Painting Progress: What I Learned and Created in 2024

I can’t believe it’s that time of year again! Just like I did last year, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on my journey as an artist and think about where I want to grow in the next 12 months. A lot has happened this year, both in my artistic journey and in my small business. In this post, I’m focusing on the former—how I’ve continued creating new pieces and developing my painting skills.

This year, I dedicated more time to exploring techniques I’ve learned over the past few years and practicing independently to develop what many call a “style.” Some of my works, like the Metro station of the Red Line in Washington, D.C., make me feel proud. Others, like a few of my cherry blossom paintings, are less successful—I wouldn’t hang them on my walls, and that’s always a sign!

Here are some of my key highlights from 2024:

Developing My Style Through Collections

One valuable lesson I learned during a painting course at Pratt Institute is the importance of working in collections. Creating three, five, or even ten pieces on a specific subject, using a consistent medium or technique, allows me to focus deeply on a theme for several weeks. Each piece brings new challenges while helping me build expertise on the topic.

This year, I worked on the following collections:

Transit Series: I painted trains from my commutes in London, New York, and Washington, D.C. This series was a nostalgic journey through the places I’ve lived.
Northern Lights: With 2024 being an active year for solar storms, we even saw the Northern Lights from Maryland! I created about 20 wet-on-wet watercolor paintings before achieving the look I wanted.

Nordic Houses: Painting houses remains one of my favorite subjects. This year, I revisited photos from my time living in Norway and trips to other Nordic countries. I painted cozy houses surrounded by mountains, fjords, and lakes using watercolor and colored pencils.

Feeling More Comfortable Painting on Location

My ongoing meetups with urban sketching groups continued this year, and I also brought my sketchbook on trips to Miami and Spain. Each location posed unique challenges, and nature destinations encouraged me to practice landscape painting more often.

This year, I experimented with a square sketchbook and incorporated mixed media like colored pencils and acrylic markers into my watercolors. I can’t wait to add a few more pages during our winter break in Spain!

Refining my Illustration process with analog and digital tools

Since taking an illustration class last year, I’ve become more intentional about using visuals to tell stories. Interestingly, this aligns with my full-time work as a digital analyst, where I tell data stories visually!

One notable piece this year was an illustration of people saying goodbye to “Stumpy,” the beloved cherry blossom tree at Tidal Basin, which was removed due to construction. I wanted to capture the emotion and public attention surrounding Stumpy’s final spring.

I now blend traditional and digital techniques in my process:

Sketching & Composition: I start with pencil sketches or Procreate for flexibility in erasing, resizing, and rearranging elements. Once I’m happy with the composition, I transfer it to watercolor paper using a tracing light table.
Final Touches: After completing the watercolor painting, I scan the artwork and refine it in Photoshop. This includes cleaning up edges, adjusting colors, and adding subtle effects like lighting.

A new technique I’ve embraced is painting separate elements individually and assembling them in Photoshop. This gives me flexibility to adjust compositions or fix mistakes—like an overworked sky in a painting of the NYC subway!

Learning about pigments

Behind the scenes, I’ve spent a lot of time learning about watercolors. Beyond just knowing the names of my paints, I now understand the pigments they’re made from, their transparency, granularity, lightfastness, and even their toxicity (important with kids around!).

This knowledge has improved my color mixing and helped me create more cohesive palettes for my paintings. I plan to write a blog post soon to share some of my favorite colors and tips for building a palette.

What’s Next in 2025?

Looking back at my notes from last year, one of my goals was to improve drawing people. That’s still a priority for the year ahead (haha!).

For 2025, I want to continue experimenting with mixed media and work on a collection inspired by my home country, Spain. I’m excited to share more about that in the new year.

Happy Holidays, and here’s to another year of growth and creativity!