As a kid I was always told that I was terrible at art. I was really creative, but give me a blank piece of paper to draw on and it wasn't going to be pretty. For a lot of years I internalized that I wasn't good at art. I couldn't draw or paint or scuplt. Then I got really into pottery and found that I was reasonably good at it. I've always been creative and can find creative ways to do things, I just didn't know how to apply them to art. Finding the right teachers who could explain things in a way that made sense to me was the key. My pottery really went to new heights when I found Clayshare during the pandemic.

I've watched Jessica on Clayshare and some of the guests she's had on like Paula McCoy of Colors for Earth paint on pottery and I really wanted to do that.

I decided to start with watercolor because I really like how it looks on pottery. I also had it in my head that it was easier than acrylic. I'm not sure I believe that any more, but I'm glad it's where I started. I found a book on Amazon that seemed like it would be a good starting place - Ink and Wash Florals: Stunning Botanical Projects in Watercolor and Ink by Camilla Damsbo Brix. I can't say enough good things about this book. I'm only 1/3 of the way through and I feel like I've already learned in leaps and bounds. I started by drawing the flowers first in pencil and then in ink several times in my sketch pad. Once I felt like I had a handle on the drawing part I drew each flower several times on the watercolor paper.

Then I took the big leap and started painting. Several of the designs require you to put one color on and then let it dry so having a few pages I could go between helped me. Not every flower I've done looks awesome, but there is at least one of each that I love.

I'm working on the next set of flowers in the book and I've already pre-ordered her next book because I find the way she explains things to be so simple to follow.