I went camping with a couple good friends last weekend and decided to bring my watercolors out as an experiment. I first taught myself to paint with watercolors sometime back when I was in high school. It was inexpensive and I had some watercolors at my disposal. And, my mom and grandfather were both watercolor painters, so it's in the blood. In about 2003, I started painting with acrylics and never thought I would go back.
"Watercolors are hard!" I told myself, "You don't have that skill," I could hear my inner voice telling me. I put the paints away and concentrated on other mediums. But I pulled out the watercolors again last weekend because they would be easier to clean while out camping. I bought myself a new pad of watercolor paper and brought it all out on the camping trip. I painted with the river water. It felt like rediscovering an old friend. I was comforted by the sound of the river, and the paints spread more easily than I remembered. There is still a lot to learn, but I like the way that these paints feel. I'll be doing more of this soon.
