Watercolor Loose Flowers and Pandemic 2.0

Yes! It is 2021 and we are again stuck at home. The pandemic is back or I guess its better to say it never went away in the first place! This time I am feeling a bit extra grateful as I have acquired a new skill. I learnt how to draw watercolor loose flowers and leaves from an impromptu watercolor tutorial for beginners by my sister.

Pandemic 2.0

Before this huge second wave of COVID came, we all had a bit of fun, went on vacations, met up with friends and family and tried to go back to the life that we knew as normal. And then Bang! Its back again to haunt us again, in a even more fatal and destructive avatar. This time though, we have last years experience in our kitty. So the feeling for me is more of like déjà vu rather than that of last year’s sheer desperation.

Family time and my first watercolor loose flowers tutorial

Meanwhile my sister and her family came over for a visit in April. As usual we had a gala time catching up, drinking lots of tea and binging on tasty home cooked meals. During this visit, didi introduced me to a relaxing and mind calming new hobby of hers. She taught me how draw loose flowers, roses, leaves et.al.

I had never imagined that painting is such a relaxing activity. And oh the output. Seeing the lovely output fills the heart with a warm and glowy feeling. The first watercolour roses painting was a joint family effort and all of us drew roses in a multitude of gem like hues

My watercolor journey

After that first tutorial, I have been painting easy watercolour flowers on a regular basis. I love roses but the summer heat is preventing my rose plants from blooming. So when you cant grow roses the next best thing is to paint them. And that is exactly what I have been doing these days. Painting all the flowers that I would love to see blooming in my garden!

Tangi

The best part of this new hobby is I get to display my new artsy creation on Tangi. Tangi is a new experimental social media platform introduced by google exclusively for creative people. Short videos if DIYs, artwork or anything creative under the sun. I really look forward to creating my painting of the day and putting it up on Tangi. You can see my Tangi creations here.

Art and mental health

Also art has a huge positive effect on mental health. You can read about it here.
We are all fighting our own battles, some small and some big. One thing that I have realised is that overthinking helps in no way. Despite this realisation of mine it is so very difficult to give up on a life long hobby!
However, I myself can vouch for this that I can feel a perceptible change in my mind and how my overthinking brain has calmed down bit after starting this new watercolor art journey. It gives me a feeling of being productive with an overall calmness. The feeling is a bit like when you are on the seaside. The shoreline is changing constantly due to the dynamism of the waves, but overall there is a serene calmness. Art is like that for me. There is constant change due to the mixing of colours, choosing brushes, filling up the blank spaces with colourful flowers and lush green leaves. But overall the effect is of calmness and tranquility.
So , this new hobby of mine not only helps to keep me connected with nature but also helps to put me in a better mental health space. Looking forward to this new journey of being artsy and creating beautiful art…

This post is part of  Blogchatter ‘s #CauseAChatter.