I used to think practice was something you did before the real work began: drills, exercises, practice sheets you moved past once you were “good enough.”
Now I understand that repetition is the work.
Repeating the ideas, the subjects, and the concepts because each pass changes me.
When I repeat a process, the same materials, similar compositions, familiar subjects, I’m not standing still. I’m refining my attention. Each repetition sharpens my ability to see what’s actually happening instead of what I hope is happening.
Skill grows here, of course. Hands get steadier. Decisions get faster. Mistakes get quieter. But something more interesting happens alongside that: I start to see my own strengths clearly.
Repetition shows me where my instincts are right. Where my eye is reliable. Where my voice is already present, even when I’m not consciously trying to assert it.
It also shows me what doesn’t belong. It shows me which choices drain the work, which habits are borrowed, which ideas fall flat no matter how much I try to force them. Repeating the work strips away what isn’t mine.
Over time, a style emerges, not as a plan, but as evidence. Proof of what I’ve chosen again and again. Proof of what I care about enough to stay with.
This is also how I learn to put more of myself into my work.
Repetition creates space for honesty. Once the mechanics fade into the background, there’s room for risk, nuance, and personal meaning. I’m no longer distracted by how to do the thing and I can focus on why I’m doing it and what I want to say.
The why has been a struggle for me for a long time, but I realize now that the why was all caught up in the how, because when the how isn't inside you yet, the why gets stuck!
I’m sharing this because repetition often gets mistaken for stagnation, when it’s actually commitment in motion. Growth doesn’t always look like change. And I know for me, I used to believe repetition (especially of subject) was a waste, and showed a lack of creativity. I was bored repeating the same things over and over.
Sometimes it looks like staying close to the work long enough for it to deepen.
This is why Watercolour Foundations: Finding Confidence in Watercolour focuses so much on process rather than outcomes. When you understand your materials, colour, and flow, repetition stops feeling like you’re treading water. It becomes a way to build momentum, where each painting carries what you’ve learned into the next, and your voice has more room to come through.
It took me a long time to see that repetition is easy when it's something you care about. When you'd give anything to get better at something others seem to find so easy, repeating it over and over becomes a necessary step in your growth.
If you're feeling the same but need some direction to build your skills and get started on your watercolour journey, click the button below to learn more about my course Watercolour Foundations: Finding Confidence in Watercolour.
Don't forget to use code WATERCOLOUR2026 for an exclusive VIP discount as a thank you for being here, and for witnessing the slow accumulation of this practice alongside me.
