Watercolor Journaling: A Gentle, Guided Practice — July 5, San Francisco

Watercolor Journaling: A Gentle, Guided Practice
3-hour workshop · No experience needed

📍 Scrap & Sip, San Francisco
🗓 Saturday, July 5 · 12:00–3:00 PM
🎨 All materials included: Menmin Made watercolor journal, travel watercolor set, and water brush pens
👥 Limited to 10 spots

This workshop is a slow, low-pressure introduction to watercolor journaling using simple shapes, color, and light reflection. Rather than focusing on drawing skill or finished paintings, we'll use watercolor as a way to notice what's present — visually, quietly, and without overthinking.

We'll work through a small number of guided exercises that build naturally on one another, moving from loose color exploration to subtle layering and closure. Writing is optional throughout; a single word, phrase, or no words at all is always welcome.

The emphasis is on process over product, and on creating pages that feel honest rather than polished.

What We'll Do

We'll begin with Mood Blobs — choosing a few colors and letting them move freely on the page. This is a way to arrive, loosen up, and start without needing a plan.

From there, we'll explore Layered Shapes and Transparency, allowing color to build slowly. Some layers may overlap, some may fade, some may remain visible underneath. This part of the workshop focuses on noticing what's accumulating or sitting with us, without needing to explain it.

Next, we'll work with Heavy vs. Light, using contrast — darker, denser marks alongside softer washes — to visually sort what feels weighty and what feels easier or more spacious. This often brings a sense of quiet clarity without requiring emotional analysis.

We'll then experiment with Clusters, grouping small shapes together and noticing patterns. This exercise helps participants see how thoughts, moments, or impressions naturally organize themselves on the page.

Toward the end, we'll use Paint Over It as a gentle softening practice — partially obscuring a word, shape, or area — followed by One Small Addition, where each person adds a single final mark and asks, "What's enough?"

We'll close by noticing what's small but present — tiny marks, subtle colors, or quiet areas of the page — as a way of ending with attention rather than evaluation.

What This Workshop Is (and Isn't)

This is:

• Guided, but not instructional-heavy
• Reflective, but not therapy
• Creative, but not about making "good art"

You don't need prior experience with watercolor or journaling. Everything is optional, and there's no pressure to share unless you want to.

Participants leave with:

• Several completed journal pages
• A simple, repeatable watercolor journaling process
• A felt sense of completion and ease

About Your Facilitator

Paulina Hoong is the artist behind Menmin Made, a whimsical watercolor brand based in the Bay Area. Her art is inspired by her family's Chinese restaurant and AAPI culture. Her approach centers on making art feel accessible, low-pressure, and genuinely enjoyable — especially for people who don't identify as "artists." This year, Menmin Made released The Ultimate Journal Bag, an all-in-one stationery organization bag.

Menmin Made has been featured by Buzzfeed, the Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, and the Asian American Women's Artists Association.

All supplies are provided — just bring yourself. Spots are limited to keep the group small and the pace gentle.

Please note: All ticket sales are final. Tickets are nonrefundable.