I’m back to my summer water coloring. Today I painted this sweet little 6×9 watercolor card.

I love this watercolor pad because the paper has so much texture. It’s a dream.

I know everybody’s preference is different but I like paper that has a lot of texture because I think it holds more water and then you end up with a much more vibrant piece of art. It makes sketching almost impossible though, and it makes painting people really hard because the grooves in the texture can really get away from you, and you can lose the accuracy of your detail. But for landscape and things like this that can be a little more abstract and handle water spreading, I think it’s the best.

I also really prefer to paint on 100% cotton paper. It has nothing to do with the painting, but everything to do with the way that it dries.

I was also comparing this to the beach picture I painted in 2024 and I think I did a much better job this time around.

Here’s one:

Not terrible, just not as good as the one I painted today. And not because I wasn’t as good then, I just see things a little more simplified at times and other times I envision things in my mind with a great amount of detail.

Simplicity is what makes some of my pieces really pretty but in this case, I think the water the details made it much better.

Hopefully, I can start painting more often and start working on improving my techniques.