I reconnected with art about 2 years ago and started focusing on watercolor last year. I try to practice everyday, but my paintings are all over the map. A few have worked out and most of them I've recycled. My smaller paintings turn out better, maybe because I'm more relaxed or I pack fewer ideas into them. I'm drawn to crisp brush strokes and hard edges. Misty soft effects are wonderful when other people paint them. I haven't quite figured out how to produce wet-on-wet effects that feel like my own but I continue to practice nonetheless, especially Olly's tree series.

The first painting below is a simple view of trees in Washington state and the second is a view of Beluga Point, in Alaska. I am proud of the first painting because I experimented with color and avoided the temptation to copy my reference image exactly. Everything tends to be green here in Washington which is beautiful but also monotonous. We refer to it as the "tyranny of green". It's everywhere and cannot be escaped.

The second painting was a big leap for me for similar reasons. I really had to push the color as everything in the actual screen was dark grey w/ very little tonal variety. I repeated this painting many times and focused on doing more w/ fewer brush strokes.

Happy to be part of this forum and looking forward to learning from you all. All comments and feedback are appreciated.

- Robyn

Marymoor Park, Washington

A5, Arches cold press

Beluga Point, Alaska

A5, Arches cold press