I have often heard it said that watercolour is the hardest medium to work in - but is it really? I know that it is tricky and very much has a mind of it's own, but does that really make it so difficult? I, personally, feel very comfortable with watercolour, but I do have my hairy moments with it when it decides to take over and do it's own thing. I can sort of see what people mean about it being tricky, but then surely other mediums have their own particular problems and challenges. They certainly do have when I try and use them! I have tried hard to get on with pastels as I really admire the work done in this medium. Sadly, I just make a terrible mess and then need a bath afterwards to get rid of the dust. I don't fare much better with charcoal - terrible results and everything I touch has black smears on it. Oil pastels were impossible as it was a bit like using Crayola wax crayons - not a lot of subtlety going on. I didn't so much find acrylics difficult as confusing. They seemed to be like watercolour, but weren't, and I couldn't quite work out where they fitted in. I have never tried oils so can't judge whether they are difficult or not. That is just my summing up of my experience with mediums other than watercolour. However, is it my lack of affinity with them that results in me producing just bin fodder when using them? Is it a lack of skill? Are people inexorably drawn to one particular medium? I, personally, think all mediums are hard to master if you are to get the best out of them. Whether some are easier to become skillful in than others is debatable and it in the end, it is probably as I said above, a case of having an affinity with a particular medium which smooths the path to mastering it. So which medium, if any, is actually the hardest to master?