Day 13 in #worldwatercolormonth: Unlucky for some
(but we’re all making and learning through the #process)
In the end, we want to create something worthy. But sometimes it’s the fun of the painting that is enough. When I was a student teacher, one of the first lessons I learnt was how to grab a three-year-old’s painting when it was still something, before she had turned it into a muddy brown mess. She was just enjoying the physical sensation of putting paint on the paper, and didn’t really “get” that there might be a point to calling it a day.
As artists we all do this sometimes. I’ve been following the #worldwatercolormonth group on Facebook. Professionals, teachers, hobbyists and novices are posting one watercolour painting a day for July. And it’s been interesting to see that across these groups of artists there is a lingering self-doubt, the question of “is it finished?”
“I’m submitting number 10 as it was before it got “destroyed.” It is the mistake we artists often make…going too far” posted Kathleen with this painting:
Of course the crowd following #worldwatercolormonth all begged to see the ruined piece too. Well, we didn’t get that. Instead we got this re-worked piece, signed and completed.
And that’s quite right. We don’t need to show off our mistakes, we should learn from them and try and figure out what went wrong for ourselves. In the end, we shouldn’t be looking for other people’s praise, but our own reasonable self-criticism. “But in the end, though totally different from the beginning…it’s not too bad…at least I’m not going to throw it out now.” Kathleen posted, later adding “I kept plugging away at it…and it’s one of those rare times it turns out after all!”
Sanchia Marshall said of the painting below, “Although I’m not completely happy with this it was fun to do and I learnt some things.” One response on the Facebook post was “How could you not be happy with this… I’d be ecstatic! :-)” We’re all coming to our own art from our own position, and our own self doubt should really just challenge us to learn more.
“… the work will be imperfect, however beautiful.”
John Ruskin
Sometimes we might feel, looking at other artists work, that we are wasting our time, that we have no talent, that nothing we make is as good as what other artists are doing.
Painting and painting and painting. Doing the work. The first 10,000. We’ve all heard the advice, but it’s hard to take a critical look at one painting unless we compare it to… well…to other people, sure, but also to other paintings we have done. Missy New Orleans posted the photo above with the comment “Ok, I’ve been lurking Admiring all the talent… Amazing talent…but I have been trying all month long as you can see.” And loads people jumped up and down, saying, “they’re great”, or “they’re way better than mine”.
On a more practical note, KathleenMcElwaine from “Keep the white space” gave this advice: “So daily paint with a limited pallet, the same size paper, same subject, same brush. Let your tools teach you, ask why questions of fellow painters and in no time at all you will be looking at your own creative genius.”
As we are all at different stages of learning, and we’re all looking for different results, it’s important not to get dispirited. I often look at quite beautiful, professional watercolour sketches and wonder how they were made. But I don’t need to envy the skill, but rather to develop my own style.
As Debbie Canfield put it “Learning to take my time and not rush paintings. Sketched it out yesterday and took my time today painting. When I first started I tried to do the paintings in one sitting and didn’t recognize that slowing down makes for a better painting.”
Susan Miller responded with “Some people think watercolor is fast and furious but in reality watercolor takes more time “thinking” about it than other mediums….because it’s hard to “undo” something.”
Thinking. Reflecting. Analysing. Not everything we make is great art. Not everything we make is art. But everything we make, if we take the time, can teach us something and help us on our journey.
oeuvre.gallery gives artists a space to explore their #process and only share what they choose.
With grateful thanks to all at #worldwatercolormonth
