I signed up for a watercolor intensive, and rather than show up totally unprepared, I thought this was a good opportunity to read and exercise a book my sister gave me, Everyday Watercolor: Learn to Paint Watercolor in 30 Days, by Jenna Rainey! The book did not disappoint! Clear instructions and useful guidance.
While I started off a little rough, I eventually got the hang of it, and grew to love the medium — I am looking forward to the intensive and will likely try gouache sometime soon!