Explosive watercolor

Not explosive so much as drippy

The coyotes woke us up having a loud discussion in our driveway. It sounded like a pack of dogs except for a few coyote-ish yips. I was so excited about it, it took me an hour to fall back asleep.

These are all more classes from the Win with Watercolor week from Sketch Like and Architect.

Expressive color with Oliver Hoeller: This class was awesome. I loved the two colors he chose. Nearly random but not quite. I didn’t actually have the reference photo so this is a very loose drawing.

Finding freedom in shape with Reham Ali: Another fantastic class. I really loved her purposeful-messy use of watercolor. I did not wait long enough for it to dry in some cases, but still learned a lot. I especially like her purposeful dripping down the page.

Illusion of detail with Pedro Alves: Fun to follow along but really a lot of cartoonist’s bag of tricks.

Lakeside light with Matt Gibbons: I didn’t quite nail the dark to light to dark in the green of the trees but other than that, not bad. Also, I should have erased those perspective lines before painting.

Language of light in urban sketching with Darya Mitta: I now have a new favorite color mixture: quinacridone orange and new gamboge, both from Daniel Smith. New gamboge from Winsor Newton is not as vibrant.

Loose minimalist landscape with Shelby Abrahamsen: This is one spread in my sketchbook. We did tape off the edges. I can’t draw a line that straight! I like the upper left best.

Loose, spontaneous landscapes with granulating watercolors with Mansi Gupta: I loved this class. But it made extensive use of a spray bottle, which I didn’t have. So I am going to do it again! Maybe I will try using my “granulating” spray, but it smells so bad, you guys. And I need to look up a video on how to use it. To the future!

I might have recommended this already, but if so, that is how good it is. Spumoni. As described by Wikipedia: “…a molded gelato made with layers of different colors and flavors containing candied fruits, chocolate, nuts, and nut brittle. The three main flavors are pistachio, cherry, and chocolate…” Similarly in Merriam-Webster: “ice cream in layers of different colors, flavors, and textures often with candied fruits and nuts.” From your old friend Angela: layers of chocolate, pistachio, and cherry ice creams, best with chunks of pistachio and dried cherry and swirls of chocolate. If you don’t have pistachios, chunks of almonds are great. The only problem is…no one makes it! There is one at our grocery store of choice in their own brand. That is the list. So I here and now make a call to Tillamook and Ben & Jerry’s: Please! Make a spumoni!! If I cobble it together, I use Tillamook Mudslide and Ben & Jerry’s Pistachio and their Cherry Garcia.

I hope your day gets better from here!
-Angela

Dearest Diary,

We had quite the little meeting of minds the other day—the boatswain, elder, and myself. I can’t disclose what we discussed, even in the sacred space of you, my steadfast diary, but suffice to say, we agreed.

All my love,

Wally the Goob