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Last night's piece was loosely based on a sunset I experienced a few days prior. I sat down unsure of what to paint; in my head, all I could think of were the words "be fearless". I read those two words in a blog post that I consider to be a primary inspiration for this blog. Go read Golly Bard's Watercolor 101 posts, then go look at her paintings, maybe buy something. I'll wait. Back? Good.

It can be difficult to sit down and commit to a painting sometimes. Admittedly, I actually get scared and overwhelmed when I am thinking of things to paint. I don't want to paint the same thing the same way all the time, but attempting new subjects is daunting. Sometimes I just have to shut off my brain, put down a color wash, and wing-it. "There! Now there's something on the page. Nothing to be afraid of."

This time, I wanted to try some masking techniques. I covered my page in strips of masking tape, and x-acto'd a circle into the middle. The shape held up pretty well, though some of the tape left a residue that prevented the color to saturate the paper in spots. The result is an interesting landscape in an unusual format.

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