Today we had our first watercolor class at Casa Caminhoa, which is a landscape architecture studio in Rio. We worked with the owner and a talented artist/teacher during the class. We started with sampling each of our colors and making gradients using the techniques she showed us. We then applied the techniques we learned to paint leaves, fruits, and vines and then we picked a photograph to try and recreate using the watercolor. The class was very fun and the instructors were very talented and knowledgeable and did a great job of teaching us what to do. We all gained some confidence in our watercolor abilities and we thought it was a great lesson, especially since a lot of us have no or minimal experience with water color. We are looking forward to the next lesson we have scheduled for this upcoming Thursday. The two teachers at the watercolor lessons were very friendly and were happy to have us there. Like almost all the people we have met so far, they were very welcoming and kind. One thing we noticed is that plants are always a big presences wherever we go. They have trees all along the streets, and her studio had an open air courtyard outside the studio and served as a place to relax and connect with nature. Nature also served as inspiration for some of our watercolor paintings.

After the class, we walked through Jardim Botanico, which was founded in 1808 and is the biggest botanical garden in Rio. We saw a lot of unique plants and did some sketching as well. We walked down the palms alley, which had trees that were over 30 meters tall, very impressive.

By Amy and Joe