End of the watercolour challenge.

July. 2 of July today. That means that we will be flying home in 11 days. I am very much looking forward to spending some time in Finland again. I guess that it is quite obvious from all my landscape paintings of Finland I have made in this challenge that I am a little homesick... 

I have to say though, that the summer weather until just a week ago has been very pleasant here in Shanghai. Not too hot or too humid. Now it is both, but I do not have to endure it for too many days. 

Today I have the last watercolour paintings from the watercolour challenge (#30x30directwatercolor2018) I have participated in for you. One watercolour every day for the month of June, in the 'technique' of direct watercolour. Thus painting direct with watercolour without any pre-drawing first. That is probably why I painted so many landscapes. Landscapes are easier to paint without drawing a sketch first than what flowers and birds are. 

Day 23. This landscape started off with me just using up all the leftover paint in my mixing wells. It developed into this summer landscape. I used white Sakura poster paint for the birch trees and flowers in the field. This is quite a new territory for me.  But I like it, so maybe I will explore it some more later. Watercolour on cotton paper, 18x26cm.

Day 24. I know it is summer now, but I suddenly got this idea that I wanted to get down in my art journal before I forgot it. I painted a few more compositions, but I thought one was enough to share in this challenge. Watercolour on a gessoed page in my art journal.

Day 25. The next day I thought I would try and paint a similar scene but in the summer. I also wanted to play with the composition, and I am really happy with how the foreground turned out. Definitely, something I want to experiment with more. This time I used masking fluid to preserve the white of the tree trunks. Watercolour on cotton paper, 26x18cm.

Day 26. Lotus flower. I thought I would change it up a bit and try my hand at painting a flower. Not too bad, but here I did miss having a drawing done first. The proportions of the flower are off,  which is a pity because I really like how I painted it otherwise. I will definitely paint this again, but with a proper drawing first before I start painting.

Day 27. Back to seascapes. I decided I wanted to practise painting clouds. So I chose this moody sky from a photo I have taken at our summer cottage. It became a little overworked, and I wish I had added a little bit of purple in those dark areas in the sky. But otherwise, I like it. Watercolour on cotton paper, 18x26cm.

Day 28. Continuing with the sky and cloud practise. I was happy that I achieved to get the yellow tint in the sky there without getting any green colours. Watercolour on cotton paper, 18x26cm.

Day 29. The lighthouse on Bengstkär. The tallest lighthouse in the Nordic countries. I think I should paint it one more time but in stormy weather! Watercolour on cotton paper, 26x18cm.

Day 30. The last painting in this challenge. In this painting, I really tried to use all the things I learned so far in this challenge. And I think I accomplished it. I think these are my best clouds yet. Watercolours on cotton paper, 18x26cm.

I learned a lot about handling watercolours during this past month. It really is beneficial to concentrate on one medium for a longer period of time if you want to learn and get better at it. I have written a list of what I learned as I went along, and I think I will dedicate a separate post just for that!