There’s a quiet pressure that often creeps unbidden into our creative lives. It’s the feeling that we must study before we’re “allowed” to enjoy what we’re doing. Watercolor painting, along with many other pleasurable activities, seems to carry too much of this weight. We think that once we’ve learned enough, then we can start to paint and it will bring all the joy we are seeking. But that moment never comes. Years might pass and still you don’t reach your own self-imposed standard. You rip up more paintings than you ever consider framing.
This is deeply concerning and very sad. That’s why, in an effort to overcome this, I take a different approach. I invite you to simply play. The subject of this video is a collection of colourful, decorated leaves, but the leaves are just a convenient starting point. A subject that simply can’t go wrong if you allow them to be a little whimsical. This kind of painting isn’t about getting it right. It’s about giving yourself permission.
One of the biggest barriers to joy in painting is the word should. We tell ourselves we should be better at this by now, that we should know how to control the water, and above all that our painting should look more like something else we’ve seen. The temptation to copy images we see online is irresistible nowadays. These negative thoughts don’t help us improve. They tighten the hand and cloud the mind, taking us far away from the desired calm, satisfaction, and quiet pleasure. When you sit down to paint something simple, like a leaf, there’s an opportunity to leave those thoughts behind. A leaf doesn’t need to be perfect. It can be wonky, oversized, lopsided, very dark or rather pale and it will still feel like a leaf. More than that, it becomes your leaf.
In this approach, colour leads the way, not technique. Choose colours you love and let them touch, blend, and move. Allow unexpected combinations. Let one colour drift into another without trying to stop it. This is where the magic often happens—not in control, but in allowing. When you stop trying to manage every edge, something shifts. You begin to notice how the paint behaves on its own. You become curious instead of critical, and that curiosity is far more valuable than precision.
Once your leaves are painted and dry, another layer of play begins. Adding simple embellishments such as dots, lines and tiny patterns in ink, paint or pencil, can transform even the most basic shapes into something lively and full of character. There is no right way to do this. You might add fine veins, little decorative marks, or completely abstract patterns. You might use a pen or a brush, whatever feels comfortable. What matters is the feeling of responding to what is already there. Instead of planning everything in advance, you are having a quiet conversation with your painting. You begin to wonder what it needs next, and that gentle back-and-forth is where joy often lives.
It may feel strange to hear this, but you truly don’t need skill to begin. Skill develops over time, naturally, as a by-product of doing, but it does not need to come first. If you’ve been coloring in adult coloring books for years, perhaps it’s time to take those skills to the freedom of watercolor painting. But what matters is your willingness to begin, a willingness to make something imperfect, and a willingness to let go of the outcome. From there, something gentle begins to grow. Not just skill, but confidence. Not just ability, but enjoyment.
We often measure success in painting by how something looks, but there is another way to measure it. If you felt calmer while painting, if you lost track of time even briefly, if something about the process made you smile, then the painting has already succeeded, regardless of how it appears on the page.
If you have been feeling stuck, or frustrated, or quietly disappointed with your progress, I would like to invite you to try something different. Set aside the idea of improving for a while. Pick up your paints, choose a few colours you love, and paint a simple leaf, then another. Let them be messy and bright, bold and full of personality. When they are dry, come back and play with them. Add marks, add to their personality, and let them become something more than you expected. Not because you are trying to get better, but because you are allowing yourself to enjoy the process. That is where the real shift happens, and it is available to you exactly as you are.