35 x 28 cm watercolour pencils and watercolour
In Kazanlak, I rent a room and did some drawing there. Where I stayed, there has a balcony that I can see the sunrise every day. When I slowly get to know people and the local shops there, I was, at the time, trying to figure out how to conduct my plans. Honestly, I tried several ways to approach my target goal. When I look back at these experiences, I felt so proud of myself and my courage.
sketch at balcony
waiting for sunrise
In this valley, most of the shops, especially the souvenir shops only work for six months, and the remaining time, they will spend on other business or go on holiday. When I arrived in Oct, the season is autumn, and the valley is full of gold and brownish colour. That was so different from The rose festival in May. Most Bulgarians travel in this season. There are still a few international tourism groups, but there are more local family or school field trip group choose to visit in this season.
yellow colour in rose park
sketch at rose park
The first challenge I had was the paper for watercolours. To bring enough clothes for autumn and early winter, I choose to buy paper locally. There are many good options in Sofia art shop, but I didn't have a clue at the time. In a town like Kazanlak, they usually don't have a lot of choices of paper. I have been looking for the water absorbed paper and the wood board that I can mount my paper on top of it. After trying several available papers, I finally find the paper which is closed to the quality of the paper that I have been used in the past. Comparing this with the Artist Residency program, I participated for five months ago; I bought almost everything, including watercolour papers. This time was a good chance for me to explore different paper and how to adjust to the environment.
