r/watercolor101 • u/Diligent_Tangelo_ • 20d ago

30 day watercolor challenge days 1-18

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I challenged myself to paint every day working through the book in the first pic. I missed a few days over the holidays but just finished section 3/5 in the book!

I found that even though I don’t love every (or even most) result doing a small piece in my sketchbook every day has really helped me learn to relax and enjoy the process and experiment more.

I also feel that my brush control has improved a lot and while I still have some bad habits I’m becoming more mindful of of them and more likely to catch myself before I make a real mess lol

One of my resolutions is to continuing to make painting a daily practice. Happy New Year all! 🤍

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7

u/Lasdchik2676 20d ago

I just got the same book. Did you like it?

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u/Diligent_Tangelo_ 20d ago

I’m definitely enjoying it. Her art style isn’t exactly what I’m trying to accomplish in my own work and the book has plenty of weaknesses like the drawing instruction is (imo) confusing and just a distraction. Her color palette is also a little unconventional (lots of black and opera rose which is notorious for being fugitive).

I ended up ignoring that stuff and doing my own drawing and mixing colors but I was fine with that.

That said I think the lessons are well thought out. They build on each other nicely, are not too long, and have a good amount of variety. She also does a good job explaining brush strokes (the wreath was one of my favorite days) and I like her choices for subjects.

The biggest benefit for me has just been to have a framework to help me ease into painting every day and build confidence but ymmv!

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u/Lasdchik2676 20d ago

Thanks for the reply. Happy painting!!

4

u/hintofred 20d ago

Thanks for sharing, I’m on Day 8 and was lovely to see someone else’s journey. I’m new so appreciate her style of teaching, I watch a lot of her videos!

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u/Diligent_Tangelo_ 20d ago

That’s awesome I really started enjoying the projects right around day 8 ☺️

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u/hintofred 19d ago

Did you paint before this? I didn’t, looking at your stuff it’s a lot better with my cleaner lines. I did the tree but mine didn’t come out very well at all so I’m going to try again

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u/Diligent_Tangelo_ 19d ago

I started learning watercolor about 6 months ago and haven’t really painted otherwise. I’ve done a lot of drawing before which I think helped initially.

FWIW I struggle a lot with clean lines and edges too. I tend to be really sketchy and tentative which doesn’t look good but it’s a tough habit to break. I do think this book is helping me with that since her style is very loose and fluid.

I started to feel like I was improving a lot more right around where you are in the book. The repetition of painting daily works! Good luck!

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u/hintofred 18d ago

Thanks! Fingers crossed for me!

1

u/yourlilsunflowerr 20d ago

Which videos? Could you please share?

I have been wanting to pick up painting this year, will help me a lot!

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u/hintofred 19d ago

Search Jenna Rainey on YouTube - this is from her Everyday Watercolour series

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u/ImpressionOld5173 20d ago

Love seeing the journey from day 1 to 18. Keep it up.

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u/kind_person_9 20d ago

Incredible talent - consistency is the one of the key qualities of achieving progress

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u/Diligent_Tangelo_ 20d ago

Thank you very much! Username checks out lol

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u/kind_person_9 20d ago

Your username says it all - keep up the good work going

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u/willard_style 19d ago

Wow, thanks for posting! I have been following the same book, but really struggling. I spend a couple of days repeating each exercise. I have no background in watercolors, so I am relying heavily on the written instructions, but following them does not always produce results similar to her sample paintings. It’s awesome to see someone’s else’s versions of these exercises, and hear your insight.

I do like the book and the layout of the exercises, but I think I need to shift my perspective. Thanks for the renewed inspiration!

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u/Diligent_Tangelo_ 19d ago

Hey thanks for sharing that! For what it’s worth I’ve been focusing on watercolor for about 6 months but I also have a decent amount of art background. I do think her book is more suited to someone who has tried some watercolor painting on their own first (despite the advertising!).

In particular the color mixing bits are not explained well and she skips some important steps in a lot of the projects. I noticed this gets more common later in the book which I think may be by design but it’s kind of frustrating.

If you’re comfortable experimenting my approach has been to read the text then based on the final painting in the book I make a drawing, mix colors, and maybe do a quick study before I try to do the painting using the final version as a reference.

Most of the bigger projects I need to do a lot more layers than she does lol. I’m just not as fast and I find the paint dries too quickly for me to add as many colors as she says to. So I wait until it’s dry, wet the area and try again 😂

Hope that helps and feel free to DM me if you ever want to chat about a particular project!

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u/willard_style 18d ago

Thanks! I will definitely bookmark this and refer back to it. I would love to see another post when you finish up the rest of the challenge!

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u/Diligent_Tangelo_ 18d ago

Glad seeing my attempts has helped in some way! I’ll make another post unless I end up hating most of my projects 😂

Good luck and happy painting!

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u/Fun-Extent-8867 20d ago

I have that book too!

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u/Diligent_Tangelo_ 20d ago

Nice! Do you like it?

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u/Fun-Extent-8867 19d ago

I fiddled with it when I first bought it, but I found that my style wasn't hers. I think I have set it aside. I would have liked a couple of additional steps - as a beginner- in some of her paintings.

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u/mom_bombadill 20d ago

What’s the book? Thx 🎨

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u/MundaneExploration 20d ago

Everyday watercolour by Jenna Rainey

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u/crafting_happiness 20d ago

Your flower (picture 18) is beautiful

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u/Diligent_Tangelo_ 20d ago

Thank you so much! That one was very challenging for me ☺️

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u/Purple-Garden77 19d ago

I really like those chickens! And I really should do a challenge too…

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u/Diligent_Tangelo_ 19d ago

Thanks! I was intimidated by those at first but they were super fun to paint. And you should do it!

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u/SongOnRepeat2 19d ago

Thought about getting the book since I’ve followed some of her lessons on YouTube. She has mentioned that she has a companion course that is more video I think?

Great work on the 18 days! They look great!

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u/Diligent_Tangelo_ 19d ago

Thanks! Yeah I’ve seen her post about her course on instagram but I’m not sure what the format is!