Last day of class for Basic Watercolour. The more I moved through the lesson pieces which were really hard for me, I noticed they pushed me to another level of skill.

We were to submit 2 out of 3 that we did. I picked the peaches and this watermelon. The cupcakes felt stiff and unnatural so I did not pick it. Everyone else picked the watermelon. I had wanted to ask the teacher why mine looked cartoony. I didn’t know how to describe cartoony to the teacher so I didn’t. He had mentioned a number of times that art is not a facsimile of the scene or the picture but I can’t get it. He said the form is more important than the texture and I also couldn’t get it. I frankly still don’t get what watercolour art is – he said botanical art is mostly drawing and illustration.

I start the intermediate class next week. I am starting to see that he is right – I should take a break in between classes. for one I can have a rest. A second reason is that I can do some of those that I enjoy.

I did a drawing together with Scott Maier. As the drawing emerges, he explains the artistic decisions he takes and untangles my confusion about the level of detail needed, what to bring forward, what to push back. That makes a big difference in understanding what I am trying to do in watercolour. He untangled my confusion about detail and texture and it is this – our brain naturally seeks patterns. We only need to create suggestions and allow our brain to make the connection. This suggestion is form craved out by light and shadows. By squinting and removing these details, we see a simplified version of what we are trying to paint and makes the job easier.