The Joy of a Child

Guess whose created an Instagram account?! THIS GIRL! Go check it out and follow! I've been really, really wanting to make an Instagram account for my art for the longest time and finally bit the bullet a week ago and made my first post!

The Joy of a Child was my first ever serious watercolor portrait. Definitely not what I was going for whatsoever though. I think this little girl ended up looking older than she was and in the picture reference. I can't pinpoint where she seems to be from, she seems to be South Asian in the photo, but ended up looking more African in my painting. It's just how I sloppily sketched it out first though.

I was also painting MUCH smaller than I normally do. My water control was out of wack because I wasn't used to not being able to really show fine details because it's so small. I was trying to fit in the nitty-grittys and it didn't work out so well.

Away from the photo reference, it looks good. The colors blended pretty decently, I had multiple mistakes, but nothing too catastrophic to completely ruin the painting. It's definitely a beginners watercolor portrait, but not too horrible at the same time. It's okay.

I absolutely love how the colors blended on her cheeks and forehead. I think they really resembled the highlights and shadows in the photo. I also just love the gradation and blending of the colors. I'm just so proud of that aspect.

I accidentally tore the paper while pulling off the tape and you can still see some pencil lines, but as a quick study and first time watercolor portrait, I am shamelessly patting myself on the back.