Painting Watercolor Seascapes

January 27, 2020October 19, 2020 | Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

Watercolor seascape painting lesson - How to paint the ocean in watercolor online video lesson
Three years ago I started painting watercolor seascapes. I wanted to find the answer to, “How do you capture the ocean in paint?” I had just finished participating in three back to back month long challenges and I saw how focusing on a single theme or medium leads to real progress in ideas and skills.

Focusing on seascapes was so valuable. Painting the same subject over and over helped me progress so much. I developed a process for painting seascapes that I continue to follow. Over time I added white gouache – more opaque than watercolor – to my process. I also incorporated some techniques I learned that others use.

I observed the ocean (both in person and the photos I took) to truly “see” what I was trying to paint. I continued well past one month. When summer came and I went in the ocean I momentarily had the feeling that I was IN a painting.

Even now three years later the ocean is my favorite subject. It’s such an amazing subject because it changes so much. The water in the same exact spot can change based on weather and tides even within a short time period.

I’m excited to announce that my online watercolor seascape painting video lesson. During the lesson we paint using a specific reference photo. But aside from learning to paint the seascape pictured above, you’ll learn the process to follow which can then be applied to your own photos.

The lesson is appropriate for all levels. Beginners should have a basic understanding of watercolor before trying this lesson.

If you are completely new to watercolor sign up for my newsletter and get the “What you need to know to get started with watercolor” pdf for free!

Other resources for complete beginners:

Click here to order the Watercolor Seascape Painting Lesson.

______________________

Looking to explore creativity? Get my book Creative Exploration: A Six Week Process for Introducing Regular Creativity into your Life! Develop a regular practice of creating, explore mediums and subjects in search of your thing, and experience the joy that creativity brings. Creativity is for EVERYONE! Talent is just a starting point.

Is the key to watercolor – layers or patience or both?

January 23, 2020 | Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

Recently I was talking to a friend who paints in acrylics. When I said I painted in watercolor she said, “You must be very patient.” I was so surprised by her comment, because actually I’m not patient at all!

As I teach and share more and more of my watercolor process I continually come back to layers. Watercolor painting is all about building up the layers. Paint the first layer wet and loose. Let it dry. Work drier and with thinner brushes with each added layer. As you add the layers, it’s like focusing a lens on a subject. Your painting gets more and more “in focus” as you add layers/finer details.

I’ve been teaching a kids painting class, primarily acrylics. Occasionally we paint in watercolor. What I notice with the kids is they paint one layer and declare the painting done. They are reluctant to wait for it to dry and then add to it.

Maybe I’m more patient than I give myself credit for. I look at each painting like a challenge. The first layer is a blob – the ugly stage. Can I work at it and turn it into something?

Ready to explore creativity? Read my book Creative Exploration: A Six Week Process for Introducing Regular Creativity into your Life – Develop a regular practice of creating, explore mediums and subjects in search of your thing, and experience the joy that creativity brings. Creativity is for EVERYONE! Talent is just a starting point.

Are you “creative” or “not creative”?

January 21, 2020June 25, 2021 | Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

Are you creative or not creative?
Recently I went to a high school reunion. I went to an all girls high school – which is quite a bonding experience! The “reunion” was a party a bunch of us threw to celebrate our fiftieth birthdays. It was a lot of fun and great to see and spend time with this great group of “girls.”

A few friends commented that they love watching me paint on Instagram. One said that she didn’t remember me being creative in high school. While I loved art class in high school, I certainly didn’t spend my off hours creating. What I think is interesting is that when it comes to creativity most people have an us or them mentality. They assign themselves to one camp or the other – creative or not creative.

They assume you must have an innate talent to paint and probably have always done it. What I believe is that ANYONE can do it. You might deem yourself “terrible” at the start, but with time and effort it is almost impossible to NOT get better. But, it’s hard to convince some people of this. It’s almost like converting them to a new religion. They firmly believe they belong in the “not creative” camp and aren’t willing or don’t think it’s possible to venture out.

What camp are you in? Have you ventured out of your original camp? Or are you ready to?

Let’s Paint Paris in Watercolor!

January 12, 2020January 10, 2020 | Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

Let’s Paint Paris in Watercolor!

