Lessons from a watercolor landscapes collage

Does practice make perfect? Does it make better? Or is it something else?

I started this set of landscapes in watercolors early this month and just finished it. My goal was to paint the same picture over and over again to get it ‘perfect’ but after two or three, I got so bored and it dawned upon me that I needed to get better not perfect!!

So then the fun began – letting my imagination take over, allowing myself to make lots of mistakes, experiment with colors and have fun.

How often I have held myself back with rigid rules and lofty expectations and then ended up dissatisfied with the end product.

What I learned from this experience is I need not be a perfect artist. I have a style and a process of my own and I just need to embrace it fully.

So if there’s anyone out there like me who doubts herself, just remember you need to ‘enjoy’ the process and own your style.

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Watercolor play

What do you do on a cloudy day with the sun playing peek a boo?

I reach out for my watercolors!!

I paint a landscape and drive away the blues💙

July 31 – Celebration of Color

#July  #Doodlewash

It’s goodbye to July and what better way to honor and celebrate this worldwatercolormonth with loads of color. I chose this picture not only because it is a mix of colors (obviously) but also it emanates sweetness, joy and love!

Sunshine on Yosemite valley

#July #WorldWatercolorMonth #sunshine

It was a beautiful day in the Yosemite Valley. Under the bright June sun, everything seemed to wake up to its brightest potential. Was it my perception or did the sky looked bluer, the pines greener! I stood there awestruck by the colossal granite cliffs rising behind the sea of gilded blades of grass. Is this heaven on earth?

Yosemite valley comes alive under a June’s sun

Learning to paint again

Can you relearn something?

Once upon a time when I was a little girl, I loved to paint. I filled pages after pages with mountains, rivers, trees, flowers and deep blue skies. Opening my watercolor box, dipping my brush into water, swirling the colors – I lost track of time…..

Time passed. Other things became more important. I stopped painting. Every minute was too important to waste on trivial pursuits. There were so many more urgent matters to pay attention to, so much to achieve and a long way to go.

Some more time passed. Life changed. By then, some things had worked out and some had not. One day the watercolors found their way back into my life. I had totally forgotten how to use them! With a wet brush, I nervously picked up a color and slowly and shyly I worked my way through it – one stroke, one wash, one piece of art – at a time.

So yes, you CAN relearn anything. I am learning to get in touch with the child within, the part that loved to paint but had forgotten how!

Here are some pieces from a couple of months ago.