Watercolors

Watercolor Robot
Originally uploaded by xadrian.

If you haven't been to Robot Portraits lately, well I don't know what to do with you. I've been pimping it for years now. Your loss. Anyway, what you'd notice is there has been more activity in that I'm also trying to churn through the 700 Robots list to the tune of a couple a week.

What I realized a while back is that the markers I use don't last terribly long and are $3 a pop. I have about $100 worth now and before even this one book is done I'll probably get another $100 just to replace what's used up. So I'm going to try watercolors.

A couple friends I know use water colors for similar projects and they're work always seems more professional. There's something about the markers I've never liked; they don't blend and they streak. It looks like markers. In small areas they work well, but for large areas it just looks blotchy and hastily done. So I'm trying watercolors.

The only reason I haven't tried them sooner is twofold. I've been a pen and pencil guy most of my life. I don't paint, use pastels or chalk, charcoal or ink wells with nibs or brushes. It's a mix of comfort level, cost and time. I've never had time to really explore other tools and thus push my comfort level. There's something to be said for accidental genius and not understanding the tool can sometimes result in happy accidents. Also, buying oils or acrylics is cost prohibitive, especially if you have a Lego addiction like I did for many years. So I'm trying to learn watercolors.

The other reason is a bit of a self confidence issue due to my late grandpa. He's main tool was watercolor and I have his work hanging in my house. To say he was prolific would be an understatement. He made a living doing it and me trying to learn how seems like a dodge. It's a mental issue, but I'm getting past it.

So I'm trying to learn watercolors.

We'll see how it goes.