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When the Watercolor Ends Up in the Shower

Sometimes I paint the same subject several times. I’m not satisfied. It didn’t turn out the way I wanted. Not the way I had imagined.
And sometimes it goes so badly that I get really angry. Angry at myself, at the painting, at everything. Then I just want to get rid of it. I don’t want to see it anymore. It’s as if I want to wash away the failure – wash away the part of me that created such a miserable painting.
So I take the watercolor and go into the bathroom.
Turn on the shower.
Let it all run off.
All the badness must go.
I don’t exactly know where this behavior comes from, but in a strange way, it has helped me grow. It has brought me to where I am today: a watercolor painter with stubbornness as my superpower.
Now, it may sound as if these paintings are complete disasters – but they really aren’t. Sometimes my wife stops me. She tells me to put the painting aside for a week and look at it with fresh eyes. And it works every time.
When my expectations fade, it turns out the painting isn’t so bad after all. Sometimes it’s even quite good. It’s remarkable how a watercolor can look awful at first, only to feel alive and successful a week later.
My advice to you:
Let others look at your work. Let them help when you’re choosing pieces for an exhibition. They see with different eyes – often the same eyes as the audience who will eventually encounter the work.
Sometimes it’s exactly that perspective that saves a painting from the shower. |