Talent – don’t bother about whether or not you have it. Just assume you do and then forget about it.
Richard Schimd
Why Watercolour?
I don’t think I ever sat down and compared different mediums before settling on watercolour. Somehow I just got the idea in my head that I’d like to try it and once I started I found I really enjoyed it. I had done some pen sketching before (but really, very little), and watercolour seemed like a great complement to that.
Things that make watercolour painting great:
- Cheap material costs – okay, so it costs more than a pencil and paper. But you only need a few simple supplies to get going.
- Water does it’s own thing – This is the double edged sword of watercolour painting. It generates a lot of the work for you, but you have to be willing to let go of some control. As a beginner you can achieve some really beautiful effects with minimal effort by just letting the water move the pigment about on the page.
- Portability – You can take a small sketchbook and palette with you and paint anywhere.
- Speed – Because watercolour “does it’s own thing”, it’s possible to create paintings very quickly. A quick sketch could take 5-20 minutes. A full painting 40 – 80 minutes.
