The Joy of Watercolors

 

Sharp shinned hawk by Mary Rose, age 9, October, 2009

The children have always dabbled in various media, Josiah being rather fond of acrylics, Lydia pastels, and everyone very comfortable with colored pencils. But this was the year we truly discovered the joy of painting with watercolors in a big way. Back in the fall I purchased the Watercolor Journaling DVD*, and though we only watched it once its lessons have stayed with us all year. The two artists in the video demonstrate various techniques that they use combining watercolor painting and decorative text to create beautiful journals.

Vulture, chipping sparrows, and palm warbler by Lydia, age 14, October, 2009

While nothing is really earth shattering about the actual techniques they teach - things like how to do a blind contour drawing, washes, shading, basic composition and so forth, their presentation and demonstrations are wonderfully inspiring. It is very helpful to actually watch these things rather than just reading about it, particularly if one doesn't have the opportunity to take actual art classes. One great idea from the video is the concept of painting on a small scale using small pieces of paper. This is so very freeing - you have no worries about messing up such a small piece, you can create many pieces, and if you end up with something you really don't like you just grab another piece of paper and start again. 

But one of the most valuable lessons taught in the video (for us anyways) is the notion that creating artwork should be pleasant and not stressful, and the experience is important as well as the ending result. The artists emphasize painting for the joy of it, and the beauty of capturing memories and observations through words and art. One of their catch phrases is 'striving for imperfection', and as you watch them enjoy themselves even as they make mistakes -one of them even spells 'elk' (!) wrong - you can't help but pick up on their attitude that painting should be fun (cue Harry Chapin guitar strumming here...).

It was so enjoyable sitting down and painting with my children that I don't mind showing you my very first pictures, in all their colorful imperfections - smudged letters, messy blind contour drawing, and hello, I didn't remember it was already October when I put in the date so one of them says 9-32! Oh well. J

Journal pages by Lydia, October, 2009

No worries of taking ourselves or our artwork too seriously here. It's okay for practice paintings to look like practice paintings, and not everything we paint has to be worthy of framing and hanging on the wall.
 

painting together on the Feast of the Holy Rosary, October 7, 2009

Lydia paints a flicker (for Flikr), February, 2010

Another truly fabulous thing we learned from the video is the joy of water brushes. These nifty brushes have a receptacle for water so you don't need a separate cup to paint with. This means you can pick up your paints and waterbrush at any time without needing to commit to a lot of setting up. (Pardon me if I sound like I'm gushing but I am - these things are awesome and have transformed the way we do watercolors!)

Anna painting in the field while out on a nature hike

You can watercolor in the field, doodle in the family sketch book, and even paint on a mountaintop without needing an impractical cup of murky black water that's always getting spilled.

Birds sighted while waiting at the dentist by Lydia, January, 2010

You can even paint in the car, sitting in a parking lot!

watercolors make lovely cards for all occasions

The artists in the video also use pan watercolors, and they demonstrate how to mix colors right in the box. We like the Yarka brand paints from Russia; Prang is another inexpensive readily available option.

Occasionally someone will sit down and get out the tube colors and a mixing pan and all that, but watercoloring happens everyday here, most often at teatime, thanks to the convenience of the waterbrushes and pan paints. For practice we use Miller's inexpensive student watercolor paper.

Lydia made this lovely painting bag for Anna for Christmas, so all of her supplies are in one place and always ready to take along on an adventure.

It holds paints, fine Sharpies for contour drawing, her water brush, pencil, blank cards and a small sketchbook.

As the girls have progressed with their watercolor skills they have moved beyond the journaling format portrayed in the video. After reading Edith Holden's Country Diary and Nature Notes my big girls decided to start new nature journals in that lovely style, combining their love for fancy writing, watercoloring and of course all things observed in the natural world.

Anna works on flower identification

The results are truly beautiful.

    

journal page by Lydia, May, 2010 
 
   
  journal page by Anna, May, 2010
 Of course, watercolors are not just for journaling. Josiah enjoys his own style of watercoloring -
 
 And the girls still have to paint horses on a regular basis -

 

Evil princess and her haughty courtiers, pen and watercolor by Anna, age 12
 
We have had such enjoyable times watercoloring this past year and have really grown to love the medium. A frequent question in my inbox is, What art curriculum do you use? I've attempted to show you that around here 'art' is not a curriculum; it's a natural, beautiful part of our everyday lives.

