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True confession: I don't always practice what I preach. Shortly after writing my blog, Watercolor What-ifs (feel free to stop and read it now), I found myself trying to plan and control a painting from the start...exactly the opposite of what I had just written about! It's hard to change old habits!

Every year around Christmastime I get the urge to paint poinsettias. I love these bold and beautiful plants which can be enjoyed long after Christmas has passed. (I thought it best to skip buying poinsettias this year because of the kitties; they are just over a year old and love to chew on plants!) I decided to paint this gorgeous plant using my negative painting technique and reference photos taken at the grocery store.

With an image of what I wanted to accomplish in mind, I began with a textured underpainting to represent the surface of the leaves. The first layer did not turn out the way I imagined, so I set that painting aside and started over with a new sheet of watercolor paper. I chose a smooth first glaze for my second attempt. Much better, I thought. After applying a few layers on the second one (I'll refer to the second painting as "smooth" and the first one as "textured" for the purpose of clarity), I looked at "textured" and decided it wasn't such a bad start after all. I then got the idea to work back and forth, planning to use "textured" for practice and "smooth" for the real painting. As I worked, I discovered that I liked "textured" as much as, sometimes even more than, "smooth." I spent a number of weeks in a love/hate relationship with this project. I let the paintings sit for days on end without touching them. It was three weeks into December and I had all but given up on finishing my poinsettia paintings in time for the holiday (they just weren't turning out as I had planned!) The weekend before Christmas I attended a party where I ended up talking with a fellow artist. Somewhere in the conversation the subject of these frustrating paintings came up, and I was inspired to give them another chance. Sure enough, simply giving the paintings a little more thought to figure out what they needed (in this case, glazes for depth and a few more finishing touches), and carefully applying paint, I'm now happy with both paintings...similar yet different.

Pink Poinsettia (aka "smooth") has sold, though the buyer did have a difficult time choosing one over the other. Go figure. If I'd just continued on that first painting, it likely would have turned out just fine. Not the way I imagined it, but the way it was meant to be!

Poinsettia (aka "textured"), original 7.5 x 11 watercolor painting

In 2020, I'll keep working on letting watercolor have it's way, going with the flow, and enjoying the process. How about you?

"The secret of change is to focus all your energy NOT on fighting the old but on BUILDING the new.” – Socrates

Paint. Love. Repeat.