Thank you from the bottom of my heart to anyone who liked, commented, and provided feedback along this challenge on here or on my Instagram. You all really helped to keep me motivated and finish this challenge. I've enjoyed watching what everyone has created this month and I'm proud of everyone in this class! Thank you Ria, for the thoughtful challenges and forcing me to think outside of the box.

My World in Watercolor - image 1 - student project

29/29 Leap. This challenge has been amazing. I'm so so glad I decided to join this workshop. I created some really awesome pieces, some not so awesome pieces, but the whole time overall I've grown. I've met some awesome artists, and had so much FUN. I don't think my daily art practice will end after this challenge, if anything this is just the beginning.

My World in Watercolor - image 2 - student project

28/29 Bliss. To me, bliss is when I'm laying in Savasana in yoga class.

My World in Watercolor - image 3 - student project

27/29 Grow. At the beginning of this challenge I wanted to cultivate some new habits and leave some of these old ones behind. This challenge has taught me so much about myself. It's pushed me to try new things. It's helped me overcome my fear and just put myself out there. I'll continue to pursue my art and put myself out there. :)

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26/29 Magic. This challenge really has been magic... It's been amazing to see not only what I've created this past month, but everyone in this workshop too. There are some really talented individuals in this class and it's been very inspiring.

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25/29 SAFE. I've already got a great circle of support with my art. My fiancee is creative, a lot of my family, and my best friend are all very creative. My best friend Jesi and I get together once a week to work on various projects, and keep eachother motivated. Additionally I've met some really talented people through this challenge that I now follow on Instagram and here on Skillshare. It's been amazing getting to share ideas, and get feedback along this journey! For this prompt, I decided to draw an actual safe with the "loot" being my supplies. Creating is sacred to me, it's almost a form of meditation at times. All day at work I'm creating for other people. This is what i do just for me.

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24/29 DETAIL. This challenge has introduced me to some really amazing artists. Someone posted a very detailed piece with two cats in it. I loved the texture they were able to create on the fur, so I reached out for some guidance and decided for this prompt I would try to emulate the same type of texture. This is what I ended up with. I don't love it but toward the end I was really getting ahold of the texture aspect. I think next time I might leave some smooth spaces and only add a little texture to it.

My World in Watercolor - image 7 - student project

My World in Watercolor - image 8 - student project

23/29 STRUCTURE. To me, structure within this challenge has been the space I've used to create my art. It's the one room in the house that I don't mind getting messy. I leave my supplies out, my papers are scattered, and it's my "place" to come to and just create. There is a window to my right, and my dog is curled up by my toes. I've got music playing, and this is my happy place. :)

My World in Watercolor - image 9 - student project

22/29 FEAR. So, I am really afraid of clowns... I'm not exactly sure why. I've never had a life shattering clown insident, I never watched Stephen King's "It" I'm not exactly sure what it is I am not fond of. But, I decided to stare at some images of clowns and found one similar to this so I decided to try and recreate it. I had to play catch up and only had an hour today to split between yesterday's and today's prompt. :)

My World in Watercolor - image 10 - student project

21/29 DREAM. I have this dream quite frequently. This prompt actually made my research what it means and I came across some interesting info.

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20/29 PRECIOUS. I spent a lot of time on this prompt. Thinking, listing all the things that are precious to me. I had some really neat ideas but ultimately I ended up with this. I want to re-paint something similar after the challenge using pictures instead of words inside the poloroids. :) My family, my fiancee, my pup, and my friends are the most precious to me.

My World in Watercolor - image 12 - student project

19/29 THEME I've noticed throughout this challenge I keep trying to pump myself up. I've created pieces with positive sayings, my first piece in this challenge- roots, was all about the old habits and the new habits I wanted to cultivate. I don't feel 100% confident or fearless but I've definitely made some progress thus far in this challenge. So, I decided to paint a sketch of self love.

My World in Watercolor - image 13 - student project

18/29 PAST. I've learned a lot from my past. I've learned to forgive others, even if they are not sorry. I've learned that you can't force someone to change. I've learned that If you stay focused, ignore the noise, and believe in yourself you can achieve whatever you set your mind to. The biggest thing for me is ignoring the noise. I'll admit I've gotten better at it, but I really need to push past it and focus on my thoughts, my ideas, and my goals.

My World in Watercolor - image 14 - student project

17/29 NURTURE. Nurturing the roots I planted at the beginnning of this challenge by "faking it till i make it" pretending I'm confident even at times when I don't feel very confident. Taking that leap of faith and cultivating good habits.

