I challenged myself to watercolor paint for 30 days. Here’s how my journey unfolded.
I began my 30-day watercolor challenge at the conclusion of the school year, when I knew I would not return to full-time teaching in the coming year. Challenges like this can have many creative benefits. Here are a few reasons I began mine.
Creative Inspiration
Artist’s block occurs just like writer’s block. When we experience long gaps in creation, it can be difficult to get started again. This was pretty evident on day one. I had know idea where to begin or where I was headed. My solution was to tape a paper down in sections and simply experiment with different watercolor techniques. The techniques were certainly not new to me, but felt unfamiliar with the distance of time. My results weren’t exactly meaningful, but did remind me of the qualities I love about watercolor. It boosted my confidence to move forward with the watercolor challenge.
Skill Refinement
Just as the watercolor medium felt distant and unfamiliar, my skills needed some refreshing. Like I said, the work I did on day one wasn’t exactly thrilling. However, on day two my muscle memory kicked in and I began to get excited about the challenge.
On day two of my watercolor challenge, I sat at the breakfast table and painted one of my mother’s hens. There was a huge contrast from the piddly practice I had done the day before! I shifted my focus from play to observation. The style in which I was creating rapidly evolved. I tested different subjects, responded to feedback from family, friends and followers, and even took ideas from my preschool-aged daughter!
One of the biggest contributors was my husband. He shares an artistic vision, but we don’t usually see eye-to-eye. (It can be really frustrating, but also rewarding!) His feedback really impacted my journey across 30 days of watercolor painting. And as much as I loved my chicken on day two, I love the work from the last ten days even more so!
Artistic Focus
Life has been intense in the past five years. We have a young growing family, and I have been beyond overwhelmed with full-time teaching and all that it brings. Still, I have maintained a deep desire to grow my artistry. The watercolor challenge was a tool that allowed me to narrow my artistic focus.
My creative brain runs at a mile a minute. There are so many things I want to make and do, all day, every day. This really hinders progress, because it is difficult to focus on completing any one task. I gave myself the 30-day watercolor challenge knowing that, for 30 days, my main artistic focus was to spend time painting. Thankfully, I was able to succeed in doing just that!
All that and more!
Inspiration, focus and practice are the main reasons I began my watercolor challenge. Ultimately, it took about a week longer than planned to actually complete my 30 days of painting. Life happens, and there were days when I just had to take time for rest. Regardless of the timeline, the journey was so worth it! New experiences and opportunities arose, specifically out of this challenge and my decision to share it with my community of followers. Can you guess any of the exciting developments?
My watercolor challenge brought joy beyond myself.
If you haven’t figured it out already, family is where my heart is. So, I love when my little ones jump onboard the creative train with me! My studio is undergoing some renovation, so I spent my 30 days painting in our kitchen. That meant little eyes were watching most of my journey. Many times, they were creating alongside me! Our older daughter has always loved painting, but now asks to paint while she waits for anything (meals, activities, you name it). She has been painting up to four or five artworks per day, and I have to cut her off to set the table at mealtimes. The younger daughter has also discovered a joy for painting in the past few weeks and squeals excitedly when she spies paints on the table. Let’s just say, we have quite the gallery going.
I also gave some work away! A few days into the challenge my husband recommended I do a giveaway. This was a great idea! I really enjoyed perusing the photos submitted for entry and was excited to deliver the completed painting to our winner. I plan on doing more giveaways like this in the future. Be sure to follow my Instagram account if you hope to participate.
More Work
I am not disappointed about this one! My watercolor challenge has expanded my exposure and following. This brings more work, in the best ways! During my challenge you saw my work on at least one commission piece, a custom tattoo design featuring a trout.
Fortunately, the commissions haven’t stopped here! Multiple new commission requests and other projects have come in over the course of my watercolor challenge. This is really exciting and encouraging for me. (Spoiler alert: commission work is my favorite!) Fill out a connect form if you have inquiries about commissioning an artwork yourself.
New Product
One last thing I am really excited about is the new products I have been able to produce over the course of my watercolor challenge. Most of the original works I created are up for sale on Fine Art America, but you can also purchase products like stationary, jigsaw puzzles, and even yoga mats featuring these and other works! If online ordering is not your thing, you can also purchase original works at upcoming art fairs and events.
Thanks for following my creative journey! If you missed it, you can review all posts and time-lapse reels from the watercolor challenge on my Facebook page. Stay tuned for more to come!
