Watercolor Experiments

I figured if I'm going to manage to do anything in watercolor this month, I could use a day to just mess around with the paint and see how it behaves. So first, a color chart like the one I did for oil.

Next, I experimented with random brush strokes and different degrees of wetness. 

Then, some washes. 

 

And finally, I wanted to see how it works if I start with a pencil sketch and actually tried to make watercolor do something recoginizable. So I painted this dragon's eye on ACEO watercolor paper. I plan to ink in some details later.

Brought to you by that oh-so-tantalizing glimpse of Smaug's eye at the end of The Hobbit movie. Waiting for the second movie is torture.

So there you have it, my no pressure experiments with watercolor, really the first time I've played with it at all. I plan to play with two books this month as far as my watercolor attempts... Stephanie Pui Mun Law's Dreamscapes: Creating Magical Angel, Faery & Mermaid Worlds With Watercolor (I have been a fan of Stephanie's work for over a decade), and Step By Step Guide To Painting Realistic Water Colors by Dawn McLeod Heim.

Let the challenge begin!