Hacks

I know it's just a word, and I also know I'm easily irritated by small things - the big ones tend to leave me serenely indifferent.....   But I do get annoyed with these little videos that pop up all over the place offering watercolour "hacks" - particularly watercolour, probably because more people use it than other media (a guess; pretty sure it's the case).  You tend to find many fewer hacks for oil or acrylic - another reason for that might be that we all know you can scrape off your mistakes, or paint over them, whereas watercolour and inks won't take a lot of panicked alteration, so we like to get them right first time.  I'm reminded, semi-relevantly, of one of Charles Evans' watercolour videos, in which he responds to online criticism by saying "don't tell me how to paint!": by which he meant, he's got the techniques he needs; you can criticize the way he applies them if you want to (and good luck with that!) but don't try asking him something like "why don't you try a sprinkle of salt, or a bit of scrunched up bubble-wrap?", as if he'd never have thought of that for himself and it took you to tell him. Those are among the hacks which you'll find in too many online videos - and there are plenty of others, including adopting the Notan method - as just one example.  I have nothing against that at all, but how about just painting, and practising, and applying the colour, before you worry about fiddling with it with various additives of method or substance?    Well there we are: I'm more sensitive to this than I probably should be, because I hate tricksy video-makers who pretend there are short-cuts, "hacks", artificial ways - or even valid ways - to get around the problems that a particular medium presents.  If anyone has a hack for getting a likeness in portraiture, I'd be at their feet like a hungry dachshund, eager to grab a tempting treat - I've probably tried most of them, and what a waste of time most (all?) of them represent.  I've slunk away again, pursuing the dachshund theme, back to my basket....  Still, if you've got a hack, and it works - let us know!