May Watercolor Challenge: One Painting a Day
- Robert Hopkins
- 11 minutes ago
- 2 min read
For the month of May, I am giving myself a simple but meaningful challenge: Paint one watercolor painting every day.
Not every painting needs to be finished, framed, or perfect. In fact, perfection is not the point. The goal is to build momentum, strengthen the fundamentals, and return to the joy of painting on a daily basis.
Watercolor is a beautiful but demanding medium. It rewards patience, timing, observation, and restraint. Some days the paint seems to know exactly where to go. Other days it has a mind of its own. That is part of what makes watercolor so exciting. You are never completely in control, and learning to work with that unpredictability is part of the craft.
For the first part of May, I plan to keep the subjects simple. I will focus on the basic building blocks of landscape painting:
Clouds. Hills. Trees. Grass. Water. Skies. Light. Shadows.
These may seem simple, but they are the foundation of almost every landscape painting. A convincing sky can set the entire mood. A few well-placed trees can create depth. A quiet shape of land or water can give the viewer a place to enter the painting.
As the month progresses, I hope to move into more detailed paintings, gradually combining these elements into fuller scenes. The idea is to start small, stay consistent, and let the work grow naturally.
The painting shown here is one of my earlier watercolor pieces from 2022. Looking back at it now, I can see things I still enjoy: the soft movement in the sky, the quiet water, the small sailboat, and the peaceful feeling of the scene. It reminds me why I love watercolor in the first place. There is something honest and immediate about it.
This May challenge is not about producing thirty masterpieces. It is about showing up. It is about practice. It is about getting better through repetition, discovery, and a willingness to make imperfect work.
By the end of the month, I hope to have a collection of studies that show growth, not just in technique, but in confidence.
One painting a day.
One small step at a time.
Let’s see where May takes me shall we? 😇
