At which point do you/did you decide to switch medium?

Just do it….  Though I do know what you mean.    People really think that Watercolour is the easy option, new artists I mean.. it’s what you had as a child it’s what you are used to seeing .  It’s not.   I really think that Watercolour is the most difficult medium of all. With acrylic and oil you can paint over ,scrape it off, rub it out. Enjoy your course Norrette it is quite different….a challenge ! .  

Unless you're feeling tied to a medium/style because you're doing things professionally - go for it! Watercolours can be really tricky (they are my primary medium too) and cause a lot of executive dysfunction and creative paralysis because they're an intense medium. If you've found something that you get on with better, even if only temporarily, then definitely explore that! At best, you'll soar and reach your creative vision faster. At worse, you'll have learnt loads of new skills you can bring back to watercolours (or other mediums). There's also nothing saying you can't use more than one medium. I started using oils a year ago and, while I haven't really found much time to practice enough, I will use both mediums :)

Interesting about watercolour being the most difficult medium - because technically, there really isn't a good reason why it should be: it's just re-wettable paint, bound in gum arabic, and sometimes one or two other things.  But it's the transparency and the great difficulty which lies in correcting it that's the snag.   I certainly don't have the magic answer to making watercolour easier - I'd produce fewer disasters of my own if I had. But there are two things I'd say, to make it a little bit more straightforward (well, three things, if you count watching Alan Owen on YouTube and Patreon as well): one is that for whatever reason, the paper really does matter and we don't all respond in the same way to it - so experiment with different ones; it's not always the case that cotton rag will suit you best; some of my better efforts have been on Bockingford,   And two, I have noticed people abandoning a watercolour too early - beguiled by the "keep it loose" advice, they think that if their first bold application of colour has dried to a pale and not very interesting stain, they've failed.  Depressed by that failure, they try the same approach, and fail again - then conclude that they just can't paint in watercolour. For some of us, though, this bold and exciting approach, the watercolour fast and loose way, doesn't really work - at least not until we've learned how to graduate to it.  It has to be learned: and practised.   If you're not ready to go the full Ron Ranson, or Steve Cronin, there are slower and more careful ways - particularly by starting light, and working through to dark - the reverse of the usual approach in oil painting and acrylic.   I paint little in watercolour these days, though have painted quite a few in the past - until I get back into the swim of things, I'll take the slow road: a bit of drawing, and a fair bit of, frankly, colouring-in: starting with light washes, strengthening them as I go along, washing out if I have to (I do hate doing that, but it often works), and perhaps reverting to Bockingford, or The Langton NOT; I know that works, and it'll help build my confidence for a more "instant" effort.  One other thing - a good thing about having a couple of paintings on the go at the same time, particularly if they're in different mediums, is that it'll give your watercolour a chance to dry before coming back to it, taking care of your impatience to finish the thing - which has been the cause of most of my failures: ploughing on when I should have waited.  Just don't get your brushes mixed up...

Well Robert that’s a lot of very sound advice. My favourite paper  is Bockingford no matter what weight it’s , in my opinion  one of the best for most paintings . I have and occasionally do use other more expensive paper and select the ones I want for a particular painting. I’m always a bit bemused when people talk about watercolour being a difficult medium to use , I use it because I find it the easiest one to paint the subjects I  like with. I originally started painting when in hospital recovering from a spinal injury, so no chemical's permitted and Matron of a RAF hospital was not amused if you messed up the bedding .  I don’t pretend to be a good artist , and I do follow the norms most of the time in that it’s light before dark etc, the only exception to that is I often start out by pain some of the shadow areas with a very pale dark wash . I know this sound a contradiction, pale , dark wash , usually and I know most people hate it Payne’s Grey with often a touch of Rose Madder or purple . My reason is it seems then to make the areas I want lighter ,stand out more.  I try to use colour as thin/ week as possible to keep it translucent if possible , building up in fine layers as I go along .  I hope I’m reasonably successful in what I produce and use the same methods for whatever subject in attempting.  I would advice anyone starting out to try watercolour, and not be put off by people saying it the most difficult of the mediums , like all the others it’s a matter of preference and most importantly practice , practice and yet more practice.  What ever you paint or draw with the most important thing of all is to enjoy it , and sharing it with others does have its rewards  So brushes, pens, pencils , pastel etc out and get on with it . 

I'm of the same mind I love my watercolour but it's more in the planning for me the white is paper and must remain so as with the pen and ink once you have the plan you stick to it . I'm just playing with Gouache and can't get used to putting white on black.   Work in progress..

Great start to gouache painting Bari, lovely bright colours. The only thing that I find a bit tricky with gouache is layering. If you are a bit heavy handed or use too much water, the colour underneath can come away.

Yes Frank one of the many problems I had especially as I have been using Inktens watercolour half pans, big learning curve but very enjoyable.