watercolor circles
Hello, lovely list writers! I made this page to share a bit about my daily practice of watercolor circles. I mentioned this practice in my list on Day Two and a couple of you asked if I could tell you about it. So here you go…
I want to say first off that I rarely do any practice daily. I’ve done daily creative practices in the past and definitely grew from doing them, but something in me balks at the (self-imposed) rule of needing to do something every single day. I might end up doing something every day, but once there’s a rule about how often I’m supposed to do it, something in my brain sets off alarms. Rebel much?!
Anyway, this is a creative practice that I’ve been doing for three years now. And I love it. It’s a simple practice however the mini-reflection of looking back on my day – choosing what stands out for me and pairing that thoughtfully with color(s) – is a powerful practice that grounds me… and, when I flip back through the pages, inspires me. I mean, circles! watercolor!
I first started off with Courtney Cerruti’s book, One Color a Day: A Daily Art Practice and Visual Diary. I don’t remember where I learned about the book and I almost didn’t buy it because A. I didn’t need direction on the actual process of watercolor, B. I didn’t intend to follow the prompts sprinkled throughout the book, and C. the author herself admits that the quality of paper is subpar (to print a book like this with watercolor paper would be very expensive).
I bought the book because I decided, as it was my first foray into this practice, that it’d be nice to have a year’s worth of weekly grids already laid out for me. Turns out, this was the case :) The paper isn’t great but having everything laid out was super awesome.
Below are two pages from Cerruti’s book which I used in 2022.
That said, I didn’t want to buy the book every year as I continued the practice. So now I buy my own watercolor sketchbook and ink in the grids myself. I usually make a few months’ worth of weekly grids at a time (maybe quarterly?). Watercolor sketchbooks like Strathmore, Moleskine, and Canson are good places to start. The quality of paper does make a difference; cheaper paper pills quickly and that can be frustrating. I skimped on my sketchbook this year and regret it. I’ll be going back to Moleskine or Strathmore for 2025.
So here’s the gist. There’s a pair for each day: a watercolor circle (which is so joyful to me) (even on the hard days), and a word or phrase. They reflect one another. It’s simple, and kinda perfect for those of us who appreciate visual AND written word. Of course you could choose only one element. I just love the two paired together.
I reflect on the day. Sometimes I start with the color: maybe there was a crazy beautiful blue sky, or maybe it was stormy and cloudy — the color inspires the circle. Sometimes I want to mark how I felt on a particular day, or maybe something I did, or somewhere I went — in this case, choosing the color(s) is secondary and reflects my word element somehow.
Above all, I try not to overthink!!! I want this to be a thoughtful practice, but also loose and fun.
I don’t travel a lot but, when I do, I find it hard to keep up with the watercolor circles, so I keep a running list in my Notes app on my phone, noting color and descriptor; I add everything into my watercolor circle journal once I’m back home. And if I’m honest, I sometimes have strings of days that are just *too much* and it feels hard to paint a circle every day (that sounds silly, but I’m being honest). I cut myself some slack and jot a color + descriptor in my Notes app for those days too, and paint them in later.
I make the practice work for me.
Below are some pages from my 2023 and (current) 2024 journals…
These are just a few of my pages/circles to share with you. You can see they run the gamut with what I’m capturing + remembering. Most of the circles are wonky and I like that. I’m not interested in making perfectly-shaped circles. But if you are, have at it! Do what makes your heart sing.
If you have any thoughts or questions, just reply to any of the emails I’ve sent you for J5T! I’d love to know if you think you’ll try this!
and p.s. you might notice that you ladies are some of my watercolor circles 💗