  *One caveat with the video, if modesty in dress is important to your family please note one of the presenters is a bit lacking, particularly for the intro.

Comments

[Theresa in Alberta]

My goodness!! God has certainly blessed your family with talent for beauty!! I really enjoyed looking at the printing of the
journal page by Lydia, May, 2010. and the detail of the birds is such a joy to view!! in fact all of the pictures are such fun to look at. But that printing, please do a tutorial!!!

[Gae]

Dear Kimberlee,
Oh this is such an inspiring post. I have really enjyed all the artwork. So much talent and love of painting.
I so enjoyed your own artworka dn how you paint with the children. i am so untalented in art but would love to be good at it!
I am contemplating the supplies you use as well.
I have so many questions though:
Is Nature notes similar to A cuntry Diary?
How long is Tea time for all this Art work to be done?
In my ignorance how does a water brush actually work? Do you add colour?
In the pictures there are various watercolour paint box's can you tell me which are which and do you use different ones for outings v's home use etc
I am so thankful you shared this inspiring post. I am just sorting our school stuff as we head back into a term of schooling and this is refreshing my soul along with implementing Tea time again.
We used to do teatime with the older ones but I haven't done it withour younger ones.
Thank you again
God Bless
Gae

[Kimberlee]

Thank you, Theresa, you are too kind! For the printing, the page on Josiah's blog I linked to shows more of it -he made his sisters a Pyle-style alphabet to copy from. Sending each other notes in fancy writing was all the rage here for a while so they got a lot of practice, and now they can write like that quite easily. Gae, I'd love to be good at it too, but I tried to show that it's a lot of fun just doing it. Nature Notes is an earlier, journal. It has more animals, but it does not have her lovely handwriting like Country Diary. The paints are all the Yarka pans, except for my Prangs in the 'succulent' photo. The waterbrush holds water, and you just give it a squeeze to release water to mix with your paint; to change colors a big squeeze and a wipe on a paper towel is suffice. You can lift color and made a 'puddle' in your box lid to mix colors - you can see Lydia's messy box lid in the owl pic. The nice wire journals are by Canson - Lydia's has luscious ivory paper. HTH!

[Celeste]

So, so lovely, Kimberlee! Thank you for sharing how your family does art. I would love to hear more!

[Kimberlee]

Another thought - I know the dvd is pricey, but you can also just search you tube for watercolor demos. There are several that show the Niji brushes in use, as well as many other supplies and techniques. And thanks, Celeste - I thought I rambled on too long already. :-)

[Lisa H.]

Thank you so much, Kimberlee, for this beautiful and informative post. I am going to consider that dvd for my girls. I think it would be a good investment for them.

[Candace]

Hello! I have lurked on your blog a few times but never commented. :) Anyway, I think we would enjoy this dvd, but the link is not working. Can you post the title or a different place to get this?? Thank you so much!! I love this post...your children are so talented!! Beautiful work!!

[Kimberlee]

Candace, I think Amazon (gasp) is actually having technical trouble at the moment as I get the error message trying to click on anything. You can also get the dvd at the artists' site, www.watercolorjournaling.com

[Candace]

Thank you so much! I was wondering what was going on b/c I tried several of your other links also, ha!! :) Thanks for the info...I appreciate your post, it is wonderful!!

[Nana]

I have just ordered the DVD and the water pens. Why, I do not know! This post is so inspirational that I know I'll find some way to use them which should be interesting as all the artistic talent in this family is in your home... Stay tuned... Love, Nana xox

[Louise]

This post is so inspiring! The DVD sounds interesting. Although I was an art student, I never really messed with watercolor. We sure could use some tips.

[mary@evlogia]

I love this post!

I just bought fresh nature sketch books and drawing pencils last week. In the past we have used the Prismacolor watercolor pencils and watercolor notebooks, but I think that the waterbrushes will make true watercolors possible. Thank you so much for that tip. I had no idea!

