Watercolor painting by
Emma Schenstrom
Emma Schenstrom's watercolor learning experience:
I must admit I was quite nervous when I started this class. Having no previous experience with watercolor – that is, other than what I did in first to third grade, where all the paint inevitably got mixed together in one big mess – I was nervous about if I was going to have enough patience for this class. However, I took a painting class this last semester, using acrylic, which was also a new medium to me, and I was about equally nervous about that class beforehand. Although I was excited about it because I imagined I would really enjoy painting since I do love art, I was nervous I might be completely on the wrong track, being more of an “art viewer” than an “art creator”. Luckily I ended up absolutely loving the class! At the same time I knew that watercolor was a completely different technique (or at least so I thought) and that made me feel like I was starting from scratch.
However, I learned quickly that acrylic and watercolor are fairly similar techniques and something I found to be a relief to find out was that if you make a mistake, you can correct it! This is the very beginning of the class, but I already find myself “loosened up” - the “fear” and the feeling of where to start are gone. I have gone through some frustrations when the water makes the colors float around on the paper, or when adding a color to the color that is already on the paper and the result ends up being something totally different than what I wanted. But again, knowing that I can correct it makes me more confident when using the brush and the colors. In fact, that alone increases my patience and so far I am enjoying every bit of painting with watercolor!
