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    The water is like the Holy Spirit

    It’s in the water. Controlling the water Is the key in painting watercolors. When a painter learns that trick, then everything is magic in the painting world of watercolors.
     
    I painted this painting in less than an hour. I wet the whole background down to the white snow. When I applied the pinks and blues in the sky, I tilted the paper so the colors ran down to the dry edge and stopped. A dry edge became a boundary. I applied the tree colors on a semi-dry surface, just wet enough to give the trees a soft edge.
     
    If I apply paint to a dry area, the paint won’t move, so I'll fill the brush full of water adding paint giving a loose rendering on a dry surface. If it’s too wet, there will be a shine. Wait, let it dry a little or the color will be diluted and will make a halo. (Only the sun gets a halo around it. Well, maybe a few saints, too.)
     
    There is always a spiritual lesson in painting watercolors. It’s in the water and the water is like the Holy Spirit. He flows, but will stop at dry and hard boundaries. We will spend our whole life learning how to let go of rigid opinions, harsh judgments, and impossible rules so we will be filled with the Spirit.
     
    This watercolor is a perfect example I demonstrated in a workshop. I love this beginning. I used the same process and kept a dry edge around the white flowers. They will be added later with shaded petals, and the paper will serve as white paint. There is no white watercolor paint in your paintbox. So, leave the whites. I used to say it all the time to my students, “Leave the whites.” Did the students listen? Not usually. Leaving the white is like letting the painting breathe. Giving your painting some air.

    This half-finished watercolor reminds me of this time of the year. We have filled 2024 up to the brim and the bottom half is a blank canvas for 2025. The Holy Spirit is already working in our lives as to the colors he will apply to us in the new year.
     
    Some might find this floral messy, too impressionist, but I find it delightful. The strong colors bounce and reflect off the other tuilips. The top part becomes one unit by letting the paint flow into each other. There are boundaries inside the arrangement for the white flowers to stay white. Again, the top part is controlled by water, wet and dry surfaces.
     
    Another spiritual lesson: Looking forward to a new year. If you noticed the unfinished bottom portion is penciled in, a possible design for next year. Get rid of those hard edges and give the Holy Spirit room to breathe and work in your life. It will make for a beautiful painting. Blessings to a new year.

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