By the way, do you have any experience with the dry brush technique used by Charlotte Mason's students?

[regan]

we *heart* watercolors here too.
they are so forgiving and come out so professional looking if the sketches are outlined in black sharpie first.
i am in awe of all those wonderful pictures your children have painted.
nature sketches are always my favorites and those birds and flowers are so precious!
what an incredibly talented group you are!
i have been recently doing a few myself too.
it is so relaxing!

ps. all of those ATC's are awesome too!
especially the ones made by little hands!

[Kathy]

Thank you for sharing their lovely work and the resource links. What a beautiful hobby!

[Emma]

Dear Mrs Kimberlee,
My name is Emma and thought I would comment on your beautiful blog after viewing it for some time!!
It has been wonderful to find like minded spirits from the other side of the world....Since my mum has been diagnosed with a degenerative heart condition, our Tea-Art time has infiltrated into most of our homeschooling....and it has been nice to be encouraged by your inspiring family. Though my mum does not have a blog, yours is the one I show her at times when she needs beauty! Thank you for your delightful sharing.
And for those Australian "viewers" we found our water brushes at a local art supply store (Premier Art Supplies). They have been a true delight to use. I'm sure if you search within your own state you will be quite surprised!!
Blessings, Emma H.

[Kate Wicker @ Momopoly]

Kimberlee, I've been admiring this post and its beautiful images over and over (along with my little artists who are duly impressed with your children's watercolors). My oldest is very into art, but I am clueless when it comes to supplies, etc. Well, your post has been a great help as well as a visual feast. I look forward to ordering some of the supplies you recommend and watching my children color my world (and theirs!) with their watercolor creativity.

I love your blog, your edifying words, and your beautiful photography. Thanks for letting us peek into your home and your life!

God bless.

[Kimberlee]

Thanks so much for all your kind words, ladies! You are all too nice. Mary,I have never heard of dry brush watercoloring - it sounds interesting.
Another tip: while searching for watercolor videos I found an artist who uses an ice cube tray for her water. This would be great for young artists who are too little to use a waterbrush. You fill the tray with water and when one well gets murky just move on to a fresh one. It's also less likely to get spilled by littles. And I forgot to mention we also get paper at Michael's - we have used their 'Artist's Loft fundamentals' paper pads - they are an economical option for decent (90lb) paper when they go on sale half price.

[Kathy]

I wanted to add that Lydia should consider making painting bags and selling them on Etsy! A very practical and beautiful gift.

[Jennifer in TX]

KImberlee,
Thank you for sharing the beauty of your home and the lovely artwork that is a result. It is very inspirational. God bless you and yours this 4th!

[Jennifer Mackintosh]

What a delight to read this post! I waited until I had a few quiet moments to myself! It's utterly inspiring, Kimberlee! Beautiful!

And, what a fabulous find the waterbrushes are! Thank you!

[SuzanneG]

Hi, Kimberlee~
What a WONDERFUL post to enjoy during my late-night evening! Such beauty! My neighbor is giving my girls some beginning watercolor lessons this summer and they are really enjoying it. I'm loving their work. Can't wait to show them your pictures here.

Hope you're doing well! Hugs,
Suzanne

[Allison]

Breathtaking! Your children are superb artists!

I too am so inspired and want to show my children this post and break out the water colors.

[MaggieAnnie]

Oh we love that dvd- though my dd made a few comments about the presenters level of modesty as well. My ds loves to see your son's work he is so happy "there is a boy like me mom!"
My dd is also plese to see other big girls who "dress up"
We were looking for some new watercolors we will try out the yarka-thanks.

[(((((HUGS))))) sandi]

*THANK YOU!* for this! How delightfully LOVELY! Going to check out that DVD now.... (((((HUGS))))) sandi

[kimberlee]

Just wanted to mention I have recently found Yarkas at my AC Moore. (yay!) Also, my craft stores (AC Moore and Michael's) now have the water brushes but they are in the scrapbooking section, not with regular paint brushes in the art supplies.

[Lisa]

What lovely work! I will be looking into these resources.