Watercolor: A Lesson In Patience

Internet is a great place, especially for people like me. I feel restless without something to do, and internet is full of ideas and inspiration. I am not an artist, but I can definitely slap colors on paper in some recognizable shape successfully. I would definitely like to learn a few painting techniques that could make my work look more art like, rather than elementary school practice sheets. I love painting, but also get intimidated by it. Mostly because of my lack of knowledge. Of all the methods of painting, watercolor seems to be the most difficult, an impossible feat for me to achieve. Last week however, fueled with ideas, I thought of using some of those interesting pins that I have saved on Pinterest (here and here) and teach myself watercolor painting. 

Now, as you might be well aware, I love flowers and I love colors. So I went through my collection for inspiration and painted the above image. Not happy with the result, I browsed through some more pins and painted the image below. The result looked like what a 5th grader would paint. I was disappointed again. Then, tired with my failures, I called it a day and prayed to the universe to grant me some patience.

Next day, I promised myself to work patiently and not just hurry through the painting. After all I am only a beginner and I need to learn things first. I cannot expect to create masterpieces right away! In my quest to find the right lesson, I found this pin, showing a step by step method of creating beautiful watercolor. Usually, I do not copy. I get inspired and generally the result is something new and different. But I chose to follow the shown procedure as closely as possible this time. That would help me in not hurrying through it and be more patient.

 I first drew a rough image of the shown picture with pencil, and started coloring. Happiness coursed through me as the shapes began to get filled with color. Art making is a joyful process that helps you see something meaningful taking shape in front of your eyes. It is nothing short of meditation.

Careful strokes of my brush kept working through the design, adding elements and color, making the image more and more beautiful. At last, when I finished it, I could see that it was flawed with a beginner's shaky brush strokes, but I liked the overall look. At least now I know that I could hold my enthusiasm and have patience.