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Watercolor bootcamp—part 3

~ MaryG ~ 12 Comments

I got pretty good feedback on my colorful still life, although the drill sergeant didn’t love the white table they were sitting on. She wanted me to have done more with the shadows. (Geez lady, I thought this assignment was about the colorful objects!) She did say that that was an “advanced” concept and that my painting was “very good.”

We then moved on to learning all the different ways you can manipulate watercolor paints to achieve different effects. Everything from rubbing alcohol to wax to salt to Saran Wrap to sandpaper was covered. It was a very long demonstration and the British lady was absolutely driving everyone nuts with her incessant questions and interruptions. I’m shocked that the drill sergeant hasn’t snapped at her yet.

This was our in-class assignment.

There are TWO major homework assignments. I just finished the first one:

She had us create these circles and lines in class and the assignment was to add black ink to certain shapes, and then fill in the rest with mini landscapes and other techniques we learned in class, trying to keep the intensity/values balanced with the pure black.

This took many hours. And I still have another very difficult assignment to do by Tuesday.

The drill sergeant has revealed a distinct bias towards realism. She feels that abstract artists who can’t draw and paint accurately aren’t “real artists.” (She’s OK with abstract art by artists who have proven themselves able to draw and paint realistically.)

Truth be told, I’m enjoying the challenge and it’s keeping my mind off other problems and concerns.

Watercolor bootcamp – part 2

~ MaryG ~ 18 Comments

This week our watercolor drill sergeant made us copy a colorful abstract collage. The point was to recreate each color as accurately as possible. It was really hard!

I did OK on the color matching but got disapproval for using “subpar” paper which created all those streaks. (I didn’t want to waste my expensive paper on what was essentially an exercise.)

The homework was to paint a still life comprised of colorful objects, getting the colors as close as possible. Again, hard.

Here’s my homework. I’m pretty happy with it although the yellow is not right. I think I went too light on the yellow because I knew I was going to paint those flowers over it. (It would’ve been too much work to mask out that whole flower area. )
Here’s what I was looking at—a collection of objects from China and Japan that
I happened to have in my house.

In other exciting news: I decided to move all my painting and drawing stuff out of the dining room and into an extra bedroom upstairs. So I guess I have a “studio” now.

Cute bedroom with nice light that nobody ever used
This is not ideal, but it’s better than the dining room. That card table I’m painting on was my parents. I think it was made in like 1960. It has some sort of faux leather covering that smells moldy. I need to get rid of the daybed and get a new, larger table.

Related post:

Watercolor bootcamp

Watercolor bootcamp

~ MaryG ~ 29 Comments

I’m now embarking on Year 2 of my watercolor “journey” 😉

After two sessions of “loosen up with watercolors,” I signed up for something called “watercolor bootcamp.” I probably should’ve taken this class first, but the description scared me off. It’s a watercolor techniques class with heavy emphasis on color theory, color mixing, etc. We spent a whole three-hour class mixing greys. There is homework. There are in-class critiques of the homework.

The very first homework assignment was to do a monotone (one color) painting of three objects with a clear light source.

I used Payne’s Gray.

For this week, we had to do a “complementary color” painting. So two colors that sit across from each other on a color wheel. (Red/Green; Yellow/Purple; or Blue/Orange)

I used only Rose (Red) and Phthalo Green to paint these hydrangeas.

I didn’t spring for all the expensive professional-grade paints that are on the syllabus. (There’s a syllabus!) I’m using what I have and will buy new stuff as needed. Jury is out on whether I’m going to like this class. It’s a bit intense so far. Bootcamp.

Student Art Show

~ MaryG ~ 19 Comments

I’ve been enjoying participating in the arts (a lifelong love) more than ever, now that I’m retired from paid employment.

I took my first watercolor classes at a lovely community arts center in the fall of 2025 and spring of 2026. I was asked (as all students were) to submit something for an end-of-year student art show. I did not win a prize, but I got to see my painting up on the gallery wall and mingle with lots of other students at the opening reception. Also, I figured out which teacher I want to learn from next.

All photos by Gregory Ciccarelli.


The theme of the Student Summer Showcase is S³: A Moment of Reflection, which was described like this:
“We are experiencing difficult times with heightened division and misunderstanding, and we believe that art is the great connector. Art helps us take a moment to be introspective, muse about our personal mission, express feelings and emotions that can’t be described in words. S³: A Moment of Reflection means to give our community a space to come together and reflect on our personal journeys as student artists, community members, and human beings.”
My husband and me checking out the art
A friend I met in class and me looking at my piece (top right)
My friend and her piece
Some of the abstract pieces were really great
There were ceramics too
There was art on two floors
Me and my piece: a portrait of my granddaughter at 9 months old
The piece they’re looking at here is titled “Have You Seen My Glasses?” 😂 It won a prize.
The Grand Prize Winner is an oil painting called “Waiting” which is very cool. Reading the judge’s comments, you can see how a good title can truly impact a viewer’s understanding of a piece.

“Martha Owen’s painting, Waiting, attracted me immediately. It seemed to radiate moonlight and mystery. It suggested a story that the viewer had to create. The power and simplicity of the stark, tight composition added to the drama. I enjoyed the fresh vision and originality of the subject matter. All the visual elements of the painting worked together to reinforce a feeling of emptiness, stillness and longing, capped off by the title.”

The judge fully acknowledged that art is subjective. She said she chose pieces that spoke to her.
I’ll definitely take another class here next year.

The whole thing felt supportive and not competitive.

Yes, but

~ MaryG ~ 21 Comments

Are you a lifelong learner?

Yes, but I “study” what I want. I got my BA in History and never went back for a graduate degree because they all sounded so boring and cost too much money. MBA? (snooze fest) Law School? (are you joking?) A Master’s in History? (not interested)

And when I was working, I was never big on “professional development.” I only took the required stuff on topics like cybersecurity. All those LinkedIn courses and certifications on business-y topics were available to me, but I hardly ever opted in. I felt like the best way to get better at my job was to do it, and since I was a fundraiser, the proof was in the pudding. I raised millions of dollars for my employers and clients. Nobody cared that I didn’t have an MBA.

Courses I took outside of work included Italian, photography and music (singing lessons). Now that I’m retired, it’s been studio art classes that interest me most, particularly watercolors.

In fact, just yesterday I participated in a 2.5 hour class called “Yoga, Meditation and Abstract Art.” It was my first time using acrylic paint in decades. My abstract piece really wanted to become some sailboats on a green sea, so that’s what happened.

This started as an abstract, but then a couple of sails emerged. “The FDT” is part of the Resistance 😜

Progress

~ MaryG ~ 24 Comments

Despite continued pain and swelling, my husband is attempting to get on with his life after two total knee replacements, the second of which took place on March 16.

Gardening is something he always liked and is good at. I’m very pro-gardening for him. I think it’s healthy and without the excessive strain and physical danger of his other hobby: powerlifting. (It’s like, you have two artificial knees dude…would you just not.) But as most people in longterm marriages know, you cannot control the other person. They’re gonna do what they’re gonna do and you gotta decide if the good outweighs the bad. (You’re free to go, if you’re not into it.)

Therefore, I’m happy to report he planted a bunch of dahlia bulbs, trimmed some shrubs, planted my spur-of-the-moment purchase of a lovely lupine in bloom, bought some clones from the dispensary, and potted up two of them as gifts for our kids. This represents a small but significant return to gardening. Yay!

My new lupine, expertly planted by my husband who got his BS in Botany.
We bought 3 types of clones at our local dispensary’s big plant sale: The Hive (Honey Banana X Papaya), Terpgasm (Sin n Juice X Udder Madness), Tail Dragger (Alligator Wine X Pearl Cadillac)

Don’t you just love the names of weed strains 🤣

Q: Why are weed plants called clones?

A: Weed plants are called “clones” because they are literally exact genetic replicas of a parent plant (called a “mother plant”). Instead of using seeds, growers cut a branch off a thriving plant and encourage it to grow its own roots. 

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UPDATE: photos of my husband kneeling for my friends considering arthroplasty

Right knee was replaced November 24, 2025
Left knee was replaced March 16, 2026
He says it feels weird to kneel but doesn’t hurt.

Too beautiful to paint

~ MaryG ~ 6 Comments

I was lucky to visit the two most iconic US national parks over the last few years—Grand Canyon and Yellowstone.

I’m now realizing that trying to paint landscapes based on any of those photos is just going to be frustrating. Those views are just too beautiful to be rendered by an amateur painter. I should just be happy I got so many great photos with my cell phone. My pics take me back to the actual feeling of awe.

I want to try another landscape at some point, but need to try something more humble.

Really not happy with this. I’ll keep it out as a way of hopefully learning from it.
This area is called “Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone” in Yellowstone National Park.

Watercolors—baby farm animal #5

~ MaryG ~ 11 Comments

OK, last farm animal from my 5-week paint-along class and it’s not a baby! It’s a full-grown cock 😜

The teacher asked me point blank if I plan to return for the next session, which was awkward. I mean…I had some fun and learned a few things, but this paint-along-with-the-teacher style class is not really for me. I asked her to “please keep me on the mailing list.” Maybe I’ll return if she chooses a subject I really want help with, like sunsets.

Thank you to my very awesome WordPress blog friends who have patiently looked at all of my BFAs.

🙏🏼

By the way, “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” is one of my granddaughter’s favorite songs and I absolutely love singing it with her. It’s fun to take a long pause before you sing the next animal’s name. It adds drama and excitement!

Watercolors—baby farm animal #3

~ MaryG ~ 17 Comments
Cow or calf? Not sure.

Week 3 of my paint-a-long class and I’m definitely getting flashbacks to high school—probably because the teacher is a retired high school art teacher. She talks to us like we’re 16, rather than 60+, sometimes. You can tell that she was one of those slightly grouchy teachers that was easily annoyed. It’s actually funny some of things she says to people: “Your perspective is totally OFF” or “I see you’re doing it your way—again”

Nobody seems to care. They’ve all known her a long time and they like her. They sign-up for her class semester after semester.

So far, she’s been pretty nice to me. No major criticisms and some nice compliments on my work. Just like in high school, art teachers like me.

Oh, and she plays the radio in the background while we paint. The station is perfect for us…it’s all soft rock from the 70 and 80s (our high school years). Some people sing along quietly.

I’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name…

Next week: 🐷

Related

Watercolors—baby farm animal #1

Watercolors—baby farm animal #2

Watercolors—baby farm animal #4

Watercolors—baby farm animal #5