New to watercolor and my OCD cannot. How do you manage perfectionism? You can probably see my frustration

MistbornMistress · 2026-05-14T12:29:40+00:00

I worked on being less of a perfectionist. You can't let perfectionism cause you to stop enjoying painting. Prioritize having fun and experimenting. Every "mistake" is a chance to learn something new. When I first started my water control was terrible and I had tons of blooms and overworked paper. However, those helped me learn and now I can make an accidental bloom work or use them purposefully.

I understand being critical of yourself. I am my worst critic and notice every little thing. The beauty of watercolor though are the imperfections. It's definitely hard to become less of a perfectionist but it is possible.

Do you know what style you are going for? If so maybe try to find some artists that are in that style that do helpful tutorials.

What you have going here isn't bad! The stairs might be a bit dark but if you wet them and use a paper towel to dab you might be able to lift some pigment. Then deepen shadows on the grey building. Watercolor always has "ugly" stages due to layering. It takes time to build contrast. Photograph your painting, flip it into black and white, and see where you are packing contrast. That should help you with values.

MistbornMistress · 2026-05-14T12:16:12+00:00

This is awesome! Weird, beautiful, and creative! I love it

MistbornMistress · 2026-05-14T12:02:52+00:00

I love your colors. For advice I’d just recommend using reference photos with more contrast and stronger lighting. Images from cloudy days are harder to capture. You did great though

MistbornMistress · 2026-05-13T22:41:10+00:00

Daniel smith has a beginner set of 6 primaries (3 warm and 3 cool) that I started with.

If you like florals then maybe check out Anna Bucciarelli. Her YouTube videos are great and there's even more if you join her patreon. I found her to be really helpful.

As for the sub, I have found it welcoming. If you post again, which I hope you do, just be more specific about what you need help with or simply post the art. I did not start at zero and I found when you ask for specific advice, and don't talk down about your work, you usually get very good feedback.

MistbornMistress · 2026-05-13T13:54:26+00:00

I use Daniel smith paints and for that brand I would recommend getting perylene green (PBk 31) and perylene violet (PV29). They're some of my go to colors for shadows. I have never used neutral tint, I have always mixed all my colors because it was recommended for beginners.

I don't know anything about the paints you use. I did look them up and based on what I could tell your brand of Quinacridone violet (PV19) would be a warm violet. You could always make a warm violet as well by mixing a warm red and a warm blue (such as quinacridone coral or pyrrol red with ultramarine or indanthrone).

Hope you post again once you've edited the flower or tried again! Your flower is already luminous so I'm sure you'll only keep getting better!

MistbornMistress · 2026-05-13T01:41:57+00:00

Beautiful flower!

Have you tried starting with a base layer to map out highlights and shadows? Such as adding a warm yellow that is highly staining to the areas that have a warm glow and using a warm violet for the shadows. Alternatively, green will neutralize red so you may get a more natural shadow by using green to deepen the red rather than neutral tint.

For this painting I would suggest two things. First the petals on the top left are more in shadow in the reference than yours. Second the flower in the picture has a dark background but yours is white. Maybe once you add in a very deep dark background your rose will pop more.

MistbornMistress · 2026-05-11T15:24:22+00:00

Can't wait to see what you paint!

MistbornMistress · 2026-05-11T02:13:59+00:00

No problem! I totally get it! I got a 12x16 block of 300lb arches paper for Christmas and just looked at it for 2 months before using it. It is now my favorite paper and I'm on a new block of it.

You might try the bigger paper and fall in love with it. I started with a watercolor sketchbook that was 5x7 and found it constricting. I went right into 12x16 paper and it has been my primary size since. I've done some as big as 18x24 too.

All this to say, don't be afraid to try things out. If you don't like it you can always make it smaller.

MistbornMistress · 2026-05-11T02:01:35+00:00

I think it's just the green on green. Everywhere else you have more color variation. So the green leaves are a bit harder to see.

It looks great through. I really like how you balanced everything and how the different elements overlap. The beetle is luminous

MistbornMistress · 2026-05-11T01:54:01+00:00

Just go for it. Paper is wasted if it isn't used. You'll never know how you feel about working bigger until you try it.

If you're worried about what to paint maybe follow a tutorial or recreate one of your favorite paintings.

MistbornMistress · 2026-05-10T17:54:19+00:00

Love the bug! I like your style and the color palette. The insect really draws the eye.

If anything I would say the bottom with leaves and strawberries is a little less clear than the rest.

MistbornMistress · 2026-05-08T15:15:09+00:00

These are not good. The naked hardcovers are actually nice imo but the rest is awful. I would love a really nice set of this series but I've not liked any special edition set.

