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Last night I taught my second watercolor class. I realized that in the beginning learning to paint is more about our mindset than anything else. Many of the notes on painting apply to our daily lives. I thought I would share these reflections with you too.

Notes on Learning Watercolor:

Mindset...

• There is no such thing as "good or bad" in making art, there is only making. It's not up to you to judge the outcome.
• This is about the process. It’s always about the process.
• You have to be a beginner before you can become intermediate or advanced, the beginner gets to have ah-ha moments that the more advanced artist doesn't get to have anymore.
• When I teach yoga I say "Wherever you are is exactly where you need to be". It's that way in making any kind of art too.
• Try not to rush through the process of being a beginner, a beginner’s mind has fresh insights.

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Watercolor:

• It’s hard to look at the blank page and know where to begin. Color mapping gives us a starting place. You start by laying down the lightest color in all of the areas you want to paint. Sharon Larson taught me color mapping and it has always served me well.
• In watercolor, we move from light to dark. You can always go darker but you can't go lighter after you've put down a dark color.
• When you start to paint (watercolor or otherwise) you learn to see differently. You start paying attention to color, shadows, and light in a whole new way. When you look around you, you'll start to wonder how to mix color to capture the right shade of your dog's eyes or you'll wonder what you would mix to capture the color of the sky on a blustery day.
• Shadows are everything. You can't have a beautiful painting (or a beautiful life) without shadows. The right shadow will make or break a painting. In life, we tend to think of shadows as negative but remember that, like in watercolor, as in life, you can't have light without shadows.
• Contrast is interesting.
• The colors black and white are rarely used in watercolor. If you want to create white you typically leave that spot on your paper blank. The paper creates the white area. Very little in nature is actually the color black or the color white. Often times what we first register in our mind’s eye as black is actually a shade of very very dark blue or very very dark red or green.

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Notes on Judging Your Work: I stand by the belief that there is no good or bad in making art, especially for beginners, but in our Western culture, we are taught to judge things as good or bad from an early age, so this will take a lot of unlearning. I can't keep you from judging your work or calling it good or bad. So keep these things in mind.

• It's just a piece of paper. In the end, you can always just rip it up, ball it up, and toss it in the recycling bin. Many things in life are that way too. We make mountains out of mole hills when in reality very little is actually all that serious.
• Watercolor pieces always look different the next day: Always sleep on it before you decide if a piece is done or not. You can always add more details later.
• If you don't like what you did, wait at least a month before you destroy it or throw it away. As you grow in skills you'll probably want to see your progress from the beginning to where you are now.
• If you take a picture of your piece it will help you see where you need to add details. I always get so excited to share a piece on social media after I finish. 99% of the time and as soon as I post it and look at the picture from the perspective of my social media post, I see details I need to add and I do add them. I consider this a part of my process now.
• Becoming "good" or proficient at anything takes time and an investment of practice. The idea that someone is born with a talent for making art is a complete myth. If you want to increase your proficiency in anything you must practice and if you have a love of the process you can increase your proficiency. I spent over a year doing a watercolor class twice a week, then I started painting almost every day. The more I paint the more I like my pieces. I've now clocked hundreds of hours painting.
• You don't have to show your work to anyone. Watercolor can just be for you. Not everything we do needs to be shared.

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Paint for the love of painting, for the love of creating, for the sake of creating. No one else is judging your work but you. Enjoy. Creativity is not just for fun it’s a stress relief, a practice, therapy, and can be a way to be in community with others.

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