Watercolors...Will I love it? Or hate it?

When I was younger…I mean WAYYYY younger, like 8 or 9, I remember trying watercolor painting. We all had those paint sets with the ROYGBV color pallets, right? Well I went for it and it was horrible! I remember not being able to control the brush, mixing colors unintentionally, not understanding how to layer, it was the WORST! I don’t think I picked up a paint set again, unless it was while babysitting to pass the time.

Enter 30 years later, post photography era, where I understand light and images, etc. I figured it was time to give it another go. Enter Instagram targeted ads…hahaha. @emilylexstudio was served to me on an ad, it was prior to Mother’s Day and I was feeling like I wasn’t getting to spend enough time with my mom, so I bought 3 of her watercolor workbooks. It came with the book, instruction, and a paint set.

When they arrived, I gave them to my mom and asked her if we could keep them at her house and Lucy and I could come over and paint with her on the weekends, for a bit of relaxing fun. Her mom was an artist, like she actually went to art school and was GOOD, so she was thrilled, thinking it would keep the art flowing in the family and added bonus, we all get to hang out a bit, too.

The first weekend we went by, she picked the flowers book, Lucy picked the animals, and I got the bouquets. We read the short intro, then just went for it. Right away, I LOVED it! I felt relaxed, entertained, and got a pretty trinket at the end. Lucy, 9 years old, reminded me of me, 30 years ago. She got frustrated, irritated, and was on the brink of tears. She quickly moved onto glue art, something my mom found on Pinterest where you get Elmers glue, food coloring and salt, and go to town. My mom did great, too! While I think she was more critical of her art than I was. I was so thrilled to understand the layering and light that I felt like freaking Monet! HAHA I’m under no impression that my art was fantastic, but I enjoyed it, so it was a win win for me!