The best thing you can do for your painting is to let it rest...

Hey Reader
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Here’s something I’ve learned about watercolour…Sometimes the best thing you can do for your painting is leave it alone.
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​Put the brush down and walk away…Stop fiddling
Go and make a cup of tea.
Do literally anything other than add just one more bit.
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Because there comes a point where you’re no longer improving the painting.
You’re just… interfering.
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​Honestly...I’ve done this SO many times.​
​“Hmmmm. It needs a little more here.”
​So you add it.
​“Maybe a bit more colour there.”
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​And before you know it, the lovely loose, fresh painting you had has become a slightly overworked version of itself. The spontaneity goes.
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​So how do you know when to walk away?
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​For me, it’s when I realise I’m fiddling rather than painting.
​When I’m making tiny marks without really knowing why. Or when I’m looking at the same area over and over thinking, “Something’s not right…”
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​That’s usually my cue to stop and generally I just leave it overnight.
Because something lovely happens when you see a painting the next day.
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​You get that little burst of joy. Oh! I actually really like that bit…
​And the funny thing is, nothing has changed.
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​You have.
​You’ve given your eyes and your brain some distance from it.
Sometimes you’ll come back and realise it needs a little more work.
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Great.
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Now you can see what it actually needs. And sometimes you’ll realise…
​It was finished all along.
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​I think this is one of the reasons having a regular painting practice is so helpful. ​
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You don’t have to squeeze everything out of one painting.
You can paint, stop, leave it, come back…and then paint something else.
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That pull to come back to painting is sooooo important…It’s the true reason I am opening the The Joyful Watercolour Collective at the end of September.
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More on that very soon.
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Everyone falls off the painting wagon sometimes…I've fallen off more times than I could shake a brush at!!
...and the pull to pick up a brush and restart is the key…
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So, next time you’re painting, as soon as you think “Hmmmm… should I add a little more?”
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​Put the brush down.Walk away.
Sometimes less really is more.
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​Til next time,
Sue 🎨💛​
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P.S. On Sept 27th in collaboration with Bridgend Arts at Carnegie House. I'm also running a few taster sessions to try my 'Explosive Flower' technique. If you've been along to any of my workshops you know the joy in this simple painting exercise...​
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Check out the hourly sessions here: Taster Sessions Available to book >​

"A painting is never finished - it simply stops in interesting places." Paul Gardner