Small is the Word
My first watercolor painting was a stuffed pig
I’m going to start small.
Small seems like a good strategy since I’ve never written about making art or created a newsletter and now I’m attempting both.
So here’s my first real watercolor. I painted it in 2023, around the time the World Health Organization declared the pandemic was over. (My art journey is inextricably linked to the pandemic years, as I suspect is true for many others.)
It’s one of my dog’s stuffed toys (“Pigwee”) flopped over on the floor.
Pigwee’s portrait may not look like much, but it’s the result of concentrated, albeit confused, effort. I quickly learned there was a vast difference between knowing what shadows were and knowing how to shade. Adding hatched lines as a last resort didn’t change that fact.
What I remember the most, though, isn’t the process of painting Pigwee. It’s his photoshoot.
If I scroll through my old photos, sooner or later I end up in a section that’s just Pigwee in an endless number of poses. At the time, I simply believed I was trying to take a good reference. But the sheer number of photos tells me something else.
I was stalling.
I was afraid that I was about to make it obvious that, yes, I was very bad at painting Pigwee, and most likely everything else. Pigwee would become a visible measure of just how far away I was from being great at painting.
It’s this nervousness that made me keep brushing dog hairs off Pigwee as if it were school picture day… as if it would make any difference to his well-chewed appearance at all.
But in the months since, the distance between where I am now and “great” has become less of a concern. Because the more I paint, the more I realize that’s all I need to do.
I’m better than I was, but not as good as I’d like. And I’ve come to understand this is where I always hope to be.
MATERIALS
Daniel Smith watercolors, exact colors unknown but possibly Neutral Tint and Quinacridone Rose
Copic Multiliner, black
Baohong Academy 100% cotton paper, hot press
PS. If you look closely at Pigwee’s photo… you’ll see I still managed to miss some dog hairs.
I’m going to (metaphorically) take pigwee with me on my wondering wanderings today, there is a spark of something in my mind that I want to explore, something to do with beginnings, journeys, destinations and endings. I shall leave out ruminating about endings, that’s for another day. Today you have sparked thoughts about beginnings and journeys. Your painting is lovely, perfectly imperfect, the beginning of a children’s story perhaps, and as all adults know, children’s stories are the very best! I found you via the fox, long live art on Substack :)
Notes do work after all! I don’t tend to read the Notes but SubStack opens at that page and usually I just click through to my inbox, but that fox was so beautiful, and the comment attached was so daft! that I had to come and check you out. You’re just as inspiring as all the other artists I follow on here. I love relaxed art. I’m sketch and wash myself, so this little stuffie is right down my alley. A pleasure to ‘meet’ you.