15/07/2026
I “failed” my 365 day challenge and here’s everything it taught me anyway. (Spoiler alert - I feel like a winner 🥇)
Stopping at day 70 felt like giving up at first. But looking back, I learned more about myself as an artist in those 70 days than I expected to learn in a full year:
🎨 I actually love painting landscapes. Before this, I barely touched them. Now they’re a real part of what I want to paint.
🎨 I need more than one style. I paint in two very different ways, and trying to force myself into just one left me feeling boxed in and resentful of my own work.
🎨 I love painting big from time to time. I already knew this, but the challenge showed me just how restricted and frustrated I feel when I’m stuck on small paper for too long or to a certain size.
🎨 Paper matters more than I admitted. I experimented with a lot of different papers during the challenge and confirmed there are only a few I actually enjoy working on. Life’s too short for paper that fights you.
🎨 I have to listen to my body. I ignored a lot of signals during this challenge, and the health issues I was already dealing with got worse because of it. That was actually one of the biggest reasons I stopped.
The real takeaway wasn’t about finishing 365 paintings. It was learning to reconnect to my creativity, be kinder to myself, and to keep following my own pace instead of measuring myself against everyone else’s timeline.
If you’re an artist chasing a big goal right now, it’s okay to redesign it, slow it down, or stop completely. That’s not failure. That’s listening to yourself.
👉 Follow along if you want to see insights behind my practice, to learn watercolor tips, techniques and lessons.
With love,
Rali xx