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16/29 DEPTH. This one was tough, there are so many ways i could've incorporated depth. But, I had the urge to paint a tree. So, here we are.

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15/29 BALANCE. Combining gentleness and discipline was tough. But, I wanted to make a few more words of encouragement to hang around the house. I wanted to use the gentleness of the brush to create a fun gradient depth of color in the background and used my micron pens and sharpie to carefully write out the message.

My World in Watercolor - image 17 - student project

14/29 GIFT. A gift to myself, words of encouragement to hang above my art space. So many times I psych myself out and say "you suck" "your art is really bad" "Why even bother" and I really want to just shut all the negative self talk out. Hopefully I'll see this and repeat it as many time as I have to.

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13/29 OPEN. For this prompt I kept thinking of a door, an open door with light shining into a dark room. This symboloizes the "hard" and "difficult" times in life. That open door, even if it's just cracked has something positive on the other side. The key is to pull yourself out of that "dark room" and into the light.

My World in Watercolor - image 19 - student project

12/29 SPACE. I decided to use the space on my sheet of paper and create some lavender. Lavender is one of my favorite scents and always reminds me of my grandmother. I actually had a VERY hard time thinking of something to paint for this prompt so I let the magic bowl choose for me today!

My World in Watercolor - image 20 - student project

11/29 PERSPECTIVE I tried to paint a field of sunflowers. (They're my favorite) It definitely did not turn out how I wanted so instead of getting frustrated and throwing it out, I'm sharing it. I plan on going back and adding some detail with colored pencil once it dries completely... a friend of mine recently told me she doesnt throw ANY of her art away. Even the pieces she thinks are AWFUL. She said that she will put it away and bring it back out once she has an idea of how to make the piece better. So, I'm implementing this technique. (I'll post a new one if I get back to it before the challenge is over! haha)

My World in Watercolor - image 21 - student project

10/29 TIME. Ok now this one was tough. I would love to be one of those "I have all the time in the world" people but I definitely am not. Time is a huge stressor for me. So it was only fitting that I created Roger Hargreaves Mr. Worry character. I am constantly worried about being late, or not having enough time, or having too much time. So, when I can I try to just not look at the clock at all. lol

My World in Watercolor - image 22 - student project

9/29 TEXTURE I decided to create a piece of coral for this prompt. I wasn't totally happy with the texture just with the watercolor so I took colored pencil overtop to add more depth and texture. I also have planned to add the little octopus friends I made in the previous prompt to this background. We will see! :)

My World in Watercolor - image 23 - student project

8/29 MEMORY. I loved today's prompt! Especially the refrence to Inside Out! I love that movie, but I can't get through it without a box of tissues. I spent a lot of time reflecting on all the different memories that have helped shaped me. There are so many to choose from, but I finally decided on capturing one of the first times I held my little sister. I love being a big sister, and it has totally shaped who I am. I try to be a positive roll model for them ( I have two little sisters total) lol I love getting to help guide them through life and we always have so much fun together! <3

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7/29 COMPOSITION. So, I decided to have some fun with today's prompt and create a cute Valentine's Card for my fiancee! He loves any and everything octopus! So I doodled these two little friends. I'm not thrilled with my hearts... idk what happened there but, overall I think they are just so fun! I can't wait to give it to him! :)

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6/29 COMFORT. So, I've been doodling this little flower and these swirly things since I was in high school. If I'm ever stumped for something to doodle I always go back to this. It was a little tougher making these with watercolor especially all the swirls. :)

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5/29 SHADOW. This one was tough for me. I found lits of interesting images of shadows on real life objects. Shadows of people and animals, but I came across someone else painting of this shadow figure and it had such an eerie feeling to me. I was intrigued. So, I decided to give my take on this creepy dude!

My World in Watercolor - image 27 - student project

4/29 LIGHT. I forget who or where I saw it but someone made a super awesome space galaxy and I thought it was so cool! So when the prompt was light for day 4, my brain immediately brought me back to the stunning galaxy piece I had seen. This was a fun piece I kind of just went for it and made a deep blue/ purple and grey/black dark night sky. I then took White acryilc paint and splattered some "stars" around. It didn't turn out exactly like I hoped, but that is okay. I had fun!

