Online Learning

While I already had lots of things to occupy my time during our pandemic lock down, I thought why not take this as an opportunity to learn something new.  You see, I have always wanted to learn to paint with watercolour.
Over the years, I have taken a few classes but never came away feeling that I could "do it"  I have come to realize that those failed attempts were more about the instructor than me.  How is that? well....the first time was probably 35 years ago, the instructor, while critiquing our work was pretty brutal, and worse yet, she painted right over your work when explaining what it was you should have done. It was an 12 week course and she turned me right off!  Then, roughly 20 years ago I took another course.....this time the instructor was much better.....however at the end of the course he suggested that watercolour was "not for me"  he told me that my work looked more like photographs than paintings. (apparently that was a bad thing)  he added....."if you want a photo...get a camera" so you know....the supplies went in a drawer and stayed there.
Fast forward to last month when a post by Anna Mason popped up in my Instagram feed.....oh my...her work is spectacular and she was offering 2 free classes. So what did I have to loose?  I did those classes, was immediately hooked and joined her online school.  I have signed on for 6 months to start.
The most important lesson of all is that sometimes its NOT you.....perhaps you just have not found the right teacher.  Anna's realistic style and superb instruction is exactly what I needed.

As I show you these paintings.....note that for most of them, I am simply following the lesson plan, Anna takes you through every stage, step by step guiding you in what colours to use, where to place them and what consistency they need to be mixed at. So until I try something on my own I feel that perhaps I am just a good copycat.  At the end of this post  I will show you my first attempt at doing a painting completely on my own.....I think it shows that Anna's method "clicking" for me.

These 2 above, the pear, and the anemone are the free classes offered. If you are curious, you can find them here

Once I became a member of Anna Masons School of Art, I began working through some of the beginner courses, the Pumpkin and Snowdrop are a couple of examples of beginner lessons.
I have completed about 10 lessons already and am LOVING every bit of it. I am not going to bore you with all the paintings but will share a couple more.

I moved onto some intermediate level tutorials of which this Magnolia is one.

As I pointed out, when working through lessons being completely guided every step of the way....am I really and truly learning? how would I know unless I try one on my own without being told what tone and hue to apply, when, where and how to apply them. So, I did attempt a painting on my own, the orchid you see below. I am quite happy with how it turned out overall

I really feel that this time I have found the right teacher for me.....and I am thrilled!

btw.....clicking on each image will give you a closer look