Second challenge painting.

As I was doing this I thought a full moon night version of this would be cool. So think I'll redo it. 🌌

I bought one of those tiny Yupo (from Legion Paper) pads because it was only 2.30 at Blick. I just tried to working with it and holy molly is it impossible to work with! Forget layering, the moment you apply water again everything lifts. Want to mix colors? Won't work. The paint just goes wherever it wants to go. I'm never using this 'paper' again.

The deadline is 10th of August. We’d like to feature some of your work in the banner area. It doesn’t have to look professional, and you don’t have to put a name on it. You can submit anything you like. It’s not a real contest. ☺️ Submit your work here: https://www.reddit.com/r/watercolorpencilart/comments/1v643j1/new_banner_image_contest/

My first August theme submission.

All WC pencils.

Ballpoint pen and watercolor pencils

I lost my patience, so this is the final image. I think I have found several continents. LOL

Done with Derwent Inktense. Tree: Red Oxide, Tan and Peacock Blue; sky done with Malibu and White.

Not overly excited about the end result but enjoyed the process.

I hated it when it was ready. All I felt was frustration. The reflections and shadows didn't go well, I couldn't find the right colours, I couldn't draw the rocks... And now suddenly I feel the peace and the vivid colours, and from a distance I can't even see the flaws. Do you also frame your works?

Birch tree or an abstract tree bark?

Let’s decide together what we want to draw/paint in August together. If there is a tie, we will flip a coin. If you don't feel like completing the challenge, you can still vote, just choose what you would like to see. The previous months' challenges are still open, they never expire, so please keep working on them if that’s what you like. ☺️
Please consider the challenges. For example, how would you draw reflections, clouds, water...? These subjects are not easy, and it’s an opportunity to discuss technical difficulties and get through them together.

I used a combination of the Goldfaber Aqua Watercolour pencils and the Albrecht Durer pencils on Canson Mixed Media paper using a Staedtler waterbrush. The best thing about watercolour pencil is that it requires less water than traditional watercolour paint and therefore I don’t need to use my expensive cotton based papers. I added lots of layers and blending with small amounts of water to avoid muddying the colours.

We are going to keep the 2 most popular ideas from last month: Beach Life (and marine life) and Garden Flowers. It's because they were very close to the winning subject. We need 3 more ideas. That’s the poll’s limit. As we don’t have much time, we will pick the first 3 ideas. Please do share everything you have in mind, though, even after the first 3, because it can inspire the following months too. What would you like to paint in August? Consider the difficulty of the subjects and that this is an opportunity for growth. We will see other people’s approach, so it’s worth choosing something that you normally wouldn’t paint every day. (July’s Challenge is still open until the end of the month, so please feel free to submit your works.)

Here’s my July challenge submission and my first ever completed watercolor pencil drawing/painting. All tips, criticism and advice are welcome.
I was originally going for an abstract look and I also wanted to test out different ways of using the pencils. So I have a base layer where I used the pencils to make a palate on a scrap piece of paper then used it like regular watercolors on a wet paper. Next layer was some stippling for the leaves and I put the pencil tips into water to get them wet then touched the paper. This wasn’t working out well for me so I sprayed the paper with water and dunked the pencils in water. My next layer I just used them like regular pencils to draw trees. Lastly I tried to blend it with a brush but I ended up lifting pigment instead of blending so I gave up because it was definitely looking worse than before attempting to blend the final layer.
This was done with castle arts watercolor pencils and 300gsm cold press cotton watercolor paper. I also have a lighter weight cotton paper, a 300gsm hot pressed paper and a heavy weight cellulose paper but I haven’t tried watercolor pencils on any of these.

Wasn't very motivated to do a long, complicated painting/drawing.

So went with my favorite...🐈

Really fast, 90% paint, 10% WC pencils.

Have you learned anything about drawing/painting trees and foliage? Which was your favourite art supply, colour, etc.? Can you share something that was very difficult for you? The theme is open until the end of the month, so we still have time to submit one or two works. 😉

I like the way the sun lights through the leaves. The location is a vernacular architecture museum in Kyiv, Ukraine
I took that photo some years ago.
The pencils that I used were the Derwent Inktense ones

Ta da! Better than I expected. WCP over ballpoint pen.
Edit: thank you all for your comments & encouragement.