Ok Here it is, my new studio.
My new backdrop and new haircut.
As you can see I am now moved.
There are still things I need to unpack and cleanup in my garage studio.
But I am pretty much ready to paint and to make video.
I thought for this video I go back to the basics and talk about your WHY.
Hey this is Eric from Café Watercolor.
I believe the most important question you can ask yourself as an artist is why.
Why do you paint?
Why do you want to become an artist?
Without knowing our why, we will be just going through the motion without purpose.
Now, I don’t want to turn this into a cringy philosophy video.
But these are very important questions for your artistic core.
This may sound simple, but I’m not talking about scratching the surface and answer your
own why with a generic answer like “I paint because it makes me feel happy.”
or “I paint because it’s my passion.”
Because those answers are not personal, and not from deep down and that’s not going
to help you.
Being an artist and learning to paint is a journey, and it is inevitable that you will
have struggles and road block along the way.
Life can also gets in the way, like some of my friends have new born babies and finding
themselves not having time to paint.
Some of my students feeling stuck in their progress and struggling to improve.
Or like me, I’ve recently moved and there are a lot of things to do with the new place.
And it’s times like these you need to revisit your why.
I believe you can do anything with a strong enough reason.
It will motivate you and drive you forward through any difficulty.
I’ve shared my reason why in one of my previous videos.
I want to paint to remind people that they are loved by making their memories and loved
one special with my paintings.
And if I want to do that well, I need to be a better painter.
When people entrust me to paint their favorite place and people, I need to do them justice!
This doesn’t limit to just my clients though, but also to myself.
If you have followed my work for a while, you know that the person I painted the most
is none other than my dear wife.
I’ve been painting her since we were dating back in college, and after 15 years I’m
still painting her.
It’s just one of the ways for me to show my love to her and serve as a reminder to
myself that I am in a loving relationship, and there is someone who accepts me for who
I am.
And to me one of the best way I can honor her is to become a better artist to paint
better portraits of her and the things she loves.
So in a way, the reason why I become an artist is quite simple really.
I’m not one of the artists who is constantly trying to pursue a higher meaning of art and
wants to push the boundary of the artistic movement or something like that.
I respect artists who has that kind of passion, but I’m just a simple guy who wants to help
people to say “I love you” with my painting.
Now enough about me, I want you to ask yourself why do you paint?
And keep asking yourself why until your answer doesn’t change.
Your reason could be completely different from mine, and that is ok.
But it is important for you to know so when you are feeling stuck and struggle to improve
or frustrated about a painting you are doing, you will be able to revisit your why, let
it put you in perspective and help you to push through.
Figuring out your why is even more important if you are a professional artist or thinking
to become one.
Because your clients and audiences will want to know that as well.
They want to know why you do the things you do before they invest their resources on you
and your art.
We all like to work or purchase from people who we can trust, whose value is clear and
even align with us.
Knowing your core reason why is a huge way to establish trust and authenticity with your
audiences and clients.
We can go deeper into that topic in the future.
Now, your why doesn’t even need to be about helping others.
One of my friends got into painting because it brings her healing.
She was at a place where she felt lonely and anxious, and doing painting calms her down
and bring her peace.
And that is amazing to me.
It is something that you really want to dive deep into your heart and think about, but
at the same time you don’t want to overthink it, this is to help you not to give you a
headache.
What I want you to have is a deep, personal reason that drives you, so that you paint
with a purpose and not just a mindless routine.
All that being said, I am really interested to hear about your WHY.
So please leave a comment down below to share with us your WHY.
Why do you paint and let’s keep the conversation going!
I want to make this channel not just about watercolor demo and technique, but also about
us having an artistic life.
Being an artist is a journey and we are all in this together.
If you like this video.
If you like what I do, please like and subscribe.
If you are new here, I have a lot more painting videos for you to enjoy.
You can also go to my website at cafewatercolor.com to download my free watercolor ebook.
I am Eric from Café Watercolor, hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are, and
I will see you again soon.