"One Day I Decided to Create..." Meet California Artist - Maria Racynska
MY PEOPLE ANGELS: PART 3 OF 12 - MARIA RACYNSKA
Soft watercolor paintings in children’s books have always caught my eye and I wanted them in my books. But I really wanted to do them myself because I love painting. I learned almost everything I know about watercolor from online sources. You can watch Maria’s Youtube channel and learn from any of her videos. Then I subscribed to her Patreon channel where she gives even more instruction and enjoys building a community for sharing. She also has classes on Teachable. I’m so fortunate to have stumbled upon her talent and willingness to help other artists succeed! And, SHE is self-taught!!
Some of the paintings are so simple and easy they would make great projects for the budding artist in your household. Submit a painting anytime this month and I’ll post it in April. It doesn’t have to be from Maria’s videos, but it could be!
This summer might be a good time to play with watercolor and make personalized Christmas cards to send later. Birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and other times are great occasions for making cards. They’re quick and easy.
One thing Maria stresses is that the materials you use make a BIG difference. Use quality watercolor paper (Arches is her preference). Regardless of the watercolors you use, the paper will make a huge difference in the final outcome. She uses Holbein tube paints (and so do I), but you can use other brands if you like. The most common brushes are round in various sizes (2,4,6,8), a liner (sometimes called a script or rigger) brush for fine lines. Flat or angle brushes are used sometimes for effects.
When you’re painting, it’s always helpful to have a terry towel (like a kitchen towel) for wiping your brush. You also need two glasses of water: a cleaner one for wetting paper, and one to rinse your brush in when you switch colors. The key to watercolor is to control the amount of water and the amount of paint - within a certain amount of time. The dryer the paper, the more control you have.
Dry paper and wet brush = Wet on Dry.
Wet paper and wet brush = Wet on Wet. As you can imagine, colors mingle together easily with wet on wet.
BEGINNER VIDEO
Maria Answers our Questions
1) What would you tell your 7-year old self if you could?
“To read more books and to draw more!”
2) Did you like school? Favorite subject?
“My favorite subject was geography. I always wanted to travel and live in different countries. I loved school especially when I was in 2nd and 3rd grade.”
3) How did you learn to paint?
“I taught myself how to paint. I didn’t have any training. Just one day I decided to create my first children’s book and the fact that my mom is an oil artist I thought - maybe I can paint too!
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4) Do you have a favorite painting?
“Yes, it’s a dog - papillon hanging on a wall in my work space.”
5) Besides painting, what else do you like to do?
“I like to spend time with my family. I also love to cook and if there were more hours in a day, I’d be baking cakes and making appetizers. I also love to travel and my favorite thing is trying different types of local food found in different countries.”
6) What is your favorite place to visit? Why?
“I love France. I lived in France when I was little. My parents met in Paris. My mom lives now in a small village couple hours east of Bordeaux. I love it there. It’s a farmland. Lots of farms, fresh eggs and milk. Lakes and forest full of mushrooms to pick.
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PHOTOS & SOME OF HER PAINTINGS
Maria shared these photos with me. One is from when she was a girl of about 7 or 8 in France. The other is a great recent photo of her family. She LOVES being a mommy!
Maria’s Favorite!
CLICK TO PRINT COLORING PAGE
Gallery
I haven’t received any submissions this month, so I thought I would share the “rough draft” from the new book I’m writing. It’s going to be about a 13-year old girl’s physical, emotional, and spiritual journey to find her grandfather after she loses her parents. It is set in the year 1890 and starts in Kearney, Missouri. She will eventually travel east to Boston, Massachusetts. Click on the button to read the first part of the first chapter. If you would email me and let me know what you think, I’d consider it a huge favor. Thank you!
