Can I still paint in watercolours?

My illustrations for ‘The Prince and the Dragon” Trilogy were done 8 months ago and I’m feeling very nervous about picking up my brushes again.

Would I still remember the creative touch that brings a painting alive?

Getting ready.

I had drawn up my composition from five reference photos taken many years ago on a wonderful sailing trip on Doubtful Sound in Fiordland (https://www.realnz.com). Rainy weather assured us of lots of waterfalls and misty gullies.

Then I transferred it to good 300g watercolour paper and secured it with sticky tape. I like lots of water so I need to stop it buckling.

Still feeling anxious I sorted all my tubes of paint into separate canisters of colour and chucked out the tubes that had gone solid – I was pleased to note that most of them had been nearly used up.

With nothing left to prepare… I decided I needed a cup of tea!!

All went well.

The habit and practice of years of painting kicked in.

Wet the paper and drop in colours, drop more water, after a while dab out with tissue. Add more colours. Lift some paint with a brush when the paper is still damp to add light areas to contrast with the dark.

Limit my palette to my favourite colours – Sap Green, Australian Leaf Green, Olive Green, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Ultramarine Blue, Warm Yellow, Sepia, Indigo.

Step back to assess the overall effect.

Let the painting start suggesting what needs doing next.

Back in the zone.