It always looks easy on YouTube or Instagram. An experienced artist demonstrates painting a leaf or a flower or a fruit. It seems effortless, as she builds up the painting from a pale outline, to an object with substance and depth.

The key word, of course, is ‘experienced’. I’m not, but I know that there are things that I can do better now than I could a year ago. And that the more one does something, the better one can become at it.

I am determined to become better at watercolours. It’ll take time.

I can do time. Although I can be impetuous, impatient and impulsive at times, if I really want something, I can be willing to take my time to achieve it. Sometimes the more time and effort one puts in, the more satisfying the achievement becomes.

Well, that’s a bit deep. All I want to do in this case is get a bit better at watercolours.

Here’s the start point. Lavender, in watercolour, flat and one-dimensional …

And in gouache, with a bit more depth and expression (ignore the stem and leaves, which are rubbish) …

So, my objective is to be able to achieve in watercolour something of the depth and substance I manage to achieve in gouache. (Although, to be honest, as anybody reading this blog will already know, I love painting with gouache. I’ll address the expressive nature of gouache in another post in due course.)