November 28, 2024
How to be more creative in watercolor painting
To be more creative in watercolor, stop trusting the process more than you trust yourself. When fear or doubt shows up before you paint, close your eyes and ask yourself: "What do I really want to experience in this painting?" Listening to that desire gives you the fire to take your brushes, transcend the fear of failing and stay in the flow.
Why does following a method block your creativity?
What we often do is stick to a plan, a framework, a methodology. We do this because we trust the process more than we trust ourselves, and this is the issue.
At some point, when you decide to follow a path that someone else has already written, you lose yourself. Sometimes creating your art has nothing to do with the process. It has nothing to do with the 3-step blueprint for creating your own paintings, or for creating anything.
Consider this kind of thinking: "This is the building, this is how you paint the building, okay, we are going to paint the building." It is completely soulless. It doesn't take into account what you want, what you deeply desire at that moment.
What happens when fear shows up in front of the painting?
One morning I wanted to paint something. The moment I sat down in my painting studio, I could feel all the fears rising. I had thoughts like:
- "Maybe I don't want to do that."
- "Maybe I'm going to fail."
- "I don't know, maybe I'll do that later."
The moment I start thinking like that, I lose my creativity.
How do you find what you really want to paint?
The solution I found is to tap into what you want, into what you would like to experience the moment you decide to paint or create your art.
Here is what I did that morning in my studio:
- I had a photo from one of my students: an urban scene in a town.
- I closed my eyes.
- I asked myself: "Okay, what do you actually want to do? Do you really want to follow the process you have for painting buildings?"
- I saw what I wanted: a blurry black background. Not very crafted, very structured buildings. Something loose.
Just thinking about that, I could feel the desire to paint come back: "Oh yeah, I want to do this blurry background." And this became exactly my intention.
This desire can be fleeting. It may disappear in 10 seconds. That is why you need to feel it, close your eyes and ask yourself what you really want right at that moment.
Why does listening to your desire help you overcome the fear of failing?
That intention gave me the fire to take my brushes, to overcome, to transcend my fear of failing, and then to paint. I was so happy to discover that.
This is one of the secrets of creativity. It may sound like very simple advice, almost dumb advice. But at the moment you feel fear, or doubt that you are going to make it, listen to what you want to experience during that painting, or during any creative process.
This is crucial to stay in the flow. After the painting, I was so happy. There are some flaws in it, but I'm so happy that I listened to myself.
Can you apply this beyond painting?
After painting, I decided to go outside in the forest, and I realized it was snowing. I was thinking about what had just happened in the studio, and I asked myself the same question: "Okay, what do I want to do now?" The answer was to make a video about creativity.
What you want, what you deeply desire, is something that no robot and no artificial intelligence can reproduce. It is powerful to realize that you have the power in your life to create what you want, as long as you listen to yourself: to your desires, your wants and your needs, instead of your doubts and your fears.
FAQ
Is it wrong to follow a watercolor method?
The problem is not the method itself but trusting it more than you trust yourself. A process that ignores what you want in the moment leads to soulless paintings.
How long does the desire to paint something last?
It can be very short: the desire you feel at a given moment may disappear in 10 seconds. That is why you should notice it and act on it right away.
Does the painting have to be perfect for this to work?
No. My painting had some flaws, but I was still happy because I had listened to myself instead of my fear of failing.
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Discover The Loose Watercolor System