Are you tired of enjoying watercolor? With these quick tips, you’ll be slogging your way through an unpleasant learning experience in no time.
Focus on the destination, not the journey.
Remember, the goal is to become perfect, which is both normal and attainable. You’ll know when you’ve arrived! Hold off on everything good until that moment.
Also, be sure to expect constant, relentless success in a straight, linear path.
Only do what is hard & boring.
You know that magical subject that drew you to watercolor in the first place – whether it’s photography, other people’s art, or the images in your imagination? Forget it!! That’s for later, when you’re arrived at Destination: Perfection. In the meantime, if you find yourself becoming curious about something, squelch that impulse!
For now, paint subjects you don’t connect to and don’t feel any emotion about – or better yet, just do a lot of tedious, yet difficult, exercises.
Also, don’t use any colors, or use only colors you dislike. “Real” artists use (fill in your least favorite color here), and only hacks use (fill in your favorite color here).
Use the worst supplies you can find.
You’re not good enough yet for the good supplies. As with the subjects you care about, you must save them for some time in the future. In the meantime, it’s important to punish yourself. Make yourself “prove” your commitment to the medium by fighting frustrating supplies. Only professionals have earned the right to make it easy on themselves.
Be judgmental.
Evaluate everything on a judgmental value scale where other people’s work is “good” but yours is “bad.” After every painting, ask yourself, “What do I hate about this?”
Above all, avoid painting!
Do everything you can to engage in your hobby without actually putting paintbrush to paper. Read up on it; scroll social media; read (and write!!) art blogs; buy as many supplies as you can, and never open them. That way, when you do find five minutes to put brush to paper, you can expect yourself to magically have skills you have never practiced.
Conclusion
April Fools! This is, of course, not the way to learn painting. Yet, somehow it was easier for me to come up with this list than it would have been for me to reverse it all and give good advice. These are all things I’ve done, thought, or felt. The thing is that if I simply reserve it all, I get good advice!
- Focus on the journey, not the destination.
- Only do what is easy & fun.
- Use the best supplies you can afford.
- Be non-judgmental.
- Above all, paint!
The knowledge is in me! But it’s easier sometimes to be the worst version of myself, than the best.
Hopefully, next time you recognize yourself indulging in some of these insecurities, or that weird anti-creative Protestant work ethic mindset, you will recognize how silly you are being before you get too far down the rabbit hole, and remember to relax and enjoy your art – just the way you like it, without reference to anybody else, or to the concept of “success.” Remember, there’s no prize for doing things you hate, and there’s no way to get an “A.” There is just you and the paint.
Thank you, this is just what I needed! I’ve been starting to enjoy watercolor, so I need a way to recapture that sense of dread that took me away from it in the first place. I have nearly found an art practice that fits into my life, but I almost forgot that it’s important to spend many hours on the internet finding other artists’ opinions before I feel valid enough to even start painting! I recently found some opinions on painting different from mine and I’m really glad to have seeded that self-doubt. You’re right, I should force myself to do tedious exercises. And if that makes me quit, I must not want it enough! Wow, with just the right mindset, I already feel like a failure.
Thanks for the laughs, this was cathartic.