Influenced by the growing art community here in the Philippines, particularly in Manila, I took several workshops this year on calligraphy and watercolor. My best experience to date is my 6-session watercolor class under Valerie Chua (She’s @valeriechuaart on Instagram).  It’s sad that my batch will have our last two sessions with her next week but I’m so happy that I feel I have a better relationship with watercolor now.

One of the most important lessons I learned from the class is to “not be OC or obsessive-compulsive” (OC in its colloquial use which simply means being a control freak). I still need to let the water do its own work and retouch less (I have a tendency to overwork my creation! Sorry, paper for ruining you on many occasions!) but I’m grateful for the progress that I’m seeing. I’m no Van Gogh hahaha but I can say a lot of my questions about the medium have been answered and my discomfort with it has been addressed. I hope to acquire Caro’s control of water and brush soon! 🙂 (Note to Caro: Love your blowdryer tip!)

Here are a few snippets from the class: