Watercolor has a life of its own. When you apply paint to watercolor paper, it moves. You then add more paint or more water, and again the watercolor responds with a swirl. Painting with watercolor is a dance; it’s a relationship between the paint and the artist.
You may think you have to wait for inspiration to find you. A true artist can find inspiration in an empty box. It sure doesn’t fall from the sky. By painting every day, whether you feel like it or not, you develop inspiration as well as skill. You may have an aptitude for art, but you need to develop it, practice it, and nurture it. If you want to be an artist, you must work for it. The good news? The work is pleasure. You’ll experience frustration and produce paintings that embarrass instead of impress. Make more until they work for you. Make a hundred paintings before you judge yourself.
Still lifes, landscapes, seascapes, and animals are just a few of the topics I cover. After you try the subjects I chose, look around you and see if you can find similar topics to paint, or apply the techniques to your own choice of subject matter.
As you start painting, you begin seeing in a new way. You look at light, shadows, lines, and angles with a painter’s eye, and you pick up inspiration for new paintings in the everyday world around you and in the rich arena of your imagination.
Some good advice was given to me years ago: “Paint what you know.” So it’s also good advice to research and explore your areas of interest because they become sources of painting material. My husband and I are fascinated by muscle cars. I paint the ones I can’t afford to own.
Topic:everyday world, fall from the sky, good advice, light shadows, lines and angles, muscle cars, seascapes, true artist, watercolor painting, watercolor paper