I’m really loving this challenge so far! I just need to not overwork the paper when I’m doing washes as I’m noticing some of my washes are ending up with darker dots of pigment in the middle. However, I discovered when I painted on the backside of the paper by mistake I didn’t have that issue.

Days 1-6

Days 1-30 - image 1 - student project

Day 7

Okay, this was the toughest day for me for getting clouds somewhat right. It had taken me two tries to get the clouds the way I wanted them for day 6 and it took me five to get the clouds to my liking (5 tries was my final straw, I was going to add palm trees to whatever I ended up getting lol) here are my trial runs which I saved and wrote notes for future reference.

Days 1-30 - image 2 - student project

And here is my last try. I would have liked to soften the cloud colour as I neared the horizon, but I didn’t want to mess it up again LOL

Days 1-30 - image 3 - student project

Day 8

I really loved this project as I love the northern lights, nothing beats seeing it in real life though. Days 1-30 - image 4 - student project

Day 9

Oh wet on wet skies how you still elude me lol. After 3 tries with this sky I finally got something that wasn’t a muddy mess. I really need to learn to stop fiddling with things and just walk away and let it dry on its own! Days 1-30 - image 5 - student project

Day 10

This was one of my favourites so far, I added some extra details with a gel pen and some splattering on the beach.

Days 1-30 - image 6 - student project

Day 11

I changed the subject matter a bit on this one. I had taken a photo in our yard one morning that had basically the same colours in the sky, so I used the photo as a reference.

Days 1-30 - image 7 - student project

Day 12

Well I messed up the light part of my sky so I just went dark all over and turned it into a night scene in the desert, happy accident :)

Days 1-30 - image 8 - student project

Day 13

Still trying to get the hang of how much water to use when laying colours in on already wet colours. This was the second try as the first one I ended up lifting lines of colour out instead of laying colour in lol

Days 1-30 - image 9 - student project

Day 14

Thought I was going to have to scrap this one after I got the meadow laid in, ended getting water droplets on it, but I managed to save it lol This project reminds of the Highlands in Cape Breton!

Days 1-30 - image 10 - student project

Day 15

Made this one into a starry night sky as I’m not totally comfortable with my bird skills yet lol

Days 1-30 - image 11 - student project

Day 16

The dry brush technique continues to be a hit or miss for me, I’ll continue to practice that one and next time I’ll have to pay a little closer attention to the direction of my tree shadows.

Days 1-30 - image 12 - student project

Day 17

This was another favourite, it took a while to work myself up to painting those tree limbs lol I’m starting to work on not making just straight sticks for limbs.

Days 1-30 - image 13 - student project

Day 18

My lake ended up a lot darker than I would have liked, really wishing I had that pretty turquoise colour!

Days 1-30 - image 14 - student project

Day 19

This was such a fun technique! I decided to change the trees a bit and paint a row of red pine trees which is a common sight around here.

Days 1-30 - image 15 - student project

Day 20

Trying out a different paper brand today, haven’t decided if I like it yet. I’m finding the colours aren’t as vibrant as when I use the Arches paper.

Days 1-30 - image 16 - student project

Day 21

So cliffs are definitely going to be something to practice! Couldn’t get my dry brush to do what I wanted it to do, so I ended up going in with a pigment pen.

Days 1-30 - image 17 - student project

Day 22

I’m not going to lie...this was the hardest project for me yet! I think I tried this one 4 times all of which the yellow/orange ran into the blue and I ended up with a colour in the sky that is not supposed to be there lol. My last ditch attempt I switched my paper over to a rough texture and I was able to keep my colours separated. I still need to work on water quantities for wet on wet techniques as there seems to be a very fine line between yay and nay! Days 1-30 - image 18 - student project

Day 23

I liked this project even though I had to give it a try twice to get those clouds in.
Days 1-30 - image 19 - student project
Day 24

Abstract flowers always stump me a little, found myself trying to make symmetrical splatters lol

Days 1-30 - image 20 - student project

Day 25

That was a hard one not to fiddle with. I really just have to leave the paint alone and let it do its thing lol. Tried out putting a silhouette of a person on the mountain looking at the sky, I’ll have to work on silhouettes. The person started off tiny and then I kept trying to fix his head, so the person kept getting bigger!

Days 1-30 - image 21 - student project

Day 26

Tried out the Canson paper again today and I had a really hard time getting darker colours to lay down. The paint just kind of floats on the paper and doesn’t really sink in. I might try this project again on Arches paper and see if there is a difference.

Days 1-30 - image 22 - student project

Day 27

This was a really fun project! I went a little overboard with my trees as I like my forests a little spooky :)

Days 1-30 - image 23 - student project

Day 28

I don’t know what it is with purple shades but I can never seem to get them to work the way I want them to lol I think this was the 4th try on this one.

Days 1-30 - image 24 - student project

Day 29

Ah purple and violet colours. Again, I don’t know why I have such a hard time with these colours. I ended up with darker tones and my sun spots ended up as mud. My mountains were too dark to add the light coloured trees so I ended up going with black.

Days 1-30 - image 25 - student project

Day 30

I finally got my hands on some turquoise blue paint! I liked the subject of this project, but again I’m finding I still have a habit of going in too dark with my colours; I guess I’ll have to work on that :)

Days 1-30 - image 26 - student project

Julie Day

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