I know many creatives and many of them never finish a work. The same work is done and re-done and done again because it’s never right. There’s always something out of place, a comma, an invisible brush mark, a chord that seems not right – not perfect = imperfect! We do it again and hope it will be better next time.

And so now, this work gets put aside in the hope (read dread) the next one will be better.

What people don’t realise is, there’s no such thing as mistakes. What happens is, we get a different result from what we expect, we don’t know what to do with it.

This is often the result with watercolour, we have a vision and an eye on our goal – but something happens or we return from a cup of tea to find our painting looks different from just 10 minutes ago.

We’ve become so results driven we’re forgotten to enjoy the process, play to our medium’s strengths and just have fun playing with the paint. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying don’t attempt specific subjects, what I’m saying is have fun along the way. Explore your paint and ask yourself “What would happen if …?” or tell yourself “I’m just going to have a play with this and see what happens!” - my favourite way to start new work! It banishes fears and performance anxiety and sets up an easier happy attitude!!

happy painting dear friends!!
​Amanda

One of the reasons I love watercolour painting is the speed at which I can achieve a painting. If and when I'm clever, I can have a painting today! It took me a long time to get to this point - I've been painting watercolour close to 30 years - it's not an overnight process!!

A huge obstacle for watercolour newbies is allowing the watercolour to have it's way. There's a saying "before I paint, I'm in control, once I put that brush down the watercolour takes over". The secret is, until you get a really good feel for water balance in your brushes, paint and paper, you need to let go and stop trying to control the uncontrollable. Watercolour, as it should be painted, will be difficult for you.

Embrace "mistakes" and "accidents", runs and bleeds and allow the painting to speak to you and tell you what it wants. 
Have another read of my webpage "About Me" and note the last sentence - "I love watching paint dry!"

Stop fiddling and controlling and start watching what the paint does and note that where the water goes the paint will follow. You'll start to notice the really cool effects and passages - watercolours will paint themselves if we let them and they'll certainly ​do it much better than we can!

When we're painting watercolour it's time to stop and smell the roses! 

The scary secret is, you might not get the results you wanted or expected and you certainly might not know what to do next - that's the shock of it!! Use your artist's sense of composition, value structure and design to decide next steps - does it need more darks or lights? are the shapes correct? is it balanced and unified, etc etc.

Make a cuppa and watch the paint dry!!

ciao i miei belli amici!!
​Amanda

Have you ever struggled to get into just the right spot when you're painting in a group?

Everyone's elbowing each other trying to get the best possie!! 

You can either get into the jostle (yuck!) or get there early. Both, to me, are pointless because you never know what the model is going to do and I hate being stuck in a crowd.

My solution is, no matter what's in front of you, the artist has to learn how to make a silk purse out of the sow's ear: use your creative brain to come up with a fine composition/design/idea and make it work (This is why I'm really good at painting feet)!! Test yourself, push your skills and make yourself come up with the goods. If permitted, dive in close at some point and get some photos so you have reference material for when you get back to your studio.

My best strategy for painting en plein air is to grab a cushion, find some shade, get comfy and then look around to find my subject. A viewfinder is a handy gadget to avoid overwhelm and pin down a great composition. When I'm done with that view, i turn 5°, make sure I'm still in the shade, get comfy and paint - step and repeat!! Very sensible when you think of how much painting time can be wasted wandering around looking for the perfect subject - it's right there in front of you!

have fun!!
Amanda
www.amandabrett.net



edited from my original post 081214

Many of my students and fellow painters ask me "how did I get from this to that?"

When I’m out painting en plein air (or in my studio), once I have my idea and have taken a “mental snapshot”, I rarely refer back to the scene. I focus more on what my painting needs rather than creating a replica of a scene.

The same for studio painting, especially from photographs (and when on location); the scene and your photo are merely your inspiration - your idea must come first.

​The same for studio painting, especially from photographs (and when on location); the scene and your photo are merely your inspiration - your idea must come first. 

Faithfully producing a scene, en plein air or from photos suggests the painter has to find the perfect scene. Yes there are plenty of perfect scenes but can you find them when you want them? probably not - jolly annoying.

The serious painter has to make do with what is in front of them - we have to make a silk purse from a sow's ear. 

The point of this blog post is to remind ourselves to be not so precious about painting every little detail, every little nuance - paint your idea, turn away from your subject - stop looking and just paint - enjoy the process of painting the flower or the picket fence - focus on your painting!! if you have a photograph, turn it over, paint your painting and use your artist's license!!

My painting Bait & Ice (Thames NZ) has won many awards and is not very much like the scene itself. Comments from collector's all say "this is just how I remember it!"

ciao cari pittori!!