Here’s a quick art journal illustration of a figure swimming. I was challenging myself to use a medium I have not used in ages and nothing but that medium so I opened up my bag of watercolour pencils and got to work. This was done super-quickly – definitely no more than 15 minutes – as a stress-buster. I was just promoted (yay!) and I have SO much to do before the beginning of the school year so I was in one of those flaps where my To Do list was so extensive that I could not properly focus on any one task in order to complete it and check it off the list. I decided to take a break at my art table and it did the trick: I was much more focused and efficient when I returned to my crazily long list. Anyway, the concept of relaxing gave me my subject because one of the things I find most relaxing to do is just float around in water. I used to love actually swimming lengths in the pool, never competitively, just for exercise and fun, but nowadays all I really want to do in the water is float around on my back and stare at the sky like a much less adorable otter.
A Pict in PA 
Mmmm, that IS relaxing! Love all those shades of blue, too.
Thank you. I am always drawn to shades of blue. That’s probably another reason I came up with this idea.
Your take on water is interesting.
Thanks. I am pretty sure this is how I used to draw it when I was wee. Ha ha!
Congratulations on the promotion!
Thank you. I’m very excited and raring to go.
Congratulations on your promotion. Upward and onward! Your treatment of water over the figure reminds me of techniques often seen in mosaics where layers are obviously not possible so a figure in water is depicted as being crossed by bands of water color tiles. Think head blue shoulders blue torso blue if you see what I mean. Anyway I love the effect and this painting gives me a nice floaty feeling.
You always have such interesting thoughts to share about my art. I very much appreciate it.
Thank you. I think there is always an extra layer to the images you make no matter how simple they seem on the surface. This mosaic technique I was mentioning, it has to do with depictions of Christian baptisms, that is interesting to think about in the context of your work too ( a new tangent, oh dear that I have gone on)
Lovely drawing – I like the blues….
Thank you.