I thought I was ready for the newest member of my family.
On August 4th, Zach and I picked up our newest family member from Pella, Iowa. We drove four hours home and welcomed little Iroh into our family.
Iroh is a standard poodle and will likely grow to 40-50lbs. I grew up with a dog and know it's quite a commitment, but my memory from second grade must be fuzzier than I thought.
It's a lot of work!
I'm so incredibly grateful to be working from home now so I can be here to train him and work on building his confidence in being alone.
But he has already taught me something pretty important...
This week's tip
Use your time wisely.
While Iroh is such a little puppy, I only have time to work during his naps. When he's awake we're either going outside to potty, we're training, or playing so he doesn't get in to trouble on his own...
During his naps I can finally plop down and work vigorously on my computer or drawing on a clipboard from the living room couch.
I didn't realize how nearly impossible it would be to record my typical tutorials when I have to be quiet during nap time, and he barks if I leave him alone!
I've learned to use his nap time to get important backstage work done on my computer and I've also started working on my next watercolor workbook for the fall.
I already have a spring and summer workbook and I'm excited to expand my collection!
But here's specifically what I've learned:
When you only have a little bit of time, that time becomes more valuable. If you have five things to do and five hours to do it, you'll slow down and spread it out over the five hours.
If you only have one hour to do five things, you'll squeeze those five things into that one hour.
One might think that means you'll do those five things less well. But I'd like to offer the idea that you'll find yourself more focused and productive.
When I have too much time, I end up doing things that are unnecessary because there's no urgency.
So how does this apply to your creative endeavor?
You don't need a long time to sit down and paint. Even if you only have five minutes, you'll find a way to do something in five minutes if you just do it.
It's even easier to spend a short time on your art if you know what you're going to make and you have your supplies handy.
That's something I cover in my Watercolor Habits course, so I'll let you learn even more there if you're interested.
This week's tutorial
This week's tutorial is actually a sneak peek into one of my workbooks.
My summer workbook has a variety of illustrations all around adventure such as a hot air balloon, tent, hiking boots and more.
One of my favorite pages is a vintage camera! These videos are usually only available to those who purchase a workbook, but you get to watch the directions for how I painted the camera here.
If you prefer to both draw and paint, then draw your own camera and take some tips from this video!
If you prefer to skip the drawing, watch this video and decide if my workbooks are right for you! Each workbook has 10 projects and every single one has it's own step by step instructional video. Check out my workbooks and even single paint me pages here!
This week's tool
Yep, that's right.
Instagram is an incredible tool to get you painting more. Do you follow other artists or art teachers? (I'm not jealous if you don't exclusively follow me for inspiration 😜)
Start saving or screenshotting those pieces you like and create a folder on your phone so the next time you only have five minutes, you have a quick and easy place to find inspiration.
When you're not getting emails from me with easy and fun things to paint, make sure you're following along on instagram where I share things like this watermelon slice you can paint in less than 5 minutes or this fun playful square painting!
A few other inspiring watercolor artist accounts you should check out are @amberlane_art, @maltzcreative, and @cozmickcreations_watercolors. There are so many out there!
Tell me who some of your favorites are!
Thanks for reading and as always,
Stay Creative!
-Alyssa
