A Smile for You!

I mentioned that I would try watercolor in my journal and see how it handled on the handmade paper in my journal. Today, I was sitting in my classroom and I noticed this bouquet of flowers sitting on top of the piano. It was obviously Donna's - the music teacher who shares a classroom with me. She has been sick, and I just wonder if it might be from our staff. Anyway, regardless of who it is from, I am sure it brightened her day as it did mine. Sometimes just seeing a cheery smile can lift my spirits. As far as the watercolor goes...it worked ok. It did bleed through the paper. I actually thought ahead to put a blotter sheet behind the page...only two pages stuck together, they are so thin, so that was pretty useless. The paper is much more absorbent than I am used to with watercolor...it soaked the color right up, while the paper stayed damp so I could blend colors, it was hard to do light washes...the paint wouldn't flow. But I didn't mind so much, I liked the bright colors. I also left a few flowers out because I ran out of time...the arrangement was much more full than I painted it.