When Water meets the Colour - it teaches me about life

Did you FEEL GOOD today? Yes, I did. I delivered my second speech today. It's how I met watercolour and why I love it so much.

When Water Meets Colour……...… you will understand life!

The reason why I love watercolour because it teaches me the wisdom of life.

I began with drawing when I was a kid. There was no Mr Google or Mr Youtube. I just drew my favourite cartoon characters by myself and borrowed some books for learning when I was older. After graduated from high school, I went to college to study Art and Design where I had formal training in painting and drawing. 

However, I hated watercolour because it is not a very forgiving medium. At that time, I didn’t paint watercolour much. After graduated I hade never touched it again until 2006. I started plein air painting / sketching and joined Hong Kong Sketching Society. We went out once every 2 weeks. I bought a watercolour box for this to start with mainly because light-weight, easy to carry. Meeting wonderful members and sharing the knowledge and skills on plein air painting kept me going.

After a couple of years of painting watercolour, I started understand some tricks for doing it and these connect to our life. 

First is PLANNING: 

Watercolour is not a very forgiving medium. You can’t really make many mistakes, life is the same, you can’t make many mistakes or you regrets.

Set goal → Plan → execute → review → adjust →insist → finish

To achieve the goals in your life, you need to plan ahead. You need the courage to start and you need the patience to hold on what you are believing. It doesn’t look good in the before it’s done.

Second is TIMING

Timing is important, right time does the right thing. To achieve different effects in watercolour, the amount of water and colour, the timing are the essential elements. This is all about the combinations of these 3 things. We need to do right things at the right time.

Last but not the least is to KNOW WHEN TO STOP, LET GO

Since watercolour is not a very forgiving medium. Overdone is a common mistake in watercolour painting. You have to know when to stop and let go! I believe “let go” is a great lesson to learn in life.

Today, I am a member of art clubs and participate in art shows. Some of my work has been selected to show in different media, including Splash 15 and National Post website. I am running watercolour classes too. Recently I have started a cat project. All these things drive me for excellence and pursuit a more colourful life!