u/Correct-Ingenuity538

I have been trying to capture the way water looks with foam and waves and stuff. I found a few saved tutorials and gave it a shot. It's better than my first attempt but I struggle with keeping the brush dry enough to preserve some white as reflection on the surface. I used Dr. Phil. Martin's Bleed proof white to help but want to learn how to get that dry brush effect.

Am I just using more water than I realize? How do I get a dry brush effect with a diluted, lighter color, like a very soft blue for instance? Maybe my paper was too small for the space I needed to drag my brush?

First one was done on practice paper in a 7.75" x 9.75" book with only 50% cotton. The other two were done on 100% cotton. The second was in a small book 4.75" square. The third was done on a block 3.5" square.

My first post here. Hope it's up to the task!

The Lion is what my husband and I like to hide for one another to find, for fun. Fishy is my husband's cheap decorative figurine to cover an old crack in the toilet tank from our old house. I decided to paint these buddies of ours. Reference photos at the end.

I am a watercolor beginner since January, so have lots to learn and need more patience with drying layers for sure.

What else can I do better besides practice?

I was inspired to go back to basics and learn some watercolor lessons from a book, so I went to my local library to see what they had. There were a few books, plus this one focused on developing realism style drawing skills. These are the very first two exercises in the book to get started. I tried them today. The book advises using colored pencils and/or watercolor paints but I just used pencil.

How did I do?

I do see all the little imperfections but I think there's some potential here. And yes, I used lined paper as my first model but didn't draw the lines. Maybe next time. LOL. The book focuses on the outline, creases, and shadows so that's what I decided to do.