This year I painted portraits that contained what was supposed to be flowers ... that ending up looking like, well, blobs. So I came here to learn the ropes. I have worked my way through the exercises.

I was constantly fighting my brushes and the paper, but was mostly OK with the results. The flowers themselves, though, were an exercise in frustration.

My brushes just wouldn't keep their point. After getting some private advice from Joly, I bought new ones and also watched the tips on brush/water/paint control in the class on mop brushes.

I think, cotton paper would have been better as this technique relies on the paint being still slightly wet. My paper dried as soon as I lifted the brush. Except when it didn't. I don't know whether the "simple" flowers or the roses frustrated me more. ^o^; Well, I'll keep exercising, anyway. Joly is living prove to the fact that, well, it's me, not the flowers. ^__^;

The only thing missing is the final project - I still can't work up the nerve to attempt that. Meanwhile, I've tried out the floral elements on a sketchbook's dreaded "first page". (The floral border idea is from one of Joly's youtube videos.) While my florals still look like toddler scribbles compared to Joly's, I'm really happy they at least don't hurt to look at. Mostly.

I'll upload a picture of the final project once I've attempted it.

I'll keep on practising and will work my way through her other classes, next.