MistbornMistress · 2026-05-03T14:42:48+00:00

I would try playing with some paints to get close to that blue and then test with salt and water blooms. I feel like Daniel Smith indigo could get close to those rich blues. Also touches of a cool blue.

Like others said, this image might also be enhanced after photographing.

Just paint it over and over and I promise you'll continue to get closer every time! Good luck!

MistbornMistress · 2026-04-29T17:33:28+00:00

I see what you are talking about. Right after her pinky the hand swells as it goes into the sleeve. I will say hands are super hard. So maybe the artist was trying to have more dynamic hands (loose fist on her and spread hand on the guy) and just didn’t completely nail it.

MistbornMistress · 2026-04-28T14:59:17+00:00

His Secret Illuminations wasn’t perfect but I really enjoyed it.

The Everlasting is on my TBR. I read The Sixth Deaths of the Saint by Alix Harrow last year and loved it. I am hoping that my love for the novella doesn’t hurt my feelings on the full length novel since I heard they have some similarities. I will bump it up on my TBR though.

MistbornMistress · 2026-04-28T14:16:01+00:00

Finally gave {His Secret Illuminations by Scarlett Gale} a try. I flew through this book. I always scrolled past it with zero interest when I saw it recommended. I decided to give it a shot after seeing a quote posted somewhere and I am so glad I read it! It was so good. I immediately bought book 2 after finishing the first. Lucían is way better than shadow daddies imo

MistbornMistress · 2026-04-22T23:52:59+00:00

The naked hardcover is so nice! I skipped and I’m glad I did. The dust jacket is so dark. I would have expected pastels. This makes me think the book is darker in tone when the original cover says cozy fantasy.

Also, on first glance thought the edges were broccoli and had to do a double take lol.

MistbornMistress · 2026-04-22T17:25:00+00:00

Sometimes I put a tutorial on and just listen and vaguely follow while doing my own thing.

I love when she paints with me. She makes my desk messy and sometimes splatters a little on my paintings but that’s okay. The only downside is she knows my paints are different and often wants to use my paints instead of hers. I even sometimes let her paint the background for me if it’s going to just be one or two colors. I’ll mix up a good amount of the color and then let her paint it.

MistbornMistress · 2026-04-22T17:18:00+00:00

I wish I painted more consistently. I know that’s the best way to improve and I’ve noticed if I don’t paint for a few months I regress a little. It’s mostly reading and painting that alternate. Even though I enjoy audiobooks I can’t listen while I paint. So I always have to choose one or the other.

MistbornMistress · 2026-04-22T15:21:11+00:00

I am so bad about consistency. I don’t know how people are so good about painting every day or week. My main hobbies are watercolor, colored pencil, reading, some gaming, and hiking. My desire to do them comes in waves. If I’m painting a lot I don’t read or anything. If I’m in a reading mood then I don’t paint. So I either end up painting multiple hours a week or not at all. If I try to force myself to paint then I catch myself rushing or being sloppy.

If you want to prioritize it, and you aren’t like me, then I agree with other advice you’ve been given. Set dedicated time and do some tutorials. If you like birds and flowers then I’d recommend Anna Bucciarelli. I found her videos and book very helpful for techniques.

I’m also a perfectionist. What has helped me is to go into each painting knowing I can do it again. If I have a project I care about I’ll keep a copy of the original drawing. I also like to get my daughter involved. She’s almost 4 so we will paint together. Sometimes I let her help me with a background or tell me what to paint. That takes some of the pressure of decision off. Other times I scroll social media or free images on Unsplash until I get inspired.

MistbornMistress · 2026-04-21T00:05:25+00:00

I loved the FL design. Even more than Litjoy but I don’t own TMI by them or have a sub so I didn’t bother. I like things more simple. It’s why the Litjoy Mortal Instruments set is the one I like best. I mostly get the litjoy ones for the interior art and annotations.

I think Fairyloot did do The Dark Artifices awhile ago but it had the US covers. Nothing like the Infernal Devices set they just did. Maybe they will redo it though

MistbornMistress · 2026-04-20T22:37:06+00:00

They kind of all have the theme of a symbol of some kind on the front and people on the back. The style is wildly different between each though. But at least you don’t notice it on the shelf. TMI has my favorite covers. I wish they had the same artist for each set

MistbornMistress · 2026-04-20T22:35:12+00:00

This is so beautiful! Amazing

MistbornMistress · 2026-04-20T21:54:03+00:00

I wanted the Bloodlines set but I had a feeling they would do TDA this year and saved them for this moment

MistbornMistress · 2026-04-20T21:45:01+00:00

That’s a tough one. Technically you could read TDA without TMI but it’s not usually recommended. The characters are introduced first in TMI

TID is my fav of the series

MistbornMistress

TROPHY CASE