Silvia Ospina

One Object, Five Techniques: A Mixed Media Watercolour Sketchbook Class

Hi Jen,I love how much you experimented here. You can really see the exploration happening, and that’s exactly what this class is about. Trial and error is where the real learning lives, so I’m actually very happy to read you had a lot of that in this class :) First image:Yes — the glass with the flowers turned out beautifully. It has such a delicate feel. The interpretation of water, and glass looks good. If anything, if you add a bit a stripe of a shiny area with white (can be a gelly pen, poska pen or gouache) to the frontal part of the glass, and the mug of the below image, you'll achieve even more volume. I also love that you tried two different approaches. The top composition feels intentionally flat — the table without perspective gives it a bold, modern look. It really does remind me a bit of Fauvism, with that flat space and strong colour presence. I personally love that kind of freedom.The bottom one, on the other hand, has much more depth. The wall, the shadows, and the table lines suggesting perspective give it a grounded, dimensional feel. Both approaches work — they just create different moods, and I love that you explored both.About the yellow mug — I actually really like the bold crop. It feels modern and unexpected. It’s not the “safe” composition, and that makes it interesting. And your resist technique there is very expressive — definitely keep playing with that. It can lead to such beautiful textures.Thank you for sharing your process so honestly. It’s really lovely to see your growth through the exercises.Second image:I love how much you explored with these mugs. I can genuinely see your observation improving from one to the next.And the fact that you can identify the strengths in each one — better proportions in the second, stronger decoration in the first — is such a good sign. That kind of analysis means your eye is sharpening.That dark mug with the lettering? Gorgeous texture. The stippling and layering give it so much depth and character.You’re clearly looking closely and thinking deeply about what you’re doing — and that’s exactly how strong foundations are built.Keep going. You’re doing beautiful, thoughtful work.

Thank you so much for all of the feedback and suggestions. That helps me immensely! I keep forgetting that posca, gel pens, and acrylics can add highlights. The wax resist honestly surprised me, too. And I ordered the tiny palette and have plans to use it for sketching at the creek in our local state park. Have always wanted to  do that.  See you soon, in another class.  :)

There was a lot of trial and error in this project!  In the end, I learned a lot. The first image should have been cropped more closely, but I am happy with the glass of flowers. Does the composition with the yellow mug work? Either way, I like the resist technique and will try it more often. 
<img srcset="https://static.skillshare.com/uploads/discussion/tmp/128dc45a.jpg 600w, https://static.skillshare.com/uploads/discussion/tmp/128dc45a.jpg 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 600px, 100vw" src="https://static.skillshare.com/uploads/discussion/tmp/128dc45a.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Mixed Media Watercolor (Mugs & Cups) - image 1 - student project">
I like the way the "blue willow" teacup turned out, except the proportions of the 2nd mug are better, and the artwork on the 1st mug is better. 
<img srcset="https://static.skillshare.com/uploads/discussion/tmp/e7b43548.jpg 600w, https://static.skillshare.com/uploads/discussion/tmp/e7b43548.jpg 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 600px, 100vw" src="https://static.skillshare.com/uploads/discussion/tmp/e7b43548.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Mixed Media Watercolor (Mugs & Cups) - image 2 - student project">

Mixed Media Watercolor (Mugs & Cups)

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