My grandma was an artist. When I was a little girl we would go to her house after school for “art lessons” which consisted of a little drawing, painting and a lot of snacks. One thing I don’t remember ever trying was watercolor painting. As an adult, I’ve always wanted to try. It took finding the Watercolor Workbook to get me to pull out all grandma’s paints I saved after she passed and give it a try.

Watercolor Workbook walks a beginner through step by step teaching simple watercolor techniques. The pages are filled with floral designs and tips on how to paint each one.

It was as if grandma was guiding me through the process just like when I was little. The book shows you the colors you’ll need for each drawing which just so happened to already be in her old watercolor pallet. And the exact brushes the book said to use were among the collection in the cup.

I am no artist but with the instructions in the book and the magic left in grandma’s watercolor paints, I think my first attempt turned out pretty good. The book’s samples are on the left side of the pages and my first tries are on the right.

There are full page floral drawings that fill the book which are printed on premium watercolor paper. When I get a little more confident in my skills, I plan to paint and frame a few of them for around the house.

When I was little grandma taught me oil paints, charcoal and pastels. But I think watercolor might be my favorite medium of all.

Funny story: When I was in, I think, 5th grade I entered an art contest for Armstrong carpets. My other grandparents owned a flooring store which is probably how me entering the contest came about. What art and flooring have to do with each other, I have no idea. Anyway, my grandma Wathena helped me create my first place masterpiece. Let’s just say she was very hands-on and quite possibly the main reason I won.

That was back when computers first came out in schools. My first place prize was a big, clunky block of a computer that did nothing but let me type sentences. That relic would probably be worth some darn good prize money right now.

Back to the reason for this blog post. If you want to try something new but don’t feel like much of an artist, give the Watercolor Workbook a try. It’s very relaxing getting lost in painting. And maybe you’ll realize you’re actually an artist, enter into a contest and win a prize.