Q & A Watercolor Sessions

Welcome to the beginning of a series of Question and Answer sessions completely directed by watercolor enthusiasts like you!

I recently hosted a fun giveaway with Susan Chiang @susanchiang_ on Instagram where you were able to pose your handmade watercolor/watercolor painting questions for Susan and I.

WELL! The questions were MANY and boy! There were so many great questions. Some that even I didn't think you would want to know. I am just more than happy to share information with you all. I find that by doing so, I also learn more too! I was so impressed by the thoughtful questions that I asked you again through my stories on Instagram, just in case someone missed out on the post! YES! You asked me more fabulous questions.

So, what to do?

I can't overwhelm you all at once by answering them all in one go. Some questions will require my time and research because I really want to authentically answer the questions and ensure that the information is sound.

The Q & A sessions will be one question or supporting question at a time.

So, first question to start the series.

Why did you start making watercolors?

Before I started, I was painting with acrylics and then moved into watercolor. I was using a cheap watercolor set like crayola or maybe unbranded? I found painting with watercolors challenging when trying to work with a limited palette of colors and a lack of time as a mum to mix certain shades. I think I spent up to an hour trying to mix a pastel or flesh shade and it still wasn't right! I got pretty frustrated and went searching online for specific or interesting shades. I stumbled upon shimmer paints and found them quite alluring!

At first impression, they were expensive! So, instead I found a cheap set to try out first. They were cheap because A) unbranded and B) barely any paint in the pans! I realized it was time to invest in buying some good quality shimmer paints when I reached the bottom of a few of my pans. I noticed that the branded shimmers were limited in color range so I opted for Handmade instead. I purchased some online and while I waited for them to arrive I did online research about how they are made via YouTube. There were very few YouTube videos and not much online in the way of tutorials. Actually, at that time, there were none.

It took 2 months for the handmade paints to arrive for unforeseen reasons and during this time, I had purchased the basic ingredients and made a few myself. When the handmade paints arrived, they were similar to mine, and I decided that I found it more exciting making my own than purchasing them. But please know, I do LOVE LOVE LOVE buying paints but the excitement of making them was something else! I also found that one of the handmade watercolors I had received looked nothing like the swatch I based my decision on and that this was an expensive and disheartening experience. Them blimey filters I reckon!

SHORT VERSION:

Why did you start making your own watercolors?

Because I wanted more range of colors, and shimmers (at that time) and enjoyed the process of making them more than buying them.

Thank you for reading the first Q & A session. I kept it simple and I hope each session will follow this method.

Please feel free to ask me questions in the comments below. I cannot answer them directly as a reply but I can respond underneath your comment.