind. There is no particular significance to the color—I imply liked the idea of using a single color and focusing on values.
The prompt for 21 July was “organic.” When I thought of the word organics, all I could think of was fruits, vegetables, and fertilizer, none of which I wanted to paint. Instead I painted an “organic” landscape with no man-made objects in it. As you can see, all of the objects were stylized as I experimented with a different shape and brush strokes for pine trees.
The prompt for 20 July was “wiggle.” I decided to do a little painting of a Northern Water Snake that I photographed swimming in the shallow water of the Potomac River earlier this year. The color and pattern is not quite realistic, but I like the way that I captured the snake’s undulation.
The prompt for 19 July was “favorite scent.” I love the smell of pine trees, so I tried to paint a mountain scene with pine trees in the mist after watching a YouTube tutorial by Grant Fuller. My version seems to have an almost Asian feel to it that I really like. This is probably my favorite painting of this little group.
The prompt for 18 July was “soft.” It’s a bit of a stretch, but I like to think the two little sumi-e style birds that I painted have soft feathers on their tummies and are soft-spoken. The birds look a little cartoonish, but I like the way that they seem to be engaged in a conversation.
The prompt for 17 July was “spontaneous.” After watching some YouTube videos about painting loose landscapes, I decided to try an imaginary landscape without any reference photo. I had no idea what my result would look like and used techniques that included applying some of the paint with a palette knife, which explains the brilliant splotch of ultramarine blue in the middle of the painting. I like the colors and the feel of the painting and like to imagine that it is a lake in the crater of an inactive volcano, but you may well see something different.
As I look over these six paintings, I realize that I have used no bright colors at all—it seems that everything is blue, gray, or brown. That definitely was not intentional. Perhaps I will try to brighten things up a bit for the next installment as I push on towards the goal of trying to paint each day in July. Thanks again for your support and indulgence as I veer off my normal creative path.
If you want to learn more about World Watercolor Month, click on this link or go directly to doodlewash.com. In addition to raising awareness and interest about watercolor painting, World Watercolor Month raises support for The Dreaming Zebra Foundation, a charity providing support so that children and young adults are given an equal opportunity to explore and develop their creativity in the arts.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Michael I admire your tenacity for staying faithful to this challenge! I also admire your efforts and your developing talent. It is really difficult to paint something every day! Bravo to you for this encouraging challenge!!!! Good Job!!!!!!
Thanks, Sally. I definitely am not creating masterpieces, but I am having a lot of fun and am gaining in confidence as I do these little paintings. When this month is over, I hope to be able to step back a little and take a somewhat more systematic approach to watercolors. It is so different from photography, because when I am painting I am creating something from scratch. With almost everyone possessing a smartphone these days, the world is full of would-be photographers who can easily produce decent images. Painting takes much more work, and I think that is one of the reasons why folks are so supportive of my efforts, irrespective of the actual results.
Good job on all of these pieces. I think using those cool neutrals and blues in all of these pieces gives them a cohesion as a collection. Something I learned about myself a few years ago is that I am naturally drawn to certain colours (blues and greys in my case) and maybe you are just discovering that you are drawn to certain colours too.
Thanks, Laura. I’m finding that there is a real joy to creating something that transcends what is actually produced. Sometime recently I randomly recalled some postings you did when your boys produced art in the style of different artists. Maybe it was during visits to art museums. Anyways, that got me thinking how important boldness and confidence are when painting, especially in a medium like watercolor. It seems to me that my skills are growing slowly, but my confidence is growing a whole lot more quickly. 🙂
That must have been when I was teaching them History of Art a couple of summers ago. I am glad you are focusing on the journey and not the destination. It took me years to have that mindset and it made the biggest difference.
Wowza, Mr. Mike, you are really really making a lot of awesome paintings the whole month! Gem likes the favorite scent one with all the little trees the best. I like the snake and the birds the best of all. Guess what? My Auntie and Gem and me, we painted with my watercolors this afternoon. I painted my swimming pool with my Daddy and me swimming. Gem made a heart of lots of colors and Auntie did kind of like your first one. Watercolor painting is not easy! Sometimes the paint does what it wants to and not what you wanted to do. I just like to have fun even if the picture isn’t too good when I’m done. Thank you and Bye!
Thanks much, Benjamin. I am glad that you enjoyed seeing the little paintings. So far I have found that different people like different ones. I am happy to hear that you had a chance to do some watercolor painting too. Like you, I’ve found that watercolor sometimes has a mind of its own and goes in places where I didn’t plan for it to go. I am not so worried about the results either. Some are likely to be good and some won’t. I did some paintings that I didn’t show that did not turn out too well, but I still had fun making them. I’m getting lots of practice this month and little by little I am getting better. Bye for now.
That last one is my favorite, but I see a cliff. Nice job!
Thanks, Allen, for weighing in. I can easily imagine the foreground as a cliff.
I think these are all pretty good, Mike. You have progressed quite a lot. That last painting in particular is very nice.
Thanks, Dan. There is a kind of progression, though it is uneven. I too happen to like the last painting a lot, in part because it was the the one that was the most abstract and there was no pressure to make it look like something real.
But it feels good looking at.
So much fun to watch your progress and the joy you’re getting in this endeavor. I particularly love the first one.
I love how subjective art is–there are several ones here for which people have expressed a preference. It is kind of cool to do something without the weight of any expectations, for the sheer fun of it.
I think these are wonderful, Mike. Sounds like you’re having fun with it – the only way to go. 🙂
First one is my favorite 😊
Thanks, Laura, for providing your favorite. It is so hard to see through the eyes of others and obviously I am biased in my views of my work.
Well, I’m biased, too, with what speaks to me…we all are. I could stay a long while in that composition though… ☺️
[…] ‘World Watercolor Month 2020—part 2 ,’ ‘World Watercolor Month 2020—part 3,’ and Word Watercolor Month—part 4. This final installment highlights my painting efforts over the past nine days in reverse […]