The Art of Letting Go: How Watercolors Taught Me to Love Imperfection

Living in a world striving for perfection tends to add tons of pressure on people.

This used to be part of our job and school, but nowadays it has become part of everything we do, our personal life, our hobbies, job, school, etc. And looking for perfection in everything we do has taken us away from the true meaning of life, which is enjoying the moment, enjoying failure, and even embracing it as the basis for improvement. So, while looking for perfection as the final goal, we need to remember that sometimes the path is greener and more beautiful than the mountain itself, and we need to remember to enjoy the journey and the scenery.

While I have drawn all my life, I have always struggled to draw something from my mind, so I started looking for ways to improve my creativity, and with this, I started testing different drawing and painting techniques. I went from wood colors to markers, fine liners, pencils, acrylics, and watercolors.

When I reached this painting technique, I realized that the flaw was what made the watercolor beautiful; not having full control over the water movement and most of the time having unpredictable results is what made it interesting. Having a blurry effect also made detail less important, so I stopped being so careful and started playing with the technique just to see what happened, and while not fully controlling the final result, I started learning to use those defects in favor of my painting and how to make something beautiful out of what we originally saw as a defect, and understanding that it wasn't imperfection but a lack of appreciation and not knowing how to harmonize it with the rest of the painting is what made it look out of place.

Enjoy your errors, enjoy imperfection and just find the best way to harmonize them with the rest of your life. Just choose the right perspective and you will see they are a key part of your life which perfectly balances the rest of your life's drawing.