I have always been fascinated by the beautiful artwork people are able to produce from watercolour.

As a child, I remember walking through my grandaunt’s art studio and feeling a sense of awe when I saw her watercolour landscape paintings, especially the one of Mt. Hood in Oregon where the setting sun rendered its snow-covered peak a soft pink hue. I believe that watercolour is an ideal art form for books as one can be very diverse in the ways they choose to express an image with the paint.

Recently, I have come to realize how powerful storytelling can be — it shapes our worldview, allows us to experience the world from other perspectives, and reminds us what it really means to be human; to feel, to wonder, to make sense of things in order to quell our countless anxieties.

For this reason, I have chosen to dedicate an inquiry into learning how to write, illustrate and bound a book from scratch. As a teacher candidate in the Elementary Education PDP Program at the University of Victoria, I am particularly interested creating children’s novels. These novels I hope will inspire children to share their passions and realize their dreams in an ever-changing world.

I begin my exploration of this topic by understanding how to work with watercolour. Here is a introductory video to watercolour that I found to be useful:

I went to a local art store and picked up some supplies; watercolour paint & brush, watercolour paper, a rotary mat, ruler & OLFA knife (to make the pages the size I want), sketching pencils, Scotch tape, and a few fine liner Micron pens to write with.

When it comes time to book binding, I will need a few more supplies. However, this is all I need to get me started on the process! In the next blog, I will post a picture of my experimentations with water colour. Until then, happy days!