BUILDING UP A COLOR-MAD STASH

I played with acrylic craft paints back in the 80s when tole painting and country decor were all the rage. Then I became a Prismacolor marker hoarder when I got into landscape design. However, ever since I took my first online class with Junelle Jacobsen, and discovered Neocolor II water soluble crayons, it's pretty much been all watercolor, all the time around here! Which is why I've been having soooo much fun with Danielle Donaldson's new Creative Girl workbook lately.

This week I've been enjoying her lesson about building up a watercolor stash -- the perfect project for those days when you feel like playing, but don't feel like having to think too much, or come up with ideas.

Basically, you just take your little scraps of watercolor paper and splash on a couple of analogous paint colors, like orange and yellow, or blue and green, then play around with different techniques, like wet on wet, or wet on dry, or sprinkling with salt, or leaving crumpled saran wrap on the paint as it dries.
 

I've also experimented with all different kinds of watercolor paints, from my basic Prang student set up top and these intensely pigmented Peerless watercolors that come on heavy paper strips...

to those Dr. Ph liquid watercolors Hubby gave me recently, and my little Koi travel set.

On the back of each piece I made note of which paints and techniques I used, for future reference. And, taadaa!  Now I have my very own "stash" of papers that can be the inspiration for future backgrounds, or cut up and used in other projects.

Plus, I had just a heckuva great time creating it! In fact, I think it just might be the perfect way to ease your brain into creative mode, whenever you're having trouble getting started. Try it!