Watercolor painting of a Sea Turtle // Original Work //

Hello,

I would like to share with You my process of making this painting. I choose the watercolor technique which is not my most usual technique. Most of the times I paint with acrylic colors.

One great tip that I saw somewhere on the internet was that you should soak the paper in clean water when painting with watercolors and then dry the paper with clean towel. It prevents wrinkling of the paper while making your painting. The paper should be at least 250 GSM (Grams per Square Meter) for this technique. I used 300 GSM paper.

Before soaking the paper into the water, I made a sketch with a pencil.

I would like to tell you more about why I decided to paint this Sea Turtle. It was a gift for my friend's birthday. I know him for nine years and we understand each other very well. Once we were talking about our Power Animals or as Native Americans call it the ''Animal Totem''.

As I see it, it is a spirit of an animal that protect and guide your soul. When connected with it, you can feel it's guidance, advices and feel safe and protected.

One day my friend told me he finally met his Power Animal while he was meditating. It was one young but very wise Sea Turtle!

''The turtle totem wisdom teaches us about walking our path in peace and sticking to it with determination and serenity. Slow moving on earth, yet also incredibly fast and agile in water, those who have the turtle as totem or spirit animal may be encouraged to take a break in their busy lives and look around or within themselves for more grounded, long-lasting solutions. Traditionally, the turtle is symbolic of the way of peace, whether it’s inviting us to cultivate peace of mind or a peaceful relationship with our environment.''

To read more about this Animal Totem visit the source site.

I felt so inspired while coloring this Sea Turtle. I didn't want to paint it in it's realistic colors.
I wanted it to be special and extraordinary.

It was one long and fun project for me. Every day I was so excited when I will come back home from work to get back to the painting. Every day I only had about an hour or two of my time for this (as I practice yoga and have a garden, family and friends :D).

I think it turned out pretty cool... What do You think?

I wanted to frame this painting for him and I asked my father (who's hobby is woodworking) to help me out with it. This is what we've done.

I was satisfied and my friend was so happy to receive this gift.

I wish you all the best!
@oceansoul13

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Do You believe in Animal Totems? Have you met yours?