After getting frustrated and very busy with life, I took a pause on painting for 60 days.  When I went back to this new beloved hobby, I found that I had forgotten what I learned.  It was almost like starting from the very beginning.  Even my notes couldn't help me translate to paper what I originally thought I was pretty decent at.  I decided to begin again, but this time not be too hard on myself.  I see from taking the long break that regular practice is really what I need.  I started a 100-Day Watercolor Workout, where each painting takes a very short amount of time to do, and also started this class to work on a longer project on the weekend. 

I usually do the same painting a few times, on different paper to see how the water  and color flows.  

Here is what I've done so far:

 Strathmore 400 Series 12' x 12"

I am finding that I don't get the vibrancy I desire with this paper, and working with less water is an advantage.  I tend to use a lot of water when I paint, so it seems like I have to fight with the details.  The mountain on the left is where I was using too much water to show details on the brighter side.  I thickened up my paint on the right mountain and prefer the way it turned out.  Below is Strathmore 500 Series Premium Cold Press 5"x 7", and was my first attempt at the project.

Below is my first attempt, on Fluid 100 Cold Press Easy-Block 140 lb.Strathmore 400 Series 12" x 12"  The top of this photo was cut off in editing, but I had to layer the purple 4 times to get the vibrancy I wanted.  It ended up turning out OK and just goes to show that if you don't like it the first time, don't give up...keep adding!  

Fluid 100 Easy Block 8" x8":  I like the way the storm clouds turned out.

Trying out a new paper:  Baohong 100% cotton block.