I did say a couple of days ago when I completed the 30x30 direct watercolour challenge that I would get my thoughts down about the whole thing.
I think the experience this year has changed my opinion
about painting in general and about watercolour in particular. I think I’ve
always had a competitive streak. That’s not always a bad thing, but it’s not
always a good thing. For example, my competitive streak in quizzing led to me
developing myself as a quizzer to the point where I could be runner up in BBC’s
Only Connect and Radio 4‘s Brain of Britain, and the winner of BBC’s Mastermind
and also the Brain of Mensa. On the other hand it has also made me take my
local pub quiz in the rugby club far too seriously, and frankly, act like a
prick on occasions.
Now, Ive always said, since taking up Art several years
ago, that this is going to be one area of my life where I’m not going to be
competitive about it. And to an extent that’s true. Sadly the Afan Nedd Artist’s
group has wound up, being essentially another victim of Covid. However when it
was happening, I never looked at the other members’ work thinking – mine’s
better than yours, mine’s worse than yous, etc. etc. When I look at the work of
amazing artists – and yes, we did have a couple in the Afan Nedd group – I’m
never jealous, and always feel grateful to know people with such skill and
talent.
But I’m kidding myself if I think I’m not at all competitive
with Art. Because I’m competitive all right, but competitive with myself. I
want to improve. I want to beat the best that I’ve done up to now. When it
comes to drawing with ink or pencil. I know I’m competent. I have a certain amount
of skill – which is hardly surprising since I’ve been drawing for pretty much
as long as I can remember. I know that for the most part, if I set out to draw
something then the end result is going to be pretty much what I planned. Yes,
sometimes it will be a little better, and sometimes a little worse, but I’ve
reached a level that usually makes me happy.
It isn’t like that with painting. I don’t have any great
instinctive understanding about colour. I’m not colour-blind in any medical
sense, but I’m working in the dark about how to use them effectively. And it’s
something I’d really like to get better at. It’s something I feel competitive
about. After all, being useless with colour – alright, a bit harsh – struggling
with colour is a bit of a drawback for a painter.
So when I do something like the 30x30 challenge, I’m really looking
for evidence to answer the question – am I actually getting any better at this?
And with the benefit of a few days away from the paintbox to think about it. I’ve
come back to this year’ paintings with a fresh pair of eyes and I think in all
honesty I can say that yes, it looks like it.
Trying to understand why, I think it is partly because in most of the pictures I’ve tried to paint a whole page. Compare the horse racing scenes from 2018, and from this year and you’ll see what I mean.
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| Horse Racing 2018 |
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| Horse racing 2022 |
I also think
that I’ve been a lot more confident drawing with a brush. If you compare
similar subjects from 2021 and from this year I think it’s noticeable –
particularly if you compare this year’s Swansea tram paintings with last year’s.
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| Mumbles Tram 2021 |
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| Mumbles Tram 2022 |
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| 2022 Old Scottish fisherman - all of the colour choices were mine |
I think I ought to keep going with the watercolour. It’s
been great fun this year, and I don’t think I should leave it again for another
11 months.
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