In just 10 days this beginner artist learned to paint his parents' cat Clueso in watercolour
Through persistence and a willingness to fail, Stephen Robinson learned to paint a very deserving cat
This video is part of an ongoing series called "Stephen is Bad at Art," in which the titular Stephen Robinson takes on a variety of art challenges he's set for himself — with the help of a bunch of experts, and sometimes his cat. Check out Stephen's YouTube channel where he makes videos on learning new skills, persistence and tackling boredom.
"The goal of the next 10 days is simple: capture the essence of my parents' cat Clueso in a watercolour painting."
In the latest episode of his series Stephen is Bad at Art (he said it, not us — we think he's quite good!), Stephen Robinson tells us, "I don't draw, I don't paint, and when I do it's usually pretty bad, but I'm going to do my best to improve at these skills to give this cat the best darn painting — because he deserves it!"
Watercolour painting can be intimidating. In this episode, Stephen speaks with watercolour expert Gill Cameron, a professional watercolour artist from Toronto, for advice from someone who understands how watercolour painting can be daunting.
"I think people are afraid of doing watercolour because they feel like they can't make a mistake," she tells Stephen. "But what I've learned is you just have to kinda go with it. Yes, you're going to make mistakes — it's not the end of the world. You can incorporate it into your painting, you can hide it, but don't worry about it. It's okay. Just have fun with it."
The artist leaves him with one piece of advice: "Keep it simple."
Over the next 10 days, Stephen painted Clueso daily (except for one day where he followed an online watercolour tutorial and painted an adorable fox). By the end, he was super pleased with and surprised by how much he had improved. "I'm pretty proud of how this turned out. I wouldn't have believed you if 10 days ago, you told me I could make a painting that looks like this."
What was Stephen's takeaway from the 10 days?
"For the longest time I believed that artistic talent was just something that you were born with. If you weren't good at drawing to begin with, you're never going to get good at drawing or painting or whatever it is. And going through this process has just reminded me of the value of deliberate practice and persistence and spending time on something when developing skills."
"Learning how to get good at painting watercolour is no different from learning how to get good at basketball or juggling, and I think that's pretty cool."
Follow Stephen Robinson's YouTube channel here and stay tuned for more episodes of Stephen is Bad at Art.
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