Watercolors, etc.

How my art practice is evolving.

Back in January I really thought 2025 would be the year I learned more about printmaking. I’ve been making monotype prints on gel plates for a few years and I was feeling the itch to add to that with more of the traditional techniques.

But I was also focused on improving my painting skills and could see a gap in my weak sketchbook activity. I started reading books and watching videos to help me back into that. I say “back into” it because being a self-taught artist (an autodidact, if you will) means that I’m often starting at the end of a skill and working my way back into the steps I need to build it. Take note all of you studio arts majors, DO the pre-work. Your instructors know what they’re talking about.

And that’s where this set of Daniel Smith watercolors comes in. I purchased it during the pandemic and used it occasionally in mixed-media work. Now it was time to add it into a new kind of sketchbook practice.

I started playing around but struggled to create any actual representative images. Then a friend suggested I try a simple black water-soluble pencil and water brush to start (or back into). And that opened some doors for me. I found one, along with some water-soluble crayons, in my old mixed-media stash. Finally - I was at the beginning of something.

While I was scratching around, my social media algorithms finally hit right and I started watching a lot of sketchers create beautiful spreads. The ones that I loved the most? Gouache. I longed to use the rich pigments and flat finish in my sketches.

A few trips to Sturgeon Bay and Sheboygan for supplies (because Green Bay doesn’t have a proper art supply store) had me on my way. I was sketching and painting in all manner of water media. My number one favorite tool so far is a Faber-Castell 8B water-soluble graphite pencil.

Early on I dedicated a book to swatches and color mixing charts - one of those helpful pre-work activities.

I used leftover puddles of beautiful colors to practice brush marks on various types of papers. Those soon evolved into representational images.

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I used to work in one or two mixed-media journals at a time, either handmade or mixed-media books. Now I have an active stack of FIVE sketchbooks. I find it helpful to practice a sketch on less precious paper before going all-out on 100% cotton.

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I’m really happy with the progress this practice has given me. Though I joke about doing it backwards, I know I’m still building it in a way that’s sustainable for me and will add value to my exhibition pieces.

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This post is free. If you would like to support my work, please consider purchasing a copy of my coffee-table photo zine, Genuine Curiosity. It’s available on my website, or locally at Lion’s Mouth Book Store and The Art Garage.