We’re pleased to introduce Da Vinci Paints Ambassador Artist Paul Jackson, the curator of a custom Da Vinci paint color, Jackson Blue, along with Paul’s Wandering Watercolorist Da Vinci Watercolor Palette available in a 20-color tube set and also a convenient hand-filled pan set.

Paul is a signature member of the National Watercolor Society and a signature member and Dolphin Fellow of the American Watercolor Society. Although Paul makes his home in the USA, he’s an internationally recognized watercolorist and a lifelong traveler. Paul’s passion for adventure fuels his art and is the inspiration behind his Da Vinci palette name, the Wandering Watercolorist.

Paul painted for 25 years before he discovered the consistently high quality of Da Vinci Paints. After Paul switched to Da Vinci Paints, we worked with Paul to create his custom convenience color, Jackson Blue. Paul describes Jackson Blue as the color of the blue hour, or “the moment after the sun has disappeared below the horizon but its light still shows in the sky above, reflecting a brilliant blue-violet across the shadowed landscape.”

Since Paul has achieved a long and decorated career as a watercolor artist and has been published and interviewed many times, we simply asked Paul to share a bit about his work and artistic process along with his best advice on how other artists can succeed in their own creative pursuits.

Rendezvous watercolor painting by Artist Paul Jackson

You appear to have a fun, inventive sense of humor. How much do you believe a positive, energetic outlook contributes to creative success during a long, often challenging life as an artist?

The roller coaster lifestyle as an artist requires a sense of humor to sustain. It is a rare existence where you reimagine the world you occupy, reevaluate your life every Monday morning, reinvent yourself every decade or so. Rejection is more common than acceptance. Failure occurs more often than success, yet we persist against overwhelming odds because it’s our passion. It’s hard not to laugh at yourself for swimming against the stream, attempting the impossible and tilting at windmills, but humor gets you through the low times and makes those around you want to support you in your quest.

River Dreams mural by Artist Paul Jackson

You’ve mentioned the only thing you like to do more than paint is travel, and along with your wife and ‘muse’ Marla, you’ve been ‘on the wander’ your entire life. How do different environments or locations influence and inspire your work, especially your color choices?

At home I am comfortable, relaxed and in control of my surroundings. I settle into routine and get lots of work done, but it’s when I am forced out of that comfort zone that I’m most alive. When I leave the familiar my eyes grow wider, my senses engage fully and the constant stream newness is a flood of inspiration. I fill sketchbooks with notes and drawings as fast as I can so that I have plenty to work with when I’m back in the routine of the studio. Ideas are more quickly captured with written words than a sketch, but color is faster to note with a swatch. When the colors of a place catch my attention, I’ll quickly mix them from my travel palette and add swatches to my notes.

By the way, the beautiful woman depicted in Paul’s 69-foot long mural (River Dreams, pictured above) that’s located at Three Rivers College in Poplar Bluff, MO, is Paul’s ‘muse’ and wife Marla.

Love Song watercolor painting by Artist Paul Jackson

Throughout your career, your paintings have depicted a wide range of subjects and styles. You appear to enjoy a challenge, so what are you working on right now, and what about it challenges and/or fascinates you?

I never wanted to be pigeonholed into painting the same subject over and over again, so I’ve always painted what I’m most passionate about this week. Currently, I’m passionate about the patterns in agate, baseball, and music. Where to begin?

Sunset Bora Bora watercolor painting by Artist Paul Jackson

You’ve said that your definition of success is still waking up every morning with the desire to paint. Briefly share your best advice on how other artists can maintain this desire throughout a lifetime.

Work on one painting at a time until it is finished. Then start another one. If you multitask paintings, you’ll waste a lot of time and paper and never get anything done.