Painting from life is the ideal way to learn to paint watercolour, but lockdown has shown us that, with the right approach, painting from photographic reference can still evoke the challenge and bliss factor that gives watercolour such an edge. The changing light from clouds moving unseen across the sun above may be missing, the smell of the landscape is not wafting in and out of our senses, and the adrenalin punch of chasing light and moving subjects is absent, but, staying outside the comfort zone, the adrenalin still rises, the fear of spoiling that pristine white paper still paralyses the brush as it is about to lay the first wash and the exciting adventure that is watercolour remains wonderfully undiminished.
If you feel you are slipping into your comfort zone, introduce an entirely new colour, something scarily bright, like red or violet. Limit your palette to three colours and take the plunge. Elephants are the perfect subject, being grey or brownish in terms of local colour you can use a red, yellow and blue to mix the greys and browns and if you do not have your own reference there are plenty of copyright free photos online. The subject is so adorable, doing it justice will concentrate your mind wonderfully.
If that does not raise the adrenalin, work much bigger than usual. If that doesn't work, give yourself a very limited time (38 minutes) to complete a whole painting, and if that does not work hold your brush at the tip of the handle or paint with your other hand so that you have less control over delivery than normal. If you are like me, you find every watercolour painting scary, exciting, thrilling and challenging, knowing life is not long enough to conquer this extraordinary medium, in which case you need no other incentive to raise the adrenalin because painting is all you ever want to do!!!