The Single Hardest Thing About Watercolor (and life)

Learning the medium of watercolor isn't hard, what is hard about it is not inherently technical nor down to skill. In this video I explore the aspect of watercolor (and life) thats most difficult to grasp.
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[@arcuda2001]

this was wonderful advice , Antonio .. I think with watercolor , more than any other medium, there is a certain " letting go of control" that happens ( or should happen ), in order to truly enjoy working with the medium .. By it's very nature , it has a mind of its' own.. we can learn how to control many things with watercolor, but I truly feel the total joy comes when we can patiently also
let it do its' own thing, and watch the magic happen.. When I want to have more "control ", I work with gouache , or acryl gouache .. But when I work with watercolors , I've learned, through the years , to be more patient, and to give up
the control and just relish the magic that only watercolors can give .. Norakag, here ... thanks again for all your heartfelt videos and thoughts , Antonio ❤

[@antoniocabrero]

Thanks Norakag, Im glad you found it useful! Yes we must let the watercolor do what it does best :D

[@wistad]

Sound wisdom! Thanks for telling it like it really is.

[@antoniocabrero]

Thank you, im glad it was helpful :)

[@boyohazard]

Right. Circumstances don't matter, only state of being matters. It's not "I'll be happy when..." it's "I'll be happy then...". More wise words Antonio, thank you for sharing

[@antoniocabrero]

Thanks Marc! Im glad you enjoye it!

[@markdonovan1540]

The only pie I'm interested in, is Dutch apple pie 😂😂
Joking apart, your insights that you share are very interesting. I'm sure these experiences are what many of us share in common.
From listening to some established watercolour artists, it seems they have different approaches to what helped them improve. Some were driven by competitions, others by selling their art etc. However, for most of us who are perhaps only just doing it for a more hobby, then it's probably more about enjoying painting, having fun doing it, being able to express oneself creatively and ultimately the pure joy of starting with a blank piece of paper, a couple of brushes, some watercolour paints and water to create an image with our own hands.
For me, being a more technical/engineering minded person, to paint uses a completely different part of the brain (so I'm told). It seems like the "process" is as much mental and emotional as it is technical. I guess, many aspects come into play, depending on how a person uses the media and what their reason might be for painting in the first place.
I found that when I tried to study and follow art "guidelines", be they from books or videos or classes, it definitely helps for developing painting skills. However, the actual creative process is something that comes from within a person, we just need to be patient and tease it out- or sometimes, do something wildly different and see what happens! The only way is to keep painting as long as we are still loving it and are able to do it. After that, who knows where it might lead to.

[@antoniocabrero]

Never tried Dutch pie haha!
Very well put Mark! I also think that it depends on the degree of commitment to the medium or art form. But yes most of us are just doing it for enjoyment and so the creative process will vary significantly!