Keeping The Brain Active

You know how we are supposed to: try new things, do puzzles, read, exercise and more, to keep our brains working? Well, I do try to keep active, and along with blogging (this is something new for me) I am hoping to experiment more and accomplish more with my supplies that are now neatly organized (thanks to a recent redo in that room) and my ideas that are, as I said in an earlier post, swirling around in my head!
So, over the weekend, I tried my hand at a night scene in watercolor paints. It is my first somewhat realistic interpretation of something in about 30+ years using this medium. It is the Jefferson Memorial in D.C.

I mean, I have used these paints in the past for collages, but I usually paint in oils- so this was a good test for the brain. Your colors go on from light to dark when using watercolor paint, and the opposite is true for oils- saving the brightest highlights (usually) for last. I had to really plan ahead and I am a one-day-at-a-time, see-what-happens-type of person which is ok when dealing with oils because you have a lot of time to make changes. The paint stays wet! With the watercolor paints, I needed to know what areas to leave the brightest (or unpainted) when I started. There is almost no going back once the paint is on the paper.
I think I will explore the watercolor technique a bit more, but I would like to try something a little lighter and brighter in color, next time. The idea for this scene came from Different Strokes from Different Folks. It is a fun place to visit. The owner is an artist who posts a photo every other week and encourages you to paint it, then submit it to the site for viewing by others.
It is fun to see what is submitted because every artist does his/her own interpretation by cropping the view, etc. I have been watching for a number of weeks, and decided to go for it. If you visit the site, be sure to scroll down to see the portraits. They are amazing.

Also important in keeping the brain young, is socializing. Today is my sister's birthday, so we are, along with mom, going out for lunch to celebrate. I should end this post now, but I am having trouble wrapping it up. I know there should be a proper conclusion- but I am stumped!
Happy Tuesday! How's that??