I am having some real feelings this weekend. I used them to do some more practice with the watercolors. Painting #4. I still feel like I have no idea what I am doing, and I used a masking pen for the first time and boy do I regret some of THOSE choices. I am totally incapable of judging my own work, but I feel like I had to put something out into the world, and this was it, or a reasonable facsimile thereof.
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A fitting tribute. I love the duality in your shading. May her memory be a blessing.
Wow I can’t express how beautiful and touching this is
Maybe it didn’t turn out quite like you intended, but it looks amazing! I love this so much.
This turned out fantastic. You really captured her.
I love it! You really captured the things I love about RBG. Her expression is kind as well as resolute.
Thank you so much, all of you. It has been a rough couple of days and I really needed to get this out.
This is so wonderful. What a great way to channel that energy.
I had some hard feelings around this, too. I commiserated via text with my college roommates. Every time you thing 2020 can’t get worse, the universe says “hold my beer…” .
Beautifully done.
This is a really wonderful portrait, thank you for sharing it.
You’ve captured a lot of emotion with this piece. Absolutely stunning!
Thank you, thank you! It’s so nice to read that what I tried to impart in this portrait is coming through. I’ve been struggling with my shading, wanting to get a softer look. I know that the sort of cell-shading style vs gradient shading is difficult with watercolor, and I may just not have the experience yet. I’ve been wondering if it may have to do with the fact that I am working from a high quality travel set, but it is limited to only 8 colors (or 7 colors and black), so all of my tone control has to be done with dilution, I don’t have any lighter tones that are full-pigment. That might not make as much difference as I think it does, but to get many layers of a light light skin tone, for example, it has to be VERY watery, and I’m having trouble finding a balance between not having the colors completely blend together, and having hard lines.
Congrats! Your painting is one of this week’s featured projects. You are amazing.
What paper are you using? I find I get quite different results with different papers - different brands and surfaces seem to have quite variable drying rates and ability to blend on the paper. Maybe trying a few different good watercolour papers might help you get the result you want?
She’s amazing!
This is Canson Watercolor, which I picked up because it was a reasonably inexpensive but not super low quality paper, to practice on as I learn. I also have some Strathmore watercolor, but I haven’t used it yet. Both of them are cold press. I didn’t want to invest too heavily until I was sure I’d enjoy the medium, but I was also balancing that against knowing that poor quality tools would decrease the likelihood that I WOULD enjoy it. My mom is an artist who prefers watercolor and acrylic (though she’s currently on her own medium experiment adventure with gouach), and she gave me some recommendations for good quality tools that would keep costs down. It only took about halfway through my first painting to decide I really liked the medium, so perhaps it’s time to do some paper-type experiments to see which I prefer.
Yes, it’s probably worth experimenting a bit to see what you like best 
I’m sometimes surprised by the difference using the same paint on different papers. I’m looking forward to seeing more of your work!
Stunning work. Fantastic tribute.
Just gorgeous. How incredibly talented you are!
