(Clichéd) beginnings…
Started my art journey tight on space and time back in 2019! My art space used to literally be in a closet!
Limited color palette.
My story is like so many other’s…
In the times of COVID lockdown, as well as being a newish mom, I decided I needed to find something to occupy my “free” time. Something that would offer some mindful relaxation and an artistic outlet so lo and behold I decided to take up watercolor painting.
Early on, during the novelness of my newfound hobby, it was instantaneously fun and provided immediate gratification getting to watch the watercolor paint swirl around on the paper and practicing from exercises from one of my first art instruction books (that would easily grow in to a ridiculous collection of books to date : /). The freedom of just starting to explore a new medium and leaning heavily on my initial intuitiveness made it feel like I would become a master painter in no time at all! I quickly became aware that this would not necessarily be the case.
As I frequently scrolled on social media, looking to source inspiration and style of art that I would hope to emulate, this would begin my course down a long road of awareness that I had much to learn and so that became my new focus…research, read, analyze, YouTube after YouTube tutorials, and on and on. In hindsight, I really wish that I would have taken a step back and really focused on what my initial intent for starting was instead of getting caught up in trying to become a master artist before I even really got started.
Today, I look back on my first watercolor creations and miss the freeness that I felt while making them because I didn’t know what I didn’t know yet and I just went with it! I wish that I had narrowed my focus on learning and just spent more time actually playing with and using the paint so that I could really get to know the physical and experimental nature of the medium.
When I think about what were some my initial barriers, here are some tips for any new painters that may be looking to start a new hobby such as painting:
1. Don’t get stuck on buying every paint brush, tool, and every artist grade level of medium too soon!
This is tricky because there are some exceptions to this. For watercolor painting, quality paper is essential! When I first started, I would get so frustrated when my paints wouldn’t blend and flow the way they did in the tutorials I was trying to replicate and I quickly realized that unfortunately, in order to fully grasp what watercolor can do and how it really behaves at its best, 100% cotton paper is truly needed. This is absolutely a double edged sword though as this partially held me back from practicing because I hated “wasting” pricey paper on stuff that was ultimately not going to yield a masterpiece but really who was I kidding?!?! I should not have expected to be able to create anything at that level so early on in my art journey.
My go to paper is Arches but honestly when I am practicing or mapping out a piece, especially while trying to develop a color palette, etc., I use the cheapest 100% cotton paper I can find and save the good stuff for work that has more of a pre-developed plan to it.
2. Stick with a limited color palette.
When you first get started and you’re watching so many tutorials, it is easy to get caught up in trying to procure all of the materials that artist is using, including the brushes and colors they are using. It is best, and will yield faster progress in skill development, if you stick to a simple limited primary color palette (i.e., red, yellow, blue). Just google “limited color palette” and go with one that results in the look/style you are going for. This is the best way to learn how to mix colors and will make it easier when you do decide to expand your color palette at a more intermediate level. Typically, the next level of color palette artists usually expand to is called a split primary color palette which includes a warm and cool version of each primary color and therefore offers a wider range of colors from brighter colors (higher chroma) to more subdued muted colors.
3. …and finally, take the time to learn the fundamentals (i.e., color theory, the importance of color value, and composition.
Seriously! When I first started learning, anytime a tutorial would start to focus on these foundational elements, I was quick to dismiss them and just figured if I bought the colors they were using and the brushes they were using, I would get the same results and everything else would just fall in to place.
Ultimately, not setting yourself up with a foundational base knowledge about these fundamentals will actually slow your skill acquisition progress way down.
The rest is just practice, practice, practice… and then some more practice! If you start to get frustrated just remember that it is about the process and not just the end result. There is something to be gained from the physical practice and exploration of your art mediums that you can only develop by actually doing the thing and not just reading about it, researching it, watching tutorials about it, etc. Trust me, I would be so much further along in my skill set, if I had realized all of the above sooner.
Ultimately, I am still happy with where I am at in my art journey and truly I don’t think an artist ever feels like they are at the end of learning and mastering their craft! In fact, I started out in watercolors but have moved towards oils and soft pastels so there is always so much more to learn…
… but that’s what makes it worth doing!