A few days ago, I officially kicked off my watercolor retreat in France! It’s been amazing to meet and mingle with an incredible group of artists from around the world. We're spending our week painting, exploring French chateaus and villages, and enjoying all of the amazing food and wine that France has to offer.

A large chunk of my portfolio is artwork that is inspired by my travels. I love capturing the spirit of the places I visit in my art, and I especially love doing it with watercolor. 

#CreateWithCatCoq - Paint your favorite travel memory

In honor of the watercolor retreat, this week's #CreateWithCatCoq challenge is to paint something from your travels with watercolor. It doesn't have to be a landscape or something intricate. Some of my most popular paintings are simple motifs inspired by the things that I see while I'm traveling.

To participate, choose a photo reference from one of your favorite trips and create your version of it with watercolor! I know that travel has been difficult recently, so if you don't have a recent trip to reference you can choose from any number of travel inspiration photos on Pinterest.

If you're new to watercolor or want to brush up on your watercolor skills, I'd love for you to join me in my Skillshare class, Modern Watercolor Techniques. In this class, you'll learn everything you need to know to get started with watercolor. You can enroll in the class for free when you sign up for a free trial with Skillshare.

If you want to see what supplies I recommend for watercolor, you can check them all out here.

I am so excited to see what you paint! Think of this week's #CreateWithCatCoq challenge as a virtual watercolor retreat. To join us, just share your watercolors with the hashtag #CreateWithCatCoq on Instagram. I'll be sharing select watercolor paintings throughout the week so don't forget to tag me @catcoq for a chance to be featured!

Happy watercoloring!

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