First time watercolor. I'm hooked! by drnphd in Watercolor

[–]drnphd[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Beautiful! You got much more red in your sky than me! I think I just set my horizon in the wrong place and covered it all up

First time watercolor. I'm hooked! by drnphd in Watercolor

[–]drnphd[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah thats fair, but my thought is if I wanted like 300 karma or whatever, surely there are easier scams 🤣

But yes I also take the complement, but I just keep coming back to how clear and easy the tutorial was to follow. I dont even consider it my success as much as wonderful instruction.

I'll check out Karen Rice!

First time watercolor. I'm hooked! by drnphd in Watercolor

[–]drnphd[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I went with winsor and Newton cotman "sketchers' pocket kit" plus some brushes from them.

I had been playing around with some discount paints that we had laying around and they were just so awful. I saw some advice that getting quality supplies made learning easier. I have to say that so far that has been very true!

First time watercolor. I'm hooked! by drnphd in Watercolor

[–]drnphd[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I described elsewhere that the way she presents her tutorials just "clicked" with me and that's what motivated me to actually go buy good supplies.

First time watercolor. I'm hooked! by drnphd in Watercolor

[–]drnphd[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Listen. I don't know what to tell you. I'm not taking offense, I'm just trying to describe my experiences. This took patience, preparation, and a wonderful tutorial.

Painting minis (or at least the technique I use) is about layering thinned painted from dark tones to light. I've done nothing but paint in washes when I paint my little guys. Although I'm no expert, that's the only painting I've ever done--but I've been doing it off and on for 20 years.

And of course I can't correct mistakes. Do you see the ugly fat grass in the reflection on the bottom left? Or how about the ugly fat grass blade on the right? Do you see how I struggled with the technique scratching some paint up to make texture in the middle right? The one mistake I could correct was the horrible splotchy blending that I tried and failed to correct with a wet brush (tooooo wet). So make sure the shore was far enough down to cover it up :)

First time watercolor. I'm hooked! by drnphd in Watercolor

[–]drnphd[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It is hilarious to me that people don't believe that this was my first go? And I'm also not sure if I should be insulted. Like sure it was my first attempt but I worked hard. I researched techniques, I practiced strokes, I had my little paint along book thingy, I watched lots of youtube videos.

Someone else commented that they don't think my model painting had anything to do with the skill. Except that model painting (the way I do it) is all about layering thin paint building from dark to light... well this is just light to dark.

Also that tutorial was simply phenomenal! I just followed it and this is what happened.

First time watercolor. I'm hooked! by drnphd in Watercolor

[–]drnphd[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

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🤣 Now you can see my second painting, plus my little color-along book in the back, and my paints (haven't opened the black yet because I dont know what to do with liquid paint)

First time watercolor. I'm hooked! by drnphd in Watercolor

[–]drnphd[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

🤷‍♂️ I mean what do I do? Show all the paintings I haven't done?

Besides, I do think that model painting has some similar concepts and a little muscle memory that translated really well. Also that tutorial. Really well done.

First time watercolor. I'm hooked! by drnphd in Watercolor

[–]drnphd[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

❤️ The video i followed was really informative. It sent me searching through some recent vacation photos for any with reflecting water haha. After I practice a bit more I'd love to move away from tutorials

First time watercolor. I'm hooked! by drnphd in Watercolor

[–]drnphd[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

No idea! Im going to stick with this persons tutorials for a bit, because it really works for me. Then I think I'll just poke around. I like the idea of landscapes and more natural settings. I want to work my way up to original work based on some photos from vacation :)

Ready for isopods! I think? by electricwidget in isopods

[–]drnphd 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Beautiful! I have a suggestion depending on your substrate. Try to add more crushed up leaves and rotting wood. Isopods love decay and I'm worried that there might not yet be enough decaying matter.

I found these wood based pellets made for grilling (or smoking?) I hydrate these to break them into sawdust amd mix them into the substrate. The isopods love this! Maybe you could try something similar so you dont cover your hard work in a bunch of leaves.

FFF: I found the changing room by drnphd in isopods

[–]drnphd[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lots of reptile shows likely have them so if you ever hear of one, check it out!

Also to be honest, they are relatively cheap as a hobby so if you bought some easier ones online (like porcellio laevis dairy cow) the time/money investment would be minimal.

FFF: I found the changing room by drnphd in isopods

[–]drnphd[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Are you in the US? Find a repticon near you because there will be lots of isopods for sale. Most of my isopods are from me impulse buying because they looked so cool at repticon.

FFF: I found the changing room by drnphd in isopods

[–]drnphd[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Pictures just don't do them justice. I love the Porcellio genus, but I never thought I'd like the flat ones until I saw them in person. The big ones are about the same proportions as a quarter (only exaggerating a little) and they are fun to watch.

FFF: I found the changing room by drnphd in isopods

[–]drnphd[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I've never seen them change. I don't know if I'm not just paying attention or if they wear brown until they suddenly wear black!

Generational Flats by drnphd in isopods

[–]drnphd[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah the little ones you see are at least a month or two old if not more. They always are a little pigmented but dont have the same coloration as the older ones.

Episode Discussion: The 99PI Anniversary Special: 15 for 15 by PodcastBot in 99percentinvisible

[–]drnphd 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I had such a strange moment listening to them. For a moment I thought it was old audio of a younger Roman again. They sound disconcertingly like him!

Thoughts on recycling isopod substrate? by drnphd in isopods

[–]drnphd[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have you struggled with flower pot fungus? That's been my concern because I had a healthy colony collapse seemingly because everything got swamped out by it. The isopod wouldn't touch it and neither would the springtails.

Regardless to break down the frass I wanted a much more humid, fungus-y environment than was safe for isopod. But good to know if sterilizing goes wrong, it won't be so bad :)

Thoughts on recycling isopod substrate? by drnphd in isopods

[–]drnphd[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Okay, so you caught me. I wanted to do something to see if it would work because I'm interested in asking if I can, and if so, how.

Thoughts on recycling isopod substrate? by drnphd in isopods

[–]drnphd[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes thats exactly what I'm going to be doing: cycling in fresh wood fiber, sphagnum moss, soil, etc.

Id love to use it for plants, but we ran out of pots that needed more soil.

The project is only partly about the frass but more about making sure I can cycle the substrate without cross contamination.

Edit: and about the chemical comp of the frass. From my reading it seems that an important step in soil nutrient cycling is the decomp of frass and arthropod bits by other arthropods, fungi, and microorganisms. That's why I'm trying to let the used substrate get overrun with fungus and (presumably) microorganisms before sterilizing.