I Did Something Right

Judith, ,

I’m bouncing around a bit here in my art studio… mostly doing watercolor, but still practicing brush lettering, and re-visiting old drawing courses from The Virtual Instructor. I bought myself a new set of drawing pencils even though I didn’t really need them, and I’m just dabbling around with this and that without making any real effort to “create art”. The focus, as you know, is on having fun.

Even when I watch videos on perspective or lament that my watercolor washes are still filled with streaks, I just shrug, remind myself that I’m doing my best, and I move on to the next lesson, the next practice exercise, the next technique to learn.

And then, once in a while, it happens. I actually do something right! I draw or paint something that turns out the way it’s actually supposed to. Those moments amaze me. I guess in a way it’s those moments that keep me going. Those moments encourage me. Those moments give me reason to believe that I can be a real artist again.

Here is one of those small — very small — moments. Just take a look at this! The exercise was on creating highlights in watercolor by leaving a bit of white paper. And I did it!

Here, you’re seeing an image that’s been scanned and enlarged a bit in the process, so it’s not quite so impressive here. Looking at it in my watercolor sketchbook, it looks really good, especially if I step back a bit, and even more if I just focus on that white highlight and ignore the streaks in the paint. For me, this is probably the best watercolor highlight I’ve ever created. As small and insignificant as it is, I’m proud of it.

So, dear friends, just play along with me today. Tell me “Yes, yes, it’s good!” Let me bask in this brief little moment of artistic triumph. A lot of my struggles and frustrations have been forgotten all because of this little white-paper highlight.

Tomorrow I’ll probably be struggling again. Tomorrow I’ll probably look at my practice pieces and shake my head. But that’s tomorrow. Today I’m just going to sit here and look at my lovely little watercolor circle — hey, it’s actually not bad for freehand painting — and feel good about what I’ve done.

23 Comments

      2. Yes, that’s true. I used to make it a habit to go outside every morning after breakfast and spend a little time drawing. Of course, that was when the weather was nice! Maybe when spring gets here I can get back into that habit. It was always a relaxing part of my day.

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      10. We’re expecting 8-11″ of snow with the coming winter storm, and real temperatures of -15, with wind chills around -25. Definitely staying in!

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