This past week I have been exploring watercolour techniques and I found the whole process rather more educational than I first expected on numerous levels. I entered myself into the self proclaimed challenge with little thought or skill other than what I had picked up myself as opposed to being taught. I have been taught Photography and Graphic Design but not so much the other side of the spectrum.

I learnt the fundamentals of Graphic Design when everything was crisp and very linear. Within Graphic Design every element of a final piece has a meaning, a reason for it being there from the main focal point across to the most minute of details. To some extent this is the same with Photography; when you look through the viewfinder you are already anticipating on some level the end result. With watercolour art... and I say Art because this piece of work served no rhyme or reason other than to bring myself joy in its finished state, it was not going on sale and it was not a commission piece... the whole process seems more organic.

I have become so used to perfect shapes, I would wager 99% of my Photographic Fine Art holds some linear,crisp element to it. I am comforted with repetition, with knowing within [artistically speaking] a close proximity what the final outcome will look like. I thrive on routine both within my work as well as my everyday life, every hour has its designation with very little free time accommodated and until recently that worked hunky dory.

Recently I have wanted to blur the straight lines, go beyond the standard canvas and in all honesty it has been hard... HARD... work. I started my recent piece by sketching out the basic elements and found this relatively easy because this is my standard practice before I normally ink in over and add detail etc. However this time my lines were finer, less defined, a mere ghost on an A2 canvas. The canvas size alone was daunting enough, personally I have never worked on a tactile piece of this size in my life. I then started adding in watercolour, defining my subject and the piece in general and then something happened... in short terms I went wrong but this time there was no undo, no CTRL Z... before my eyes it had failed.

To begin with I was angry at myself and it took me a while to remember I haven't worked in watercolour on this scale, to this expected accuracy and to the dimensions of this canvas. I also had to remember that if I deemed the piece already ruined then working on it further, gaining experience, trying new techniques... I couldn't make it worse.

I ended up completing a mixed media piece of both watercolour and colouring pencil and although I know the piece is not the best ever work created I found myself looking at a step up, a rise in my work. I learnt to not be afraid of colour, nothing everything has to be wishy washy, to stand true to my convictions. Perseverance was another major skill learnt, thinking it was all over and carrying on anyway proved [in this instance] a good thing.

I have also spent time reading extensively into the art of watercolour as well as researching into artists which have appealed to me or who I feel I could learn from. I feel my eyes have opened somewhat and that there is much to learn from this art and I wish to undertake this challenge wholeheartedly.

My goal now is to do a 'major' piece a week... in the sense of major to my skill and expertise, each piece designed to go beyond its predecessor. I also plan on doing this for a year... 52 pieces of work which will [hopefully] show my improvement in tactile art predominately within the collaboration of illustration and watercolour. I feel, no matter how bizarre this sounds, this is an evolution within my work; rising from a plateau and moving upwards a notch.

Fingers crossed it all goes well, no doubt something will be learnt in the whole process and when I have built up a small collective I shall launch them online. Now to just flick through my extensive photographic stockpile and let inspiration do the rest. :