What I am learning from watercolor--metaphor and more

Anasazi sky--watercolor

• You can't control everything
• Being uptight negates creativity, art
• Light is much better than dark
• Diagonals command attention
• Paintings is problem solving and solving those problems takes your mind off your other problems
• All paintings are illusions--quiit worrying about the details and go for the illusion
• That does not mean a lack of planning...planning composition and values give  the freedom to be creative
• don't use black
• Too much darkness kills
• matting and framing matters
  
• Contrast, of light and dark, of colors, gives the most impact in painting and in life and in writing
• paint and write what you know...what you know deep inside
• a painting is not a photograph
• You get to mess with reaility
• Less is more
• Change colors often
• Start over
• But in starting over, don't try to duplicate, just correct mistakes
• Don't fiddle
• Have fun