by Susan Latreille

This is from the last full week of July’s World Watercolour Month Challenge with EmJ Lefebvre, days 22 to 28. I’ll have a separate shorter post for the last three days of the challenge, later. [See here for first article]

22 – July 22nd is Emma Lefebvre’s birthday, and she celebrated by teaching her husband & son and her followers via livestream video how to paint a slice of birthday cake, which she demonstrated in lively shades of pink, her favourite colour. I decided to make my cake a multi-layered chocolate/mocha cheesecake for my hubby’s birthday card, as his big day is July 23. What we practiced in this lesson was perspective, washes and blending.

23 – Adding depth to simple fruit with underpainting. I loved this session and was fascinated by how real the colours turned out from the beginnings of a green apple, a blue orange and a purple banana.

24 – A simple scene where we learned how to paint reflections on water. 

25 – Learning how to paint something white using shadows, not white paint.

26 – Creating an underwater scene using blooms and lifting.

27 – Painting seashells with a focus on perspective and depth. I need a lot more practice with this lesson.

28 – Creating a floral composition following some basic ‘rules’ for a balanced, visually pleasing picture – choose a complementary or analogous palette, have a main ‘hero’ flower, use odd numbers of main/larger flowers, use buds and leaves to balance the whole.

Again, as mentioned in my previous WWM posts, if you’re interested in following these lessons, they are available on Emma’s YouTube channel. They are FREE, very laid-back, short lessons and lots of fun. If you are interested in following these lessons, they are available (free) on Emma’s YouTube channel.