Sketchbook Practice
Originally published January 22, 2022
Even though last year I went on a months-long art break, I still managed to do a few illustrations here and there in order to maintain my sketchbook practice. These are mostly finished pieces based off Skillshare classes I took done on my Canson sketchbook. I will be taking various elements of them and turning them into prints that will be available on my Society6 and Redbubble shops soon.
10 types of watercolor mushrooms
"Mushroom forest", Watercolor and gouache. This is based on By the Lakeside's Skillshare class: 10 Types of Watercolor Mushrooms"- I did this during the Christmas holidays of 2020-2021. This was a real joy for me. I had treated myself to a few art supplies as a Christmas present, one of which was the Mijello Mission Gold Watercolor set and palette. The pigments are so vibrant and smooth that they are an absolute dream to work with. Even though I had taken this class before, I felt I had to take it again using my new watercolor set. I think I did a much better job the second time around. I will be incorporating certain elements of this into other pieces to make prints.
Mystical night sky
"Mystical Night Sky" watercolor, acrylic and gel pen. This is based on Ana Victoria Calderon's Skillshare class: "Watercolor and Mixed Media". This was also done in early January 2021. I think I used up the last of my white acrylic paint. I sprinkled salt on the night sky section while it was still wet to absorb the watercolor pigment and increase granulation, and the bloom effect. I also learnt the technique of tapping a filbert brush to form cloud shapes.
Hamsa hand in watercolor
"Hand of Fatima" also based on one of Ana Victoria Calderon's classes: "Hamsa Hand Watercolor Workshop". Completed in January 2021, his was more an exercise in geometric shapes than anything. However, I think I may have gone too far in my color choices. I feel like it would have been a much stronger piece if I had limited my color palette to just a few colors.
Watercolor Bearded Iris
"Bearded Iris" - I did this sometime in May 2021 based on Jenna Rainey's YouTube Tutorial. This was probably one of the last YT-inspired paintings I did. At the time, the imposter syndrome was settling in and I was starting to feel disenchanted with my art practice.
"Rose in night sky" acrylic and watercolor painting
"Rose in night sky"- This is one of my favorite original pieces. I used acrylic for the rose and watercolor for the night sky. I remember doing this in late April-early May 2021. It was Ramadan at the time, and I would often stay up until 11pm or 12pm working on it. At the time, I did not have white acrylic paint and because I wasn't sure that I would ever need it again (there's that self-doubt again), I ended up using buff titanium mixed in with alizarin crimson for the highlights. This piece has gone through some changes. The picture above was my first draft. Once I finally bought white acrylic paint, I then made a few more changes to it. But I think I like this version better.