I had a great idea that I thought would take off like gangbusters.

Watercolor workbooks are a bit of a fad right now. They feature about a dozen small simple watercolor paintings with a page facing each one to duplicate each painting, along with color swatches to mix, and simple instructions. These are very cool and quite fun. While in Texas last year, my friend bought one, and we had a great time messing around with it. (Scroll to #10 in this list of Eighteen Things I Learned in Texas).

Wouldn’t it be cool to have one of local subjects?? I got a quote from a printer who makes my calendars and coloring books, asked for paper samples to test how they would handle watercolor, and bought a little box of watercolors with a brush.

Wanting to keep it simple (because I don’t really know how to paint with watercolor), I decided to try wildflowers. OF COURSE, what else would you expect from me?

First I drew some wildflowers (just an outline) on watercolor paper, scanned the drawing, photoshopped it for reproduction, and figured I could paint it. Practically invisible, which is perfect to go on the page for the customer to paint.

Before painting on this piece of paper, I decided to practice on sample paper from the printer in order to see how it could hold up to a wet medium.

Besides, I needed to see if I could manage these paints. I tried watercolor about 30 years ago and decided it wasn’t for me, but this could be fun. I had fun with it in Texas, so no biggie, right?

Ick. I couldn’t match the colors correctly, and this doesn’t look good enough to go in a book, much less an instruction book. Try something else, Toots.

This doesn’t look good. How is the paper holding up? It soaked through, something my Texas friend said was a bit disappointing about the workbook she bought and we tried together.

It even made the next page a little ripply.

Maybe I should use colored pencil.

The drawing is better than the paintings, but I have published 7 coloring books, and that fad is over. (Want to buy a coloring book? The last design, Heart of the County, is still available here.)

Never mind. If I can’t watercolor paint well, and the available paper isn’t stout enough, then this local watercolor workbook is not a good idea after all.

It was fun to figure out the steps and try to make it come together. Now I will stash my cute little watercolor paintbox and very excellent brush somewhere in my studio and fuhgeddaboudit.

Just another chapter in the life of your Central California artist, who will now return to doing what she knows how to do, which is:

Using pencils, oil paints, and murals to make art people can understand of places and things they love for prices that won’t scare them.