76 Artists Magazine June 2020
LEARN MORE ABOUT PEGGI HABETS’ WORK OR
SIGN UP FOR A WORKSHOP AT PEGGIHABETS.COM.Arches 300-lb. watercolor paper—that Habets experiences
the most potential for success and the most fear of failure.
That moment “never fails to fill me with excitement and
anxiety,” she says.
Habets notes that most people are surprised by the
amount of planning and prep she does before beginning a
painting. “Generally speaking, I spend more time on concept
and design than I do on the actual painting,” the artist
says. “Unless you work with opaque colors, you have no
more than three or four passes at an area with watercolor
before it starts to feel overworked and chalky. To me, there’s
nothing more exciting in watercolor than to see the interac-
tion of the paint and water when it first connects with the
paper, creating spontaneous blooms, textures and shapes.”CONSTANT ITERATIONS
Habets continues to hone her skills years into her career.
She finds ongoing inspiration from watercolor master
artists like John Singer Sargent, Anders Zorn and Joaquín
Sorolla. She also attends at least two art exhibitions each
month featuring media outside of watercolor. She says,“I love to be surprised and delighted. When that happens,
whether the artist works in watercolor or not, I’m inspired
to take another look at my own work.” She seeks to con-
stantly change the way she’s thinking and seeing, even
though she may not know exactly what to do with each
new stimulus right away. She’ll savor her inspiration in her
sketchbook, mulling over the concepts and stories she still
wants to tell.
Ultimately, Habets knows that her craft is one of constant
iterations, so she strives to try new approaches. Once, in
the beginning of her career, she asked artist, instructor
and now friend, Bill Vrscak, how he was able to paint such
amazing work while she was unable to finish a painting
without making a muddy mess. He simply said, “I’ve made
moremistakesthanyou.”Habetssaysthatthisexplana-
tionhasstayedwithheralltheseyears.“It’sallabout
makingmistakesandlearningfromthem.”Rebecca Dvorak, of New York City, is an arts writer and editor.The Challenger
watercolor on paper, 26x33