There's Always Something New Everyday Pt. 1

I got myself new watercolors—I use tubes, by the way. To add to that, I also got myself a new watercolor pad. I was excited to use them, because they were new, and who doesn’t get excited with new purchases?

The watercolor tubes were fantastic, I enjoyed using them, and they were more vibrant than what I had been using before. Well, considering that what I have been using was a bunch of very old, very dry ones that my mother found in the storage room last pandemic, of course they were. My past watercolor tubes, I remember, had already been around since I was a kid, so imagine that. It was chucked away in the closet for two decades, until we unearthed them by some chance. Discovering they were still usable, I decided to practice with them, and hence, my art journey began.

Back to the present, as I tried the pad for the first time, I realized that the paper was rougher than the usual pad that I was using. It absorbed water like sponge and I didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing at first, but with my current style and technique in watercolor, I figured I didn’t do well with the new one.

Yay!

So, what I did to prove myself right, that it wasn’t my lack of recent practice in watercolor that my initial painting didn’t work, but the paper’s fault, I tested out two similar portraits on both types of paper. Lo and behold, I did better in the one that I was used to.

The portrait I did on the new watercolor paper.

I decided to chuck the paper in the cabinet for now, but I thought I should probably learn new techniques with it, so it wouldn’t go to waste. I could probably print stuff on it too. I’m still even learning in the old paper, so learning in the new one will be more challenging as it was.

Though, I’m all for the learning, so it’s alright.

However, on the first try, with persistence that led to slight frustration, and the fact that I was kind of convincing myself that I could fix the artwork with a few more brush strokes, I finally gave up on the first painting. Instead, I finished the one on the old paper, because I was more satisfied with how she came out, and how everything was coming together better than in the new one.

So, the second one, I finished with more confidence. Not just that, I was able to draw another portrait. After that, I was finally able to conclude that I still had the skills in watercolor, and it was just my inexperience with the new paper that made it seem like I forgot how to do watercolor.

Watercolor portraits on the old paper.

For the record, it’s been a long time since I painted with watercolor. Ever since I started drawing on canvas, I focused mainly on acrylics, and I started to study oil—albeit still in theory.

I thought I had been too used to blending with acrylic, being able to slap on paint above mistakes, and all that, so much that I assumed I forgot how to do watercolor.

I’m still glad I haven’t forgotten it though. I feel like it’s similar to staying in different places. When I was in my late mother’s hometown, I was used to the cool sea breeze, the constant sound of the waves, and the calm life by the beach side. So, when I returned to my home city, I felt like I didn’t know how to live here again.

It’s noisier, it’s less peaceful. There are more signs of traffic and human development, than when I was in the northern province. I was so used to the sea breeze too, that when I returned home, I had developed some kind of an allergy. I adjusted for the next day, before I went back to business.

When I mentioned it was similar to not painting with one medium for a long time, I guess it’s the getting used to phase that is similar. Like, some part of you had forgotten how to be there, how to do that, but deep inside, you are familiar with it after all.

So, I feel like my house is like watercolor—something I returned to after a long time.

That said, I painted a simple, surreal artwork for my bathroom. I decided to fill some gaps in the house with artworks, like I would fill my life with new things, new discoveries, new experiences, and embrace it. I decided I wanted to hang artworks at home, a result of a sudden whim, to show not just to everyone who will come visit, but to remind myself, that I made that, and I’m proud of it.

Bathroom Art: Too Many Thoughts for Just Shampoo