I am a bit of an artist, and I really enjoy trying new ways to create. One process that I have ignored as an artist is watercolor. This was the one medium that as a child I did once for a project in the second? third? grade and instantly was not a fan at all. I never touched it again.

Until I found one of my favorite new artists that does incredible time-lapse paintings with ink and watercolor (Mary Doodles). I did one painting in watercolor a few months after that, and then moved on to this project. Instead of being a time-lapse video it was a series of stills put together in video form.

Here's how it went....

Step 1: Sketch Your Drawing

When you sketch your drawing for watercolor, it is my advice to make sure the links are simple. Meaning, erase all the extra lines that may give it a "blurry" look. When you paint with something like acrylic paints, it's not as big of a problem because acrylic covers most pencil marks. But, watercolor is a bit of a see-through kind of medium.

This drawing I did slowly, drawing it in pieces with the kids over a couple of weeks. Whenever we had time to draw, I worked on it, and continued adding pieces to it.

Step 2: Add Watercolor

Adding watercolor is definitely a process that takes time to learn. First, DON'T use paper that isn't made for watercolor. I did, but I wanted to paint, so I made an exception. Just needed to work quick.

My advice that I can give beyond that:

**Add the water with the brush first where you want the paint to go AND then add the color. The paint will go exactly where the water goes and no where else.

**Let the paint dry a bit (not completely dry) before you add another color IF you are looking to build and add shading. If you do it when the paint is still very wet, you may loose the initial color.

Paint pieces at a time...

Step 3: Finish Off the Background

And here it is. The final Watercolored Horse.

One piece of advice...don't sign your name or date while the paint is still wet. It will obviously smear. I should have thought about it. Doi.

About Miscelleana Rhinehart:
She enjoys painting and writing, and often she writes for Long Island Nissan shoppers and other interesting topics.