Try a few, or all, of these in your sketchbook. Either use a watercolor sketchbook or pad, or just use some scraps of watercolor paper. Draw and paint from life, outside or inside -- or use photos for reference. I've included examples from my own sketchbooks . . .
1. COLORFUL PEAR -- This exercises is more of a color study than a study of a pear, so there's no need to even look at an actual pear. Just draw a pear-shaped outline, with a stem. Then, draw some wavy lines that start on the edges of your paper, intersect the pear, and end on the other side of the paper. Keep doing this until you have a number of interesting shapes.
Now, paint these shapes, one at a time -- Use any color you want, and try the different wet-in-wet techniques. In some of the shapes, wet the shape first with clear water, then drop in color near the edge, and let it move on its own. In some of the other shapes, wet the shape with a color, and then drop in another color near the edge, and let it mingle. Skip around, so that you're not painting right next to a shape that is still wet. If you want, you can paint all the shapes within the pear, "warm" colors, and all the background shapes, "cool" colors . . .
2. PAINT A "FEELING" -- Using just your watercolors, a brush, and your imagination, paint the "feeling" of a springtime garden, and a summer garden. Don't draw first -- just wet the paper, and then drop in some colors that suggest the gardens . . .
3. PEAR TRIPTYCH -- Divide a narrow scrap of watercolor paper into thirds. Paint a light yellow wash over the whole thing. When that's dry, draw a big pear in each rectangle. Now, paint each part of the triptych in a different color scheme. The one on the left will be "complementary colors, so paint the pear yellow, and the background violet. (Or, the pear could be red, and the background green.) The one on the right will be "analogous colors", so paint the pear green, and the background blue-green, or blue. The one in the middle will be "split complements", so if you leave the pear yellow, the background will be part red-violet, and part blue . . .
4. BLOOMS & LEAVES -- For this exercise, draw some simple flower shapes in pencil, then, draw a few leaf shapes. Then, divide up the background shape with long, skinny leaf shapes. Paint the background shapes (the negative shapes), with cool colors. Paint one shape at a time, wetting it and dropping in the color, then moving to the next shape. In some of these background shapes, try "sanding". In the positive shapes, paint warm colors, in the same way. . .
5. STRAWBERRY -- Draw and paint one big, red strawberry. When dry, lift out the little dots. . .
6. CLOSE-UP OF STONE WALL -- First, do a wet-in-wet underpainting, using Raw Sienna, Quinacridone Rose, and Cerulean Blue. When this is still pretty damp (shiny), sprinkle salt all over. When it is dry, brush off the salt, and draw the cracks in pencil. Then, paint these cracks (the shapes between the rocks), using Burnt Sienna and Cerulean Blue . . .
7. WINDOWPANE SAMPLER -- Draw a big square, and then do a simple contour drawing of a big pear, with a cast shadow.
On top of this drawing, draw two straight lines, dividing the square into 4 equal sections, like four window panes. Around the edges, label the sections with the technique you are going to use.
Paint each section separately, and a little differently:
Top Left - Paint the background shape first, using salt for texture. When that is dry, paint the yellow shape of the pear.
Top Right -- Paint the yellow pear first, sprinkling in salt for texture. When that is dry, paint the background shape. Remember to only paint the portion of the pear that is within that quadrant.
Bottom Left -- Paint each shape within this section separately -- wetting the shape first, and then dropping in color, letting the colors mix and mingle within each shape.
Bottom Right -- Paint each shape as a graded wash -- painting wet on dry. Start painting each shape with a color, then switch to another color within that shape, while the first color is still wet. Be sure to use enough water, so the colors mix easily.
When all this is dry, you can go over your lines with a black pen.
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