Andrea Rubinstein

Watercolor and Sketchbook Artist

Welcome to my online portfolio featuring artwork inspired by the distinctive places I have lived as well as my travels, my love of nature & my two crazy cats.
Take a look around and discover my unique view of the world.

Portfolio

The Sky Shows Off Its Colors
The Sky Shows Off Its Colors

Painting watercolors has some unique challenges and often feels like a daredevil act. Its unpredictability as a medium is both its joy and challenge. While you can correct mistakes, you have less leeway than oils or acrylics to do so. When painting, and before putting down a brush stroke, I often take a deep breath and tell myself "it's only a piece of paper". My experience is that most all of my watercolors initially go through an ugly duckling phase that, if I tough it out, can often be transformed into something that I'm surprisingly happy with.

Puccini Plaza, Lucca
Puccini Plaza, Lucca

"All My Photographs are Made with Pens" - Tommy Kane *

Seeing a friend's travel sketchbook was the original spark that set me on my artistic journey. The immediacy of her drawings seemed so much more meaningful than the snap and go habit I had gotten myself into after the onset of digital photography. 

Now I always have a sketchbook with me. Some days I might just doodle a random idea or what I see looking out the window on a long train ride or what I am having for breakfast or what's around me while waiting at a doctor's office. Some days I go out to meet friends to sketch around my neighborhood. Everything and anything might catch my eye. It's all good.

*Tommy Kane is one of my sketchbook heroes with a quirky sense of humor and sketching style. Check out his books to see a master at work.