I decided to paint a cut garnet, because I've never done any artwork of gemstones before and thought it would be good practice. I used watercolour and gouache. I'm still learning how to use watercolours, but I thought the translucent effects they give would be good for the sparkly gemstone. It's not the best thing I've ever done, but it's ok and I feel like I learned from it, which is the main thing!
