Today I went to a nearby lake looking for inspiration.

Once again, I sketched & took photos of the scene I wanted to paint. And again, I came back to the house and used my watercolors to paint it.

I struggled today for a variety of reasons. I like the absorption of the 100% cotton paper in my sketchbook, but find it hard to draw on and use colored pencils on the rough cold-press surface (I used colored pencils after the paint was dry).

Another problem I had was with the brush that came with the watercolor travel set. It’s tiny, which makes it difficult to create washes of color or even just move paint around. I’m frustrated by how limited I am with the few art supplies I brought with me while I’m here, house and cat sitting. I’ve decided that from now on I’m going to approach it as an opportunity to learn how to work with what I’ve got.

And finally, I just wasn’t into drawing or painting today. I became frustrated early on, but kept on going with it until I just decided to call it quits. Done.

Below are a photo of the scene and my frustrated efforts.

I hope tomorrow goes better.