Today I'm going to share with you the watercolor supplies I purchased to start watercolors as a hobby!
If you want to check out some of my work, or purchase affordable prints, check out my shop here!

My Supplies:

Paper.
Watercolor paper has a specific texture and porosity that you will want to have versus a regular printing or sketching paper.  This is so that the paint will blend, dry, and move along the paper in a desirable way.  Here are some beginner papers I started with. I do most of my paintings in my sketchbook as this is my favorite way to paint, but I love the postcards if I want to give it as a gift, and the large sheets for bigger paintings. 

​Paints, Brushes, and Palettes
​I knew that I wanted a higher quality paint and brush than what I had used growing up, but I wasn't ready to make the investment into the extremely expensive paints and brushes I saw at art shops.  I did a lot of research and chose these affordable options that I thought would give me the look I was after.  I am VERY satisfied and so far have no reason to upgrade! 

I actually ordered the watercolor palette much later, when I realized I could mix my own colors and save them to use in future paintings.  I now have this case with a ton of slots I can mix colors in, then I just let them dry up and next time I want to use them, they are ready to go with the stroke of a wet brush!

​Extras
Here are a few extra fun tools I've picked up as well!  The gold, white, or silver pens to add details on top of my watercolor paintings.  The brush pens for watercolors on the go, or a fast "sketching" style. And masking fluid which you can paint onto the paper, and then peel off after your watercolor painting is done, leaving the untouched paper where it was left, paint free!

The coronavirus / quarantine situation has put stress onto everyone and has taken away a lot of ways we can remove stress. For me, when anxiety started to overwhelm I would always head to a Ghosh yoga class. Now that we’re forced inside and I’m as busy as ever I found a new outlet to let my brain have a break from thinking for 30 min a day.

Below are some of the daily results of my watercolor adventures. I’m not watching tutorials or doing things “the right way” because I’m using this time to simply not think, create, and learn through experimentation.

Hope you enjoy!

I've been staying in downtown Seattle for the corona-virus quarantine and have made a few trips to grab food. I took my camera a couple times to capture what life is like right now. I'm pretty timid when it comes to taking photos of people who aren't willing participants, so most of these images are of the Seattle streets - not the masks, gas masks, gloves, fear, and isolation walking around. These streets and markets are usually full of residents, tourists, and vendors. From closed forever signs, to encouraging messages, empty streets, and boarded up restaurants - join me in a sobering look at our city during this time.

Interested in what my photos look like before I edit them?  Check out a few examples.

For these images, I applied one of my lightroom presets I have made (basically a copy of my settings to save time) and then adjusted the exposure and white balance to fit the particular photo.  All in all, it takes about 20 seconds.  If I choose to edit skin, eyes, or other parts of a portrait, this would take additional time and I usually prefer to do that in Photoshop.

If you are interested in my Lightroom presets, you can find them for sale over in my shop, for $20

Below is a list of the equipment I use.  (Updated in July 2017)
All photos are active links to products on Amazon prime (Cheers to free 2 day shipping!)

My newest bedroom decor!
Instructions:

Dreamcatcher

• Supplies: floral wire, white yarn, white and tan string, feathers, glitter, shells, copper wire, crystals 
• Create a circle with floral wire, wrap it with white yarn to cover. Hang one string at the top (to hang dreamcatcher) and several strings on the lower half at different lengths 
• Tie to lower strings: glitter covered feathers, shells, crystals wrapped in copper wire (to hold) 

Ribbon Curtain

• Take one long peice of twine. Place the middle where the dreamcatcher is hung, hang both sides 
• Take three different sheets from the thrift store ( I used one peach, one mint, one floral print). Cut them into strips and tie the strips to the twine in random variation. Bunch small groups of them together at different lengths and tie them together with lace 

Photography by Lo Photo. 

I just love throw pillows.  I have a whole room full of them (they can substitute for a couch right??)

I consider myself a succulent farmer.  These things multiply faster than rabbits!!  I have been collecting and growing them for years!  The funnest part is you can break off a "leaf" and plant it somewhere else - a month later you will have a whole new plant!

I told you, I'm a succulent farmer!  

Fun fact: all succulents are cactus, but not all cactus are succulents. 

I made this hanging basket for $1.99 - and I made 4!  The basket is from Lowes (in the off-season), and the succulents were "gathered" by taking a piece and allowing it to grow and multiply in the dirt.  The Spanish moss came from the trees in my yard - South Carolina is just FULL of this gorgeous stuff :)

Two things - very trendy I know - Mint & Ombre.  I Cant Stop!!  This was made from branches gathered in the woods by my house, which I cut.  The paint is acrylic.  I didn't have teal or mint paint so i used blue, green, and white to make the different shades. 

"Namaste" by Lo Photo.

Tips for composite photography:

• Use layer masks instead of eraser in photoshop.  If you want to change something, your image is still there.
• Shoot in manual, and use the same settings for each photo.  This way, the exposure of each photo will match and save you lots of time in post-processing.