Chatting about my favorite watercolor butterfly and daydreaming about making art for fun again
I used to make art for fun, then I made art for money, then I made no art at all for a very long time.
When I first got into watercolor about 20 years ago, I found a muse that still inspires me to this day and seems to give me endless resources and references. I just love bugs, guys, I love them. Butterflies, moths, spiders, beetles… all of them are exceptionally beautiful and offer so much to the observer’s eye. I’ve been painting bugs (and their cousins) for so long, and I have yet to find boredom in their form.
This particular butterfly is the Cymothoe beckeri, also known as the Creamy Glider Butterfly. It’s also one of my all-time favorite pieces that I have created over the years. It’s a perfect example of the flow state, and I made it during a time when I was discovering, I wasn’t yet a professional artist and selling work, I was just making art to make it, to learn, to enjoy it and play and let whatever happen, well, happen. I feel like you can see that in this one.
I am actively seeking that feeling, chasing the state of joy, flow, and play. I want my work to regress to this moment again and create a joyful space for me to just create without intention. As a retired commercial artist, art was work for so long that it became grinding and grueling, and it just wasn’t the same. It’s been about 5 or 6 years since I left that space, and now, I’m starting to dip my paintbrush in dirty paint water again, and the feeling is, dare I say it, magical.
If you are trying to get into the biz, please know I am not knocking it; I am just sharing that this way, for me, is so much better. I applaud those who enjoy the grind and who chase the work, and I truly hope that you land that deal, baby! This, however, is my little slice of the internet, where I can reflect on the time I spent doing all that hard work that made me hate making art. This space is my little recovery zone, my soft pillow, my ease back into making art for the sake of joy. I hope you enjoy seeing what I created in my past life and what I uncover about this version of myself along the way.
Thanks for reading! I hope you liked this little guy, this particular piece and moth are one of my favorites.
— R