My World in Watercolor - image 28 - student project

3/29 MUSIC I chose City & Coloour's "Northern Wind" as inspiration today. It is hands down my favorite song. I had a lot of ideas and thought swiriling about what to create, but I had a long day today so I decided to just go with the flow. Let the brush go where it wants. & I ended up with this. It kind of liiks like an eye or an egg. haha Either way I like my color choices and everytime I feel a little more confident holding the brush. So, it's a win!

My World in Watercolor - image 29 - student project

2/29 PLACE Today's prompt made me immediately go to my "happy place" My family owns a cabin in the woods in Rose City, MI. It's a cute little town. Complete with the best pizza place ever, one stop light, and tons and tons of winding dirt roads. This particular painting is what you would see turning into the road to get to our cabin. Everytime I see this view I automatically feel relaxed. It's about a ten minute drive down this beautiful winding road to our cabin. I decided to capture one of my favorite places at my favorite time of year. Fall! I absolutely LOVE visiting this special place in the fall. The colors are beautiful, and it almost seems a little quieter, and a litte more peaceful. I'm not super happy with how it turned out but I am getting more confident in my brush strokes and have less of a shake in my hand making the trees. There are a few areas I wish I would've blended better, and I feel like the curve in the road at the end is a little off. But, Overall I HAD FUN. This is becoming the part of my day that I really look forward to. Coming home from work, turning on some music, making my evening cup of tea, and creating. Thank you Ria!

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1/29 ROOTS February Sketch Challenge. I decided that my limitation this month will be only using watercolor. I bought a few sets of paints, brushes, and paper a few months ago and of course it has been collecting dust. I've opened them once or twice but that's about it. So, I'm going to put them to good use!

When I saw the prompt for today I spent a lot of time meditating on what root ment to me. No matter how hard I tried I kept thinking of a tree. Of course the obvious choice, I tried to find something else but then I began to really thing about a tree and its roots. Which then led me to start thinking about the root of some of the reasons I haven't wanted to start a daily art practice or practice at all. Fear, self-doubt, being judged, thinking I wasn't good enough. These were all things that came to mind. So I decided to represent those feelings by writing them on the roots of the tree. Then I thought if this is the root of my fears about being an artist and feeding a daily art practice then what would I like to see change at the end of this challenge. So on the leaves at the top of the tree I wrote some ideas down for things I'd like to manifest throughout this challenge.

My World in Watercolor - image 31 - student project

Sketchbook Magic 6/7 I chose a regular no. 2 pencil from my cup of choices, cow from my bowl of prompts, and 6 minutes from my magic dice. Having a time restriction is so hard for me! I feel rushed, but it does make me think quicker and I'm less critical of my work. I just go for it, I'm racing the clock! My work doesnt turn out the best when I don't have time to just sit and work at my own pace but it is a fun challenge for myself!

My World in Watercolor - image 32 - student project

Sketchbook Magic 5/7 I picked colored pencild from my cup of choices and peaceful from my bowl of prompts. I actually ha d abit of inspiration yesterday and my bowl was beginning to empty so I made some new prompts to add to my magic bowl. This was one of them. This was inspired from a photo I took over the summer at a music festival. There were parts of the woods filled with hammocks and it was so peaceful and quiet. I set my timer for 7 minutes (rolled the dice) and came up with this messy sketch.

My World in Watercolor - image 33 - student project

Sketchbook Magic 4/7 So, it's rare for me to create something without a reference. I always like to pull up photos or find something in front of my to look at. I decided for my challenge today I would set the timer for 10mins and out came these wacky characters. >.< haha

My World in Watercolor - image 34 - student project

My World in Watercolor - image 35 - student project

3/7 Sketchbook Magic I have really enjoyed working with watercolor for the past few days, so I decided to try a different technique I had seen. I chose "Weather" from my bowl of prompts and found a beautiful photo online of a lightning strike at night. My tree silouhette on the right didn't turn out quite as well as I'd hoped but that's ok. I made a deep grey purple color for the sky and sprinkled salt all over the page before it started to dry. I had seen this done before so I went with it, turned out pretty neat! Hard to tell from this photo... sorry! Once this piece was dry I brushed all...ok most of the salt into the garbage. The rest is all over my desk haha. I then took a white prismacolor pencil to make the lightning strike. I wish I wouldve done the deeper grey across the whole sky, it would've been easier to see the lightning. Next time! :)

My World in Watercolor - image 36 - student project

Sketchbook Magic: 2/7 I chose a paintbrush from my cup of choices, "place" from my magic bowl... which is funny because that is the prompt for today's February challenge. But I have another idea for the challenge prompt for today. :) I decided to sketch with pencil first before I added the watercolor. You can see my lines in a few spots. I will go back with a kneaded eraser later today when it's dry. Making this piece was a lot of fun! I turned spotify up loud, picked my favorite playlist, and got lost painting for a few hours... oops! I loved it though! Just me, my music, my art supplies, a hot cup of tea, and the quiet of my house before my fiancee got home. I picked this bridge because I may use it for another project and wanted to test out and see if I could create it. Bonus points if anyone can guess this bridge?

