World Watercolor Month: Day 1 — My Way

Today marks the beginning of World Watercolor Month, and it feels like the perfect time to start this blog.

I've been painting with watercolors for almost five and a half years, and over the years I've tried to participate in the official World Watercolor Month prompts. The truth is, prompts just aren't how I create. Rather than inspiring me, they often leave me feeling overwhelmed. I've learned that my creativity works best when I simply follow whatever I'm excited to paint that day.

The good news is that I don't need prompts to paint consistently.

For nearly six years, I've built a habit of waking up early and spending the first part of my morning making art. Sometimes it's watercolor, sometimes it's gouache, sometimes it's sketching but creating has become part of my everyday life.

So this July, instead of following a prompt list, I'm documenting my real creative journey. Each day I'll share exactly what I worked on, what inspired me, and what I'm learning along the way. My hope is that by the end of these 31 days, I'll have a better understanding of my own creative process and maybe you'll find something inspiring in it too.

Day 1

Lately I've been reaching for something a little different: gouache.

Specifically, I've been rediscovering my Caran d'Ache gouache pan set. I've owned it for quite a while, but recently I've made a conscious effort to use the art supplies I already have instead of always reaching for something new. This set has quickly reminded me why I loved it in the first place. The colors are incredibly vibrant, playful, and full of life. I'd honestly give it a 10 out of 10.

Over the past few days I've also found myself drawn to painting sea life. This morning, while looking through some of my reference photos, a sea turtle caught my eye.

Instead of beginning with a pencil sketch, I decided to paint directly onto the paper. That felt a little risky, but also freeing.

I started by lightly painting the outline of the turtle with yellow gouache. From there, I reached for one of my favorite colors in the set—a beautiful magenta pink—and used it to build the form with loose, expressive marks.

Next came an ochre for the shell, followed by greens mixed from the Caran d'Ache set and a little Daniel Smith Phthalo Blue Turquoise Gouache that was already on my palette. I wasn't aiming for realism. I wanted to experiment with bold color, expressive shapes, and simply enjoy the process.

To keep the page feeling lively, I added a few small fish swimming around the turtle. The whole sketch feels playful and energetic, which perfectly matches how I've been feeling while using these paints.

Looking back at today's page, I realize that the goal wasn't to create a perfect painting. It was simply to spend time exploring color, making marks, and enjoying the quiet ritual of creating before the rest of the day began.

And honestly, I can't think of a better way to begin World Watercolor Month.

Here's to Day 1.

I'll be back tomorrow to share where the paint takes me next.