I thoroughly enjoyed this class and it’s exercises. I loved how Alanna is using combination of various mediums to create her pictures.

Exercise 1: Lines

I liked working with the pencil (no 1) and the ball-point pen (no 3). I like using markers, however, it smudged a bit on this kind of watercolour paper and I couldn’t draw a nice, thin line. I tried the exercise again using only a waterproof 0.5 pen on smoother paper and that was great.
However, I found out that no matter the medium I used, I didn’t enjoy lines that much.

Bugs - image 1 - student project
Bugs - image 2 - student project
Exercise 2: Shapes

LOVED this exercise! I used very different mediums and enjoyed working with all of them, including markers (pic 6). I used crayons for pictures 3 and 5. I loved the ‘crocheted’ effect I managed to create in pic 5. I used watercolours on wet paper in pic 2 and even though I’m not very strong in watercolour painting, I like the look of the bug. I used gouache in pic 1 and I filled the shape with little dots and again, loved the effect it created (it reminds me of a pom-pom). And I really loved Alanna’s idea of a square ladybug, just thought I might try to take it a step further and distort the shape of the bug a bit. I love the picture, though, I don’t think it works that well for a ladybug because it doesn’t look as elegant as it normally does. However, in future I might try it with other, more rectangular beetles.

Bugs - image 3 - student project

Exercise 3: Space & negative space

I did this exercise twice because first time, I tried to copy too much what I saw in the photograph. I used different mediums but I didn’t quite like the result. However, I loved the pic 5, both creating it and the result as well. Next time, however, I might try to combine more colours, even though I do like this turquoise. And I loved the pic 6 because it looks so much like the photo.
However, I got more adventurous in the second round of this exercise and totally loved it. I loved the textures created by the crayons and the pencil (pic 1 and 2) and I loved the simple shapes in pics 5 and 6. And I forgot how much I used to enjoy dot painting technique.
Bugs - image 4 - student project Bugs - image 5 - student project
Exercise 4: Value

I did this exercise twice again. At first, I didn’t really care for the butterflies looking real as focused more on trying to get the colours right, however, I didn’t like the result. So I painted the butterflies again, used various mediums and really enjoyed working with watercolours, especially on wet paper. And I loved layering and combining gouache. I also used pictures of real butterflies this time round and liked the result much more than before.

Bugs - image 6 - student project Bugs - image 7 - student project
Exercise 5: Colours

I quite liked the futuristic look of pic 6, however, next time, I might use different colour combination for the background and I might use gouache or watercolours instead of crayons because I don’t really like the texture of that picture. I love the shimmering effect of my silver paint in pics 3 and 4 which might not be visible in the photograph but it looks really cute on paper. And I liked the colour combination of pic 1 and 5.
Bugs - image 8 - student project
Exercise 5: Texture

Again, I used variety of mediums and really enjoyed it. I liked the effect the ball-point pen created in pic 2 and I liked the combination of watercolours on wet and dry paper in pic 4 and the effect created by salt on wet paint in pic 6. I don’t like the wobbly wings in pic 6 though. And I enjoyed layering colours in pic 3 but I don’t feel that the result is somehow great.
Bugs - image 9 - student project
Overall, I really enjoyed working with various mediums, practicing brushstrokes skills, and just trying out new ideas. I didn’t like the first butterflies and I think that was because they didn’t look real.
I want to learn more about watercolours and I’m falling in love with acrylic gouache more and more every time I use it.

I loved this course! Thank you so much, Alanna; your classes are so much fun and so creative! :)

Radka B

2

12