Play and follow your imagination when painting and it takes off the pressure when creating.

Watercolour by Ada Fagan:

Limiting one’s talent:

When beginner artists try painting things perfectly, fiddling with details to get things just right.

That inhibits their creative powers!

The trick is to start your day’s painting, by not starting straight away on your project painting first.

Instead first loosen up your painting skills by playing the fool with your brush on a piece of cheap watercolour paper.

Play with your brush. Have fun doing your thing. It doesn’t matter if your colours and tones are right or not.
Slash and dash your brush on the cheap paper, while creating larger shapes of the composition.
And then for fun add a dot or too here and there, for highlights and a little detail.

The painting may not turn out to be anything worth selling, but the exercise loosens you wrist and mind.

And the main point is to give you confidence and allow your imagination to flow.

I worked on wet paper to create soft images.
And as the paper and painting was drying, I started adding detail and darker brushstrokes.

Notice how little detail there is. So you don’t need much to make the painting come together.

The contrast of tones gave the image recognition, dimension and humph.

....Has anyone noticed the eagle flying past the trees?