LATELY ON INSTAGRAM

I remember my figure drawing instructor saying that the human figure is the most difficult thing to draw/paint because we can perceive almost immediately if something is “off”. When I took an animation class we were told that animating human movement was difficult for the same reason. It makes sense because the human form is something we are all too familiar with. We may not be able to pin point exactly why it looks “wrong” but we definitely notice it. _ People are probably the most challenging subject for me to paint. I don’t do it often, and these last few days of doing these not-so-simple studies for my 100 days of simple studies has been...interesting. _ I appreciate that it’s pushing me, but I also am kind of embarrassed to share them, if I’m being completely honest! Slowly but surely I feel like I’m getting closer to painting what I picture in my brain though! 🤔 I "doodled" this while shooting with @joytheoryco today for my course website and was reminded why I love Arches paper so much. This is Arches 140lb/300gsm Cold Press Paper (in Bright White - which I believe is only available in sheets). I love the way wet-on-wet technique looks on it and colors remain vibrant and beautiful after it dries. It feels cotton-y soft and luxurious - is that weird to say about paper? _ So that's it, just some nerdy paper love today! If you want to know more about my upcoming watercolor course, sign up for the email list and free supply guide (where I suggest Arches as one of my top paper choices, of course 😬) - link in bio! _ Colors used: Daniel Smith Quin Rose Daniel Smith Hansa Yellow Medium Winsor & Newton Quin Gold Learning how to paint with watercolors is more than just watercoloring. Those of us who love it and want to keep getting better aren’t in it just to paint pretty pictures. Have you ever asked yourself why you want to learn, why you want to get better, and why it is so rewarding? I’ve thought about it and here are 3 reasons why I think watercolors are so much more than just learning to paint: 1. Watercolors teach us to slow down 2. Watercolors encourage us to see the world differently 3. Watercolors help us discover our creativity _ But not everyone gets to the point of enjoying watercolors. I know there are many people that have attempted to control this beautiful fluid medium, became discouraged and gave up. It’s a shame if this was the path they were taking to rediscover their creativity, but felt defeat and retreated. _ That’s why I’m working on Just Watercolor, a course to build your foundation and creative confidence in watercolor. So you don’t have to keep searching YouTube videos, Facebook groups, and Instagram tutorials while attempting to paint things using techniques that you may not fully understand. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I can’t wait to show you everything I’ve been working on! Enrollment opens at the end of May for a limited time. Grab a free supply guide and get on the waitlist for the course - link in bio. _ If you want to read more on my thought process behind these 3 reasons, it's all in my latest blog post on the website! You know where to go: link in bio! _ Hope you have a wonderful week! 📷: @joytheoryco Broad strokes, a little too much water, and all indigo today. I think I'm finally figuring out how I like to approach these "abstract" painting studies now that I'm 8 days in. These simple studies I've been sharing my stories (and story highlights) for #the100dayproject have been really fun and low pressure. Which is perfect for me right now. It's been a busy month and May is going to be even busier! I'll share more about what's been keeping me busy next week! Until then, hope you have a wonderful weekend! 💙 _ Supplies used: • Moleskine Watercolor Notebook (5x8) • Winsor & Newton Cotman Indigo (I usually only use Daniel Smith now, but this is one of the first few tubes I bought when I started watercolors and I still love this color) • Brush: Princeton Heritage 4050R Size 10 👉🏼 swipe for real-time video! I decided to let myself paint Day 26 of #everydaywatercolor and listen to podcasts this morning instead of doing all the other things that I *should* be doing! But I don't regret it one bit 😏 _ You could say painting all the tree tops is tedious, but I love the repetitive and somewhat mindless act of painting the same strokes over and over. I always wanted to try a misty painting like this. I definitely want to do this again on a proper sheet of taped down paper or a block - instead of in a sketchbook because this type of painting requires lots of water. _ Speaking of watercolor papers, Priscilla @bypriscillalee and I are getting together on IG Live to chat all about them tomorrow at 10:30am PST. So if you're around, we would love for you to come hang out, ask questions and give us your opinions too! _ In case you're curious... Daniel Smith paint colors used: • Sap Green • Phthalo Green (Blue Shade) • Paynes Grey This is clearly the result of practicing brush stroke exercises (see last post) and experimenting with abstract watercolors (see story highlights). What a weird little study, isn’t it? _ I’ve been busy behind the scenes which is keeping me away from really sitting down to paint, which I’m definitely looking forward to getting back to! _ I mentioned this yesterday but it’s so true: When I don’t know what to paint I tend to doodle brush strokes. And I think to myself “let’s see what the brush wants to do today”. Is that weird? 