I’m up to the 12th page in my art journal. Yay! I’m keeping this particular New Year’s resolution (don’t ask how the “lose weight” one is going, lol!)

I’ve been bothered by some of the difficulties of trying to use watercolors on the regular paper in the journal. The paper has rippled and pilled up with the application of paint and rubbing of brushes. But I don’t want to give up using the journal. So I’ve cut up some watercolor paper, and will use small pieces for the little journal sketches.

For this one, I also went back to trying water pens (which I’ve only used once before). I only started using watercolor paints with this journal, so I’m pretty much a newbie to all of this watercolor stuff. I was hopeful that using proper watercolor paper might make my little art pieces better. The paper did hold up better to the water in the paint, anyway.

This scene is from a photo I took a couple of weeks ago. My friend Kathy and I have signed up for the 2nd year for the Plein Air (painting outside) event hosted by our local art guild. We’ve both done some painting off and on in the past. We now trying to do it more steadily and improve our skills.

I also did a soft pastel painting last week of this scene:

My new resolution is to learn how to better paint light.  I might try this scene in acrylic paints or water-soluble oils. Or I might not. In the meantime, I’ll keep practicing in my journal, and figure out (and practice with) which medium I’ll be using to paint in the Plein Air event.