It’s been years since I last had any meaningful contact with my paint brushes. Even then, I haven’t really done much by way of painting since my high school years.

There had always been that impetus to create and express. But I have photography to deal with those “issues”. Until recently, I’ve convinced myself that painting is a bit too tedious and slow for my taste.

But unlike photography, you not only have control over your image, but essentially, the image is the sum of all decisions that you have made since you first touch the paper or canvas with your pencil. Every line, shade, gradation and layers is due to your physical manipulation of your medium and the manipulation of reality by your mind. This is something that photography had failed to give me – that sense of really owning the image that I have created.

So, during the weekend, I gave painting another try. I didn't think it would be easy. I've put off painting since high school because I know how difficult it is to get up to speed with regards skills and techniques.

I used watercolor for the two paintings shown here. I found that planning where your highlights will be is crucial for this medium. It's because of this that all my past attempts with it had been failures. I tend to get impatient and rely heavily on improvisation. That's hard to do with watercolor especially if you are not that familiar with essential techniques needed to work the medium.

I think these are good tries. But I really prefer working with oils instead.

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