😂 What do you do when you don’t know what to paint but you want to create? This week I wrote about a few brush control exercises that I like practicing a.k.a what to paint when I have no ideas 😬. Plus, sometimes I end up with some fun unexpected patterns! _ I wrote up this post and also recorded a video because I got so many supportive questions and comments during the first few days of posting my studies for the 100 day project (check story highlights). So thank you for that 🙏🏼! _ I realized there is one watercolor tip/trick/whatever you want to call it that I don't hear mentioned very often - and it's that it is better to leave well enough alone. Touching, perfecting and fidgeting with watercolor that has already been laid down leads to flat, overworked areas for me, so brush control is really helpful for me. I can put down a stroke I’m happy with and let it go. It's that little perfectionist voice in us that wants to keep trying to 'make it better' that we need to zone out, isn't it? 🤔 _ You can read the blog post on my website (link in bio). Link to the video is in the post! Hope it's helpful! It's Friday and I'm playing around with colors while creating some graphics for the next blog post where I'm rounding up a few brush stroke exercises that help with learning brush control. Even though this image definitely doesn’t represent brush control 🙂. _ Hope you're ready and excited for the weekend! I'm hanging out with Olivia @atiliay and a bunch of awesome friends and creatives tomorrow in Orange County! Look for the photo of me and Olivia a few posts back for details! What are your plans? Big strokes for a little size 0 brush, right? It's mid-week and Wednesdays are always busy because it's the day I go to acupuncture and willingly allow myself to get stuck full of tiny needles on both sides of my body, my hands, face, and the bottoms of my feet. Basically, I'm a human pin cushion📍! _ So unfortunately, I only had time to paint this simple study today because I'm working on project that I'm both nervous and excited about! There's a hint of what it'll be if you've visited the link in my bio to grab my free supply guide. _ Check out the story highlight in my bio for the 100 day project if you want to see the whole (uncropped) page for this study! Happy Wednesday! So I started off trying to paint petunias...which turned out to be a hot mess (swipe for proof). And then ended up painting really loose peonies on this Winsor & Newton Rough paper - just for fun. I don't typically use rough paper but I got a small pad just to try out. And I actually have been enjoying painting on it! _ So I wanted to share the petunias because most of the time what we see are the successes and best versions of things. And there's a lot of failures and mess-ups that we (myself included) don't share. But the reality is that they definitely exist. Case in point: my petunias 😬 _ Seriously though...I think I concluded that I cannot paint "loose" petunias. And that these flowers may be better represented with a more realistic style. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Today, I posted my answer to the question that I get asked the most: What paints do I use? Usually when I answer, it's simple: Now I mostly use Daniel Smith but I started with Winsor & Newton Cotman. _ However, if you're making a decision on what paints to buy, you're also making a decision on palettes, tubes or pans, colors...etc. Basically, there's more to it than just a simple brand name and I want to make sure that I also share some of the other decisions that go into which paints and colors to buy - especially for those just starting out! _ So, if you're in the market for new paints...or just looking for some recommendations, check out the latest post on the blog! #raeandlilysupplies . 