Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jessica Tursky. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jessica , appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I first started watercolor when I started homeschooling in the 5th grade after being in public school. I wanted to branch out in what I had learned from my art teacher in school. In the beginning of my journey to learning watercolor, I mainly focused on just learning by practicing, just seeing how it flows and moves without me painting a specific subject. Layering is the next step I practiced in watercolor, it’s one of the most important things to learn so you can create depth and variations of colors. Working with a medium that works like a stain definitely presents its challenges, since once you put it down, you can not erase or place a light color on a dark color, since you need to work from light to dark. I started struggling with just learning by trial and error, so I turned to YouTube. I kept watching tutorials on how to fix the issues I was having with watercolor. I loved to watch time-lapses on painting. I would slow them down and watch carefully on how they painted. Learning different techniques such as wet on wet, wet on dry and dry brushing. I began to develop my personal style and started to realize what I liked to paint. I always like to observe my surroundings and, in my head break down the colors I see and how I would layer my paint to create what I was looking at. Over time I realized that watercolor is just a lot of practice and trial and error. I definitely struggled and I still struggle today with it, but I now see each mistake as a step forward in my progress to getting better.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Jessica Tursky. I am currently 19 and I am a self-taught artist that specializes in watercolor. My business is known as Jessica Joan Art. I’ve always had a passion for art in general and developed a strong love for watercolor. I’m known for my detailing work and its always my favorite part. Doing tiny strokes to create depth and realism to my paintings. I fuse my love for nature and art to create pieces that reflect the beauty and intricacy of the outdoors. I specialize in birds, landscapes, flowers, and animals. I am available for commission and known for my pet portraits and house commissions. My work is almost never bigger than an 8×10 or 11×14 and is sometimes as small as a 3×3. So, it’s perfect for a home of any size and it won’t take up too much space but will create a beautiful impact in any space its put. I’ve also always wanted my work to be affordable and easy to travel with because of that I have prints available of my originals. Some of my proudest moments come from the commissions I do, I love when the paintings I create have a meaning or story behind why people buy my art or in the case of my pet commissions, its often for a pet that is the best friend of the owner or for them to remember a pet that passed. I hope to inspire people to explore and appreciate the beauty that is all around us, and to do as something as simple as looking up at the sky on a clear day or to watch the birds in your backyard.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I believe it’s the ability to look at things in life in a different perspective, one that comes along with the process of being a creative person. Being able to appreciate small and what other people may consider as insignificant or having the ability to think things through, that is especially important in watercolor and painting in general. Life can be incredibly hectic for anyone but being a creative person can help sometimes when you can see the bigger picture, as in art sometimes it’s very hard to imagine the final product but once you have that in your head it’s so much easier to continue and push forward.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I could’ve sooner understood the importance of people/contacts in the art world. A big obstacle for me was talking about my art, especially to people who understood the process of creating an art business. In the past few years, I’ve learned so much from other artists and I am immensely appreciative for that guidance. I only started my business officially a year ago, so I am still learning so much. I’m now so eager to learn from others and continue in building my business.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: jessica_joanart
• Facebook: Jess Tursky
• Other: Etsy- JJArtStudioCrafts
• Email: [email protected]

Image Credits
-Jessica Tursky