Hello friends.

Yesterday I said I was going to post my Chinese brush doodles that I did day before yesterday.  It was really a lot of fun!  However, as you can see, I do need a lot more practice!  I only used ink and will not be adding watercolor to my doodles for a while yet.  The kit I have came with six basic colors of watercolors.  I haven’t tried to use them yet, but I’m not sure that they will be much different than what I already have.

Anyway, the first things shown in the book are basic techniques:

1.  Holding the brush – this is interesting, because I have to hold it straight up for many of the strokes!  My fingers have to grip it completely different than I learned for using a regular watercolor brush.  I like it, though.  It’s unique.
2. Practicing strokes.  The different strokes are called:  Line, long dot, dot, rice, curve, blend-and-tip, slide, and press-and-lift strokes.
3. Then it shows how to use watercolor paints and create a value scale.
4. And finally, warming up.

The two warm-up exercises are how to draw bamboo and how to draw a Koi fish.

Here are my very first doodles where I only tried line and long dot strokes and then attempted to draw bamboo.

Then I attempted to draw a Koi fish.  I really want to practice this kind of fish a lot more, because I want to paint it in watercolors with the Chinese brushes as well.

Of course the fish I really want to learn how to do that is demonstrated in the book also is the goldfish.  Why, you may wonder?  My son is 19 years old.  Ever since he was barely over a year old, my mom began giving him Goldfish crackers for a snack.  He still eats them to this day.  And I think they are still his favorite snack!  Thanks, mom!  So I can hardly wait to try to paint one for him.

That’s all for today.  I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend.  My daughter starts school on Monday, but this year my son will be helping with the driving until she gets her license.  This means I’ll have more time for painting!  Yay!

Have a wonderful day, and give someone you love a big hug!  🙂