I often find that the second time is the charm when I’m creating a watercolor painting. As I paint the first attempt, I start seeing in my mind new ways to interpret the subject, fresh ideas or just a looser version start forming and demanding outlet. Sometimes that means I’ll end up scrapping the first effort and starting over, but sometimes I end up with two or more versions of the same subject, and sometimes they are radically different from each other.

Like my sunflower-inspired paintings from last year:

Version 1:

Version 2:

Version 3:

I consider each of these paintings successful in their own way.

Right now it’s all about apple blossoms. You’ve seen peeks of the yet-unfinished original:

But what do you think of the intuitive strokes of the second version?

This started as a demonstration for my watercolour class – more wet-in-wet – and I continued adding layers after class. Part of me thinks it’s just too “pretty” in a kind of pinky/blue way but it was fun to paint and whether I end up framing it, selling it or storing it, I have learned that no painting is wasted. Everything I put into this painting will benefit the paintings that follow.