Join me in February for The “Let’s Paint Paris in Watercolor” Email Series – an inspirational program for February 2020 (4 weeks) aimed at inspiring regular watercolor painting through virtual immersion into the city of Paris – the food, the architecture (no straight lines required), the Masters and more! At the start of each week, you’ll receive an email outlining the theme for the week. Week 1 is food. Think colorful macarons! The email will include daily optional prompts with stories about each prompt, links to reference photos and videos AND a link to an instructional video. Learn/practice watercolor as you go!

Together We Will

Paint Daily – just 10 minutes a day is enough! Themes and prompts provided, as well as the stories behind them.
Learn/Practice Watercolor – I’ll share my tips and tricks on my favorite medium. Video of my process included each week!
Immerse ourselves into Paris – a virtual trip – the food, the architecture (no straight lines required), the Masters, and more!

Sign Up Now

to get the early bird rate of just $12.99*
for the February 2020 email series.

Learn More Here

Early bird rate expires 1/17/2020. Regular price $24.99.

__________________________________________________________

What are your creative plans for 2020? Hoping for a creative year but don’t know where to start? Try my book Creative Exploration: A Six Week Process for Introducing Regular Creativity into your Life – Develop a regular practice of creating, explore mediums and subjects in search of your thing, and experience the joy that creativity brings. Creativity is for EVERYONE! Talent is just a starting point.

Make this the year your reach your goals and keep your resolutions!

December 27, 2019December 17, 2019 | Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

Creative New Year - reach your goals keep your resolution
I hope you had a wonderful holiday with family and friends! I’m excited for 2020 – for a year filled with creativity! The fresh start of the new year always leaves me energized. For several years, armed with a new sketchbook I swore this would be the year that creativity would become a regular part of my life. But year after year, after a few weeks the sketchbook and my creative intentions would be forgotten. Until, at the start of 2014 I made My Creative Resolution – the resolution and the blog. I have kept My Creative Resolution for six years! It has changed me so much. I learned that the joy of creating has more to do with the feeling you get during the process than the final results. And that with time and practice you can improve in anything.

So what are your hopes for 2020? I’ve gathered a few resources to assist you with planning goals, organizing creative ideas, staying focused and keeping resolutions:

Here’s to reaching your goals in 2020!
Happy New Year!

Creative Plans for 2020 – It’s My 6 Year Blog Anniversary!

December 9, 2019December 20, 2019 | Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

Creative Plans for 2020 - It's My 6 Year Blog Anniversary!
I am definitely someone who has to keep their creative ideas reined in. I learned during the second year of My Creative Resolution, that trying new things is fun, but learning and progress with new mediums takes time and dedication. If you scatter your time and energy across many different things, you don’t significantly progress in any one area. Growth takes focus.

At the time I tried block printing and thought, “This is cool. This is harder than I thought.” and “It would take time to get better at this.” After a year of trying things in 2015, I decided to focus on watercolor.

As I think about next year. The first thing that happens is I get excited about the idea of “shiny new things.” Then I pause and remember the lesson I learned and really think, “What do I want to focus on in 2020?”

There are two sides to my creative life – me as a creative pursuing what interests me and me growing a creative business. It’s important for me to make the distinction otherwise my list for 2020 will be all business ideas.

Creative business ideas:

Online lessons – continue developing online lessons. I’m really happy with the first online Watercolor Painting Lesson – Birch Forest Painting, as well as the printable worksheets and tutorials I have created this year. See them all here. I’ve been working on a watercolor seascape lesson, and have plans for a Creative Exploration course – based on my book Creative Exploration: A Six Week Process for Introducing Regular Creativity into your Life.
In person creative events – I’ve been teaching kids, but would like to also host adult workshops.
Newsletter – I love collecting inspiration and sharing it with others. If you haven’t seen the newsletter, sign up here.

Creative ideas:

Daily morning work is an important part of my art practice. Keeps me calm and creative. I enjoy it! I paint whatever strikes me that morning. It’s a no pressure time.
Seascapes – I am still drawn to the ocean. I never tire of visiting, photographing, and painting the ocean.

My creative ideas seem almost boring because I’m just continuing with more of the same, but as much as a new idea would be “shiny and new” I can’t think of one that would top my interest in the above.

When I write the words that describe me and what I’m interested in it’s, “inspire creativity, teach, paint in watercolor, and the beach.” This just confirms I have the right goals in mind for 2020. I’m sticking to the path I’ve been on.