My World in Watercolor - image 37 - student project

Day 6:Sketchbook Magic 1/7 I wanted to keep these 7 sketches seperate from the February sketch challenge. (I'll be naming the February sketch challenge pics accordingly.) So, I created this piece using baby pigs as my prompt, and selecting my colored pencil out of the magic cup of choices. I found three photos online of the cutest baby piglets (I now want a pig as a pet) they are so cute! I began by sketching the first one in pencil, I thought it turned out ok, but then I thought well what would happen if I sketched out another. Would it be just a little bit better because I had already studied the first photo and had sketched a decent piglet. So I sketched another, and thought the same thing so I sketched out one more... mostly because I ran out of room. But the third one turned out the best so I decided to add some color

My World in Watercolor - image 38 - student project

Day 5: First of all I picked 7 from the magic popsicle sticks so I will be creating art for 7 more days. (even though I think it will be a lot more than 7 days) I picked my double sided sharpie from the cup of magic chices and I chose patterns from my magic bowl. I created this piece in my bed again... still pretty sick. although my fever is gone so that's a win! haha I decided to fill the entire page with crazy patterns using the thick and thin on my Sharpie. I really really just let myself do whatever I felt like doing on this page. No limitations, no restricitons. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. It actually reminds me of a project I did in high school that was somewhat similar.

My World in Watercolor - image 39 - student project

Day 4: Well I've been sick all weekend. Mild Fever and an awful sinus infection... tmi I know. But, I didn't let that stop me. I wan't able to upload them yesterday because I was napping on and off. So, here is yesterday's art. I picked my .05 micron pen from the magic mug of choices, and I picked elephant from my magic bowl of prompts. I created this piece in my bedroom. I haven't left it much this weekend, so why not! haha I definitely allowed myself to be a little messy. I was proud of myself for not using being sick as an excuse not to make art. Even though it's a pretty good excuse haha.

My World in Watercolor - image 40 - student project

Day 3: This is my Pomeranian Beau. He is sweet, smart, sassy, and thinks he's a human child. I've tried drawing pictures of him in the past but I always want everything to look PERFECT so I'd give up halfway through and never finish them. I actually really liked rolling a dice to have a designated amount of time I was able to work on this... granted I may have gone over the 5 minute mark a little bit but, I was so focused on only having 5 minutes to create that I allowed myself to be a little messier, to make mistakes, and not to get upset that it didn't come out perfect. I felt a little uncomfortable at first with the limited time frame but after it was over, I ended up really liking the fact that I only had 5 minutes to make something. That's a trick I can use on those days that i feel like I really don't have time.

My World in Watercolor - image 41 - student project

Day 2: I really liked having to pull my inspiration from a promt out of a bowl. It took the stress of "What do I make?" It forced me to just GO WITH IT. My favorite part of this challenge was the surprise of picking my promt. It was so exciting to already have an idea there all I had to do was follow it! Which I did. I also closed my eyes again and picked a wider paint brush. So, I grabbed my watercolor palette and started sketching out as many different types of leaves as I could on one page. This is what I made today!

My World in Watercolor - image 42 - student project

Day 1: Well, first of all I am VERY glad I stumbled across this class. Everything in the first two videos really resonated with me. I make excuses daily of why I "don't have time to create" so that definitely hit close to home for me. I also found it challenging not to self judge or criticize my work. I feel a lot of the self doubt and fear frequntly. So I've taped the quote "Action overcomes fear." above my drawing desk as a daily reminder. I pulled a mechanical pencil out of my cup of choices, I actually prefer to work with a traditional pencil so it was a little different for me to work with. I really tried to just let go for this exercise. I had no ideas or visions for this page. I just tried to keep my pencil moving, eventually a few lines and scribbles turned into something somewhat recognizable and I decided to go with it. I caught myself judging a few times and then laughed at myself because this first exersize is all about exploring. I'm excited for this challenge and can't wait to see where it takes me. I do have time to create art.

Stephanie Carson

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