Written by My name is Margarida Rebelo, and I’m from Portugal. It was an honor for me to be invited to this wonderful site, Doodlewash. My little works, to which I have instilled simplicities of my day to day, are what I want to share with you.
They are colorful themes, where I include landscapes, rivers, buildings, flowers, and sometimes, the imaginary. I have the habit of walking, calmly watching from one side to another and then taking another look. I always get to see things differently, and the difficulty is: how to transport these images to the paper?
My attraction for painting has always been a constant. I started with porcelain, oil, and fabrics. All of those options that I liked and ones that always linked to art, to occupy some free time, because a family and small children can often leave us little time.
Later, with a professional life dedicated to interior decoration, that filled part of my life with great joy and taste for what it did, there was very little space left for a total dedication to any other activity!
Now, for the past few years, when casually discovering the watercolor, I fell in love again. A great passion formed. While I did some workshops, and also two exhibitions, it was persistence, along with consultations and videos of great masters on the internet that helped me most. This has led me to want to deepen this art form more and more and the truth is that, nowadays, nothing is impossible.
I like colors. I like to paint wet on wet, and sometimes include natural products like salt, coffee, and wine. I like to paint to the sound of classical music, preferably.
And, because using a lot of water is a refined process, I recommend excellent quality paper, free of acids, above 200g / m2, such as Saunders Waterford, Arches, Fabriano, and others of similar quality.
Rembrandt (The Netherlands), Sennelier (France), Schminke Horadam (Germany), and Winsor & Newton (UK) are some of the watercolor paints that I use and enjoy, using tubes most of the time (I find this more economical). In brushes, for ecological issues, I like the synthetics of good quality like Escoda or Kolibri, among others.
It is a challenge when I use mixed techniques, such as in the lighthouse, where I used some salt stones to add volume to the ripple. Every moment, I discover and rediscover new ways of drawing and painting.
I mix a lot of colors and I like to create new shades. In my watercolors, I also use a spatula to make effects. For example, in the image of the village on the rock, well, the rock was made with these effects.
In art, I can do everything with everything, I do not even care about the physical durability of the work, because at that moment my spirit is absorbed with a new reality. The result can turn out well, or not, but it’s always a breath of fresh air.
I like to draw and paint in sketchbooks. It’s practical and it’s a way of perfecting myself. On vacation, I do this. For example, this is the case of the holiday houses and the rooster which were painted in my sketchbook.
Using these traditional forms with a mixture of techniques, I open up new possibilities. And I think it is valid for all those who want to make new experiences, since personal experiences themselves often interfere with the creative process.
I must also say that I am always very attentive to new watercolors, new tendencies, seeing exhibitions that emerge from artists with experiences that give us this learning. And then to take some knowledge from there.
The essential thing, after all, is to take advantage of all of this, to practice a lot, and if you can see watercolor artists painting live, all the better. Besides the internet, there are many people with knowledge who paint live where we can appreciate some techniques as we try them ourselves.
But there are still so many techniques that I do not know that I would like to master. That desire to know, and to discover new things, is important, and means I will not give up! I hope you have liked reading my story and that it might, in some way, influence someone! Thank you for your time!
Margarida Rebelo
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Doodlewash
Lovely. Thank you for showing us beautiful scenes from Portugal.
Beautiful paintings! Thank you for sharing your story with us.
Margarida, I thoroughly enjoyed and was mesmerized by your paintings. It gives me such hope! (I’ve been painting 1.5 years total). Your works are fresh, alive, bursting with bountiful colors. I was throughly intrigued. The lighthouse with the turquoise swell showed an expertly created bloom that brought it over the top with all of my senses. Thank you so much for sharing your pieces with us, with me. I learn from every wonderful and talented artist I encounter, and you are now among one of my favorites. Many thanks again.
Fanna Turano
Denver, CO USA
Love the colors and the paintings. Nice of you to share. Thank you.
You’ve really captured the feeling of a sunny day!
Your work is beautiful, Margarida, full of movement and power. Thank you for sharingyour artistic journey with us!
There is a wonderful use of color in your paintings! Thanks for sharing them.
I love the sense of light that you have in your Paintings, and the colours you use 😊
Your work is beautiful. I love your comments about working in a journal before and not to fuss about those. Letting yourself play. A good reminder to play!
I love your art! And your story is inspiring 🙂
Inspiring.im 73 yrs old and would like to learn.
It was so peaceful reading your words and yet I got excited enough to want to start painting again, at 58!
Absolutely amazing. The colors you use in your paintings are very vibrant I love that about your work. Thank you for sharing your story. I enjoyed reading it.