It’s hard to commit to a daily painting challenge

December 9, 2019December 12, 2019 | Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

Daily Painting Challenge | Regular Creativity Creative Practice
It’s hard to commit to a daily painting challenge but every time I do, and stick with it, I’m always happy with the results. The first few times I did my Christmas countdown (daily watercolor illustrations counting down to Christmas) I followed prompts. Last year and this year, I’ve allowed myself the freedom to paint whatever fits into the Christmas/winter/holiday theme. I love the flexibility to explore.

The first few days of a daily challenge can feel a little awkward, or stiff. But after that you open up to the inspiration around you. Flipping through a skiing catalog I saw a Telluride ad that I thought would be so cool to paint. It was totally outside of the normal thing I would do. I enjoyed the process and was pleased with the results. The thing I get most excited about are the ideas. Last year I painted a girl with a record player in front of a tinsel covered tree – me as a kid, playing a favorite gift.

Daily painting or drawing is hard, especially during the busy holiday season. But the break from the busyness and the interesting creative process of coming up with new ideas is so worth it!

Want to be creative on a regular basis and experience the joy that creativity brings? Explore mediums and subjects, in search of your thing? Learn about my new book Creative Exploration: A Six Week Process for Introducing Regular Creativity into your Life by clicking here. Creativity is for EVERYONE! Talent is just a starting point.

Gifts to Inspire Creativity

December 4, 2019November 10, 2020 | Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

If you have creativity in your life – regular creativity – you know what a gift it is. It’s relaxing – almost like meditating. What better gift this holiday season than the gift of creativity? Here are a variety of gifts that will inspire creativity in your friends and family.

Click any image below to view the Amazon listing details. Please read my disclaimer below.

Art Set

Create a gift set with my “Creative Exploration Book,” favorite sketchpad, sketching pencils, kneaded eraser, and colored pencils. The recipient will be all ready to explore their creativity!

Painting Set

Watercolor is my favorite medium. Combine my “Beginner Watercolor Exploration Guide.” with paints, brushes, a palette, and paper for a great gift!

Clay Kit

This kit is the perfect gift to get someone started in Polymer Clay. I know because it’s the kit I bought when I wanted to give sculpting a try. It comes with a huge variety of colors as well as tools. Sculpting with polymer clay is easy and fun and your creations bake right in the oven!

Block Printing Kit

Block printing is so fun and satisfying. Create one design and print several copies of it! Pair the Speedball block printing kit with Strathmore cards. The Speedball kit even includes ink and Strathmore makes such nice papers!

Screen Printing Kit

I’ve wanted to try screen printing forever. I should add this to my list!

Baking Set

Combine a baking book with pans or accessories. I love to bake and Williams-Sonoma products are some of my favorites!

Cooking Set

Learn from one of the best! We just made a Gordon Ramsey recipe and it was the best Shrimp Scampi we’ve had! And it didn’t take forever to prepare. Combine a recipe book with Gordon Ramsay knives or other cooking accessories for the perfect gift.

Gardening

How about a kit to grow a succulent garden?

Crochet

Combine a “How to Crochet” book with needles and yarn for a unique gift.

Embroidery

An embroidery kit is a great way to introduce someone to embroidery. Everything is included – except maybe scissors. 🙂

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission whenever you buy using these links, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog! Please note: I have NOT used all the items in this post. Please refer to Amazon listings and reviews for specific product details.

How to Find your Creative Confidence – Studio 78 podcast episode

December 3, 2019December 3, 2019 | Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

I’ve had the great pleasure of being interviewed by Nache’ Snow on the Studio 78 podcast!

Visit Studio 78 Episode 98. HOW TO FIND YOUR CREATIVE CONFIDENCE to find out where to listen.

Nache’ is a designer and maker and I’ve listened to her podcast – which highlights creative women and their side hustles – for years! Talking with her was so much fun! In Nache’s words,

“Eileen never gave up on her dream of being creative. In this episode, she explains how creating an art blog helped her gained the confidence to get back into painting and inspire others. She also walks us through how and why she built-out courses after a tutorial went viral on Pinterest, her process for developing a creativity book, and why she continues to create simple tutorials for those getting started.”

I hope you’ll listen! Studio 78 Episode 98. HOW TO FIND YOUR CREATIVE CONFIDENCE

Photo by Dawn Herlihy Reilly.

This post contains affiliate links to products/brands I use and recommend. I earn a small commission whenever you buy using these links, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Watercolor Lessons that unlock the artist within you!

Author: Eileen McKenna {my creative resolution}

Painting Watercolor Seascapes

Is the key to watercolor – layers or patience or both?

Are you “creative” or “not creative”?