Watercolour Painting Delight

flowers in a black frame

 About a year ago I was faced with a problem. My children and grandchildren were showing off their prowess in drawing and painting on a WhatsApp group where all our family members were connected. All I could put up on the group were photographs that I had taken which I thought were showing off that I was a bit creative.

But they kept on putting up very nice paintings and drawings and I had nothing to show. When I was at school I used to draw a lot but that was about sixty years ago. Since then I had no reason to practice my art or drawing skills. At that time I had tried painting with watercolour paints but found that medium to be too much of a challenge so I stopped trying to paint.

Sometimes I came across senior people who were producing these wonderful paintings on Facebook and admired them. So, last year I decided to give it a go again. What did I have to loose? I mean, if I at least tried properly, maybe I could paint something that would interest my family. Believe me, I was not going to be happy or proud of a bad painting so I tried very hard to find a way to succeed.

Little did I know how challenging watercolour painting was going to be. I looked for something children could paint and looked and searched which took me quite a long time. No-one knew of my struggles and I had nothing to show on our group.

watercolour painting of a woman from behind

One of my first attempts at painting was to look for something simple using one or two colours. The picture above was the one I tried. Believe me, I was very nervous and unsure but somehow I created it.
Yes, I created it, not painted it. I say that because my painting skills were zero. Yes, I did use a paintbrush and paint but was struggling quite a lot with the painting. How I managed to actually paint it I don't know.

From there I just kept on trying because I really wanted to show my children and grandchildren that I could do something. I also chose interesting projects that were colourful that people would really like to look at. Even if it meant that the paintings would challenge me beyond my capabilities. The results even surprised me.

Sometimes I just want to paint because the exercise of being creative is calming and fulfilling for me. The reward is that I can put my paintings up in my living room or next to my computer and enjoy the fact that even I can paint and be creative. I enjoy that so much. Read more here.


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