The trials and tribulations of my painting life....or a fun look at being a watercolour painter

The trials and tribulations of my painting life....or a fun look at being a watercolour painter

I often talk about  and truly believe I am so very lucky to live the life I do ....but not everything always goes according to plan. Here is a lighthearted look at some of the many things that can go wrong...

1, Not cleaning my brushes properly!!!! I have been know to not always clean my brushes as well as I should . So when I am' in the zone' I pick up a brush quickly and use it without checking , thus ending up with an orange streak across white snow !! Or some other similar disaster , out comes the spray bottle.

 

2. This is a similar mistake to number one not rinsing my brushes properly between colours, and so when I am after a lovely yellow ochre I find a muddy ochrey blue mess on my stag or hare, out comes the spray bottle again!!!

 

3. The cat! I love my cat he keeps me company as I paint ,but he has been known to walk straight in from the garden and walk straight across my work, muddy paw prints are almost impossible to remove. He also likes to sit on paintings, overturn water pots  as well as bring in live mice !!

 

 

 

4.Tea!! I also love tea, but tea and painting do not mix, I have been known to dip my brushes in my tea instead of the water, spill my tea on a painting, leave my tea to go cold because I am concentrating too much . But I need my several cups of Yorkshire tea everyday so I shall have to lean to be more careful.

 

 

5. Children....I also love my children and they are older now so it should be fine, but once they are home from school, homework, pick ups , questions as to where the biscuits are all need to be seen to ....my painting really needs to be done by 3.30.

 

 

6. Light this is more of a problem in the winter as soon as the natural light starts to go I find watercolour painting very tricky , but if you refer to my earlier point I have to be done by 3.30 anyway. 

 

7. Age !!! We all have this to contend with, I never needed glasses until about 3 years ago, now I simply cannot paint without them, I have a slightly stronger prescription than I need so I can see the finer detail. I so need a good chair that supports my back and the desk needs to be at the correct height.

 

 

8.Finally to be a good painter, to be able to create I need time away from the studio, a good long walk in the countryside, time when I put my brushes down and relax. Anyone who paints will know how tired you can feel when you finish it is because you have spent hours concentrating, obviously I am not as tired as a coal miner or a labourer but mentally it can be exhausting.

 

I love to paint in watercolour, I love the way it does it's own thing and I simply guide it around the paper, but I have my bad days, my days when everything ends up in the bin!!But it doesn't last long and time in my lovely Devon countryside, time with my friends and family ,and the support from all of you I know I will be back painting in the morning x

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1 comment

I love your work Rachel! I also enjoy and commiserate entirely with your blog…I’m a post retirement watercolor artist and don’t know how I would get on without it! I so enjoy your comments on frequent mistakes – I duplicate all of them (especially the tea challenge) and instead of a beloved kitty keeping company and causing chaos. .I have 3 large beloved dogs! We are blessed…and your work is inspirational.

Mary belecz

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