📷: @ragiandamanda Come hang out with us! ✨ Olivia @atiliay and I will be hosting a casual meet up for our local friends. We thought it’d be fun to meet and hang out in real life! We don't have any formal activities planned so just bring yourself, a friend and maybe a few art supplies if you feel like it! _ See below for details! And here's what we look like so you can find us 😉 _ • This Saturday, April 14th, from 2-4:30PM (stop by anytime!) • Tustin Market Place | Outdoor tables in front of Edwards Theater/Corner Bakery • 13786 D Jamboree Rd, #4, Irvine, 92602 👉🏼 Please comment below or DM one of us so we know to expect you! . Thanks for the 📷: @ohshinypaperco ! Something I realized as I've been painting these exercises in styles I am not used to is that I'm painting with a feeling of curiosity over fear. As in...I wonder how this will turn out? versus...Oh my gosh what am I doing, this is going to look terrible. _ I think this comes from having a foundation of knowledge and also realistic expectations when starting. Once you've practiced enough and made enough mistakes, you have a good understanding of what to do in order to get what you want - for the most part. In turn, it's less daunting to start a piece. Plus - if you approach it with the mindset that it's more about the experience than the end product, then you'll feel much more free! _ Don't worry I'm almost done with this book #everdaywatercolor and I promise I'll go back to posting more of what you'd typically find around here! Happy Friday! This is a perfect example of what I mean when I say that the book #everydaywatercolor challenges me to paint outside of my normal style. We all have a style and a method that we will naturally gravitate towards. (Just look at this compared to the majority of my feed...) _ Our style isn't something that we find and then it never changes. I believe it's always evolving. It's informed by everything we see and experience. _ Trying new things, pushing our boundaries and learning what we like and don't like all contribute to our individual styles. _ I can't say I love this painting, but I did enjoy the act of painting it. To be honest I'm a bit uncomfortable posting it, but recently I've been all about getting uncomfortable - so why not?
Brushes. I have some that I love, that I can depend on to do their job, and others that I keep *wanting* to love but a few strokes in and...I just cant even. I know that these are such a personal preference but one thing is for sure: we don't have time to deal with brushes that freak out after the first use, shed bristles while we paint, and end up being mediocre at best. Brushes can get expensive too and I don't think they necessarily need to be $$$ to enjoy painting. _ If you're just starting out, I shared a very curated list of the ones I'd recommend and why. 👉🏼 Visit the latest blog post on www.raeandlily.com to check it out! _ 🖌 My current go to brush: @escoda_brushes Prado Size 8 (sharp point and snap-back abilities!) 🖌 My current trying-to-love brush: @rosemarybrushes R13 Size 8 (a travel brush I'm wanting to use for sketching!) ✨ The image for this post was painted with the R13 brush. I began taking art classes at 5 years old and continued through college, but since I started my career as an architect, I stopped creating for myself and started creating for everyone else. It had been more than a decade since I painted. And when I started again, something shifted and I didn’t want to stop. _ During the time I've come back to painting, I've learned a lot about watercolor supplies and tested more than my fair share of brushes, paper, and paints. _ I know that getting the right supplies when starting out can be overwhelming (and a money pit), so I created a straightforward cost guide, supply checklist, and cheatsheet for all the basic supplies I use. You can download it for free at the link in my bio! . 📷: @joytheoryco Definitely not my normal painting style but I powered through it for day 20 of #everydaywatercolor! As I mentioned I’m enjoying the challenge of the exercises in this book because it forces me to paint using different techniques than I usually use. _ You can probably tell I enjoy painting less detailed work than this, but it was a good challenge and an exercise I will make a note to keep trying! #learnsomethingneweveryday Still trying to finish up all the exercises in the Everyday Watercolor book before the end of March...at this rate I’m going to need to paint more than one exercise each day because this is only Day 19! 😐 _ Also a big thank you for all orders I received during the spring sale this past weekend, they were all shipped yesterday ❤️ Did you know when you type in "why is watercolor" into google search, the first suggestion that comes up is: Why is watercolor so hard? Watercolor has the reputation of being difficult. It has been know to cause feelings of frustration, defeat, and disappointment. _ Here's a great example: just last week I was trying to figure out how to paint loose style tulips and ended up with these blobby splotches. But at the end of the day, I still enjoy experimenting and having fun with it. Maybe because I appreciate that watercolor has a mind of its own and that's what makes it more dynamic than other mediums. -- I wrote about why I think watercolors are difficult in a blog post today. [link in bio] _ Wondering what your thoughts are on it too... Why do you think watercolors have a reputation of being difficult?