Beating perfectionism with watercolour
After many years of being controlled by self-criticism and perfectionism, I'm now trying to use sketching and watercolour to overcome it.
It's painful seeing terrible artwork made by my own hands. But in the past couple of weeks I've learned to let go of mistakes and move onto the next stroke. I remind myself that there is no right or wrong with art, even if my brain makes me think there is. I think the reason is because I'm following Youtube tutorials, and my work doesn't look like the one on screen.
The important thing is, my brain is seeing that it's not the end of the world when I've done a bad job. There are more opportunities. I can paint something smaller, like florals, to ease the pain. For someone who often quits when something isn't going the way I imagined, this is real progress. I wish I had done this sooner.
Here are some sketches I've done so far. Don't judge me too harshly, I'm still a beginner at this point.
This week's efforts. Not the best, but I'm trying.
My favourite one so far. I can actually recognise that it's a wolf.
I followed tutorials from these Youtubers: @Nianiani @LetsMakeArt
Now what I need to work on is time management, because I take ages even at the sketching stage. I constantly rub out and redraw the tiniest details and before I know it, hours have passed. I'll try using timers and see how I go.