I was amused by a recent headline in Sky & Telescope Magazine, Modest Expectations Give Rise to Delight. This post by Jennifer Willis laments the way newbies come to stargazing expecting high-res amazing imagery from the James Webb telescope, only to be disappointed by the rather indistinct blobs you can see from a home telescope.I think the sentiment applies to all sorts of hobbies and endeavors. In birdwatching, for example, it’s easy to set yourself up for frustration if you go looking for a specific bird and add to your “stats”. It’s more fun if you just show up and see what happens, determined to be delighted by any bird you see.
Of course, I would certainly apply it to watercolor painting as well. In fact, I would say that this adage is true of watercolor in particular, above other art forms. Watercolor will not be controlled. You cannot put in X amount of effort and skill and get Y result. There is always inherent randomness and complexity from the water and the way it is influenced by environmental factors. You may put down your brush expectation to create a certain effect get something else entirely. You can curse and struggle to fix it, or you can marvel at what happened. How did you do that? Can you do it again? What does it look like? Is your painting maybe something else now?
Willis’ post concludes,
If I lean into discovery instead of disappointment, there is no limit to the breadth of wonder under a wide-open sky. Who I am to impose my expectations on the cosmos? The stars endure regardless, and the sky invites me to appreciate what is there, rather than lament what Iād hoped to see.
Jennifer Willis, “Modest Expectations Give Rise to Delight,” Sky & Telescope Magazine, February 3, 2025
If you expect to churn out a specific result, you may be disappointed. But if you show up and see what happens, allow yourself to play, and follow your curiosity, you will have more fun.