Non-map related Watercolor Card by me

[Jaxilon]

A few of us started talking about how we attempt to do watercolor pictures so I figured I would share my latest attempt, even though it's not a map.

I started with a half sheet of 12 inch x 9 inch Cold press paper, it's not anything fancy (90 lb / 185 g/m2) whatever that means. It's just a pad I bought from Michael's. So that's like 4.5" x 6" in size.

1) Using a pencil I sketched out my image from a photograph.
2) Next, I soaked the paper in water, I just held it under the tap for a couple minutes. I think I'll try going for a full soak next time because I still had some buckling.
3) I used blue painter's tape, because it's what I had from some remodel project and it's supposed to not stick, to hold the paper down on a board. I toweled off any excess water using a paper towel and daubing.

See the first image

4) I spent about 3 hours painting it. I start out with a wet brush with little paint to create a light wash. As that dries I got back over it with a slightly more pigment loaded brush and keep building up the colors. Towards the end I use a fairly dry brush to put highlights on. It would probably be more understandable if I had a time lapse video but oh well, I'm not that fancy.
5) I trimmed the edges because I failed to get my tape just right and it looked funky. It's nice and even now

I may look into the possibility of making cards like this and printing them up to sell. I think it's as good as what I buy from the store.

edit: the images were taken with my phone although in retrospect, maybe I should have used my scanner.