“Welcome to Fight Club. The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club.”― Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club

Honestly, I do not know what Fight Club is. And probably don’t want to know. But I’ve heard this so many times – and I have to laugh when folks ask about the rules for an art challenge.

Inexplicably, lots of artists are rule-followers; perhaps if there are prizes they want to know they are going to qualify. But mostly I think it’s our insecurity. We want to fit in, to do it right, to not have people judge us on what we’re doing. I get that instinct.

But every year there’s always a few of my newer followers who discover there’s a thing called World Watercolor Month, and since I’m an Ambassador, I might know what the rules are.

What’s World Watercolor Month?

Started back in 2016 – it’s basically a celebration of watercolor! Artists of all levels from all around the world paint through the month and celebrate the medium. You can join in without signing up, just go over to the World Watercolor Month site and check out the details!

What’s a World Watercolor Month Ambassador?

We’re champions for the celebration of watercolor! It’s a bunch of watercolorists who help Charlie O’Shields at Doodlewash, the organizer of WWCM, get the word out, get people excited about the month of July, and do some fundraising!

Just so you know, we don’t get paid for this. We’re volunteers just like Charlie!

Ambassadors donate a piece of our art so Charlie can get swag made from it. They’re limited to being sold just in this time period so get yours now!

World Watercolor Month: The Rules!

Watch the video below and scroll to the end to leave comments or questions — or click HERE to watch it on YouTube and leave comments over there. I read both dutifully!

The rules – and how to break them

The gist of the “rules” goes something like this:

“Use the prompts to create watercolor paintings every day in July while sharing online and raising funds for charity.”

But I’ve got a few caveats!

Use the prompts. Or not.

Charlie provides prompts…not just for this July celebration but all year long. (Go subscribe to his email list for more info!) But you know what? You don’t have to follow them! No one will fault you for going your own way. You do you! What inspires you right now? Paint that!

I follow some prompts and not others – sometimes (gasp) I don’t even look at the day’s prompt and I just go with what I feel like. Today was an accident since I needed to get started on my July phenology wheel (more on that in a few minutes) – the first prompt is “radiant” and my wheel has radiant lines. Check that box by accident! ha!

I will be following the prompts for my Wednesday Zoom paintalongs, though!

Must use watercolor?

The definition of “watercolor” is pretty expansive. Gouache counts. As do watercolor pencils and markers. And you know what? I have classes in traditional watercolor as well as these others! So if you need a start in one of those mediums, check out what’s available here.

My definition of “watercolor” has been even more expansive through the years – I call using “color” to create a drawing or painting of “water” counts! Alcohol marker drawings of the ocean, colored pencil drawings of a fish swimming in coral. Get creative – and get creating!

Oh gosh, paint every day?

Making art daily IS good for you. I’ve always encouraged people to do a little something every day in order to grow as an artist, so I won’t tell you not to aim for daily.

But you don’t have to do MASSIVE paintings daily. You don’t have to finish the art. You can work on one painting all month! Or do something like this phenology wheel above and paint something tiny every day. (You could make it a grid to be easier, just paint something in a little square!)

And if you miss a day or a few or a week, get right back to it when you can. It’s summer, don’t give up a day of snoozing under a tree with a book on your lap!

A lot of my students use the month to paint through my 30 Days to More Confident Watercolor Sketching class each July – they have a tutorial for the day, they don’t have to think about coming up with an idea, and they can track how they’re growing year by year.

I have to share my work too??

Oh heck no! There’s no rule about having to post your art. I know when I was starting with watercolor I had to swallow hard knowing someone would SEE the mess I’d just created, GASP! So I get it.

But you know what? There’s someone even newer than YOU out there. Someone who has always wanted to watercolor but is too embarrassed to try it. You could be their inspiration! Just think, that could be the next famous watercolorist on the scene in a few years, and they’ll say YOU were the one who encouraged them to buy some paints and get  started. Wouldn’t that be cool?

If you’re looking for a safe place to share – I can vouch for the community at Artventure over on Mighty Networks. It’s such an encouraging place! No one will shame you, they’ll give positive and constructive tips that’ll help you grow. You can see their work and know everyone is learning alongside each other. Most are my students so you’ll even see homework from classes —and you can ask people how easy or hard one is that you’re considering signing up for. You’ll get unvarnished opinions from them rather than relying on me!

Artventure’s free to join, I pay for it myself – and you can download the Mighty Networks app to participate there, or just do so on a web browser without an app. And if you’re interested in the free Zoom calls, that’s where you’ll need to go RSVP and get sketches and the zoom link. Sign up here! 

Ooh fundraise?

Some people get intimidated by the idea of fundraising, others run towards it – and there are options for just quietly doing your part – or for shouting it from the rooftops and spreading the word.

The charity we’ve fundraised for is the International Child Art Foundation – ICAF – they work with kids in their communities and help them make ART! Next year is their every-four-years event in DC, and I’ll be going there for it and teaching!

But as for this year, ICAF saw their National Endowment for the Arts funding cut in all the chaos in DC this year – so we need ot step up so the kids know their art is important to some of us adults!

I fundraise every year, and this year the options are:

1. 10% of EVERY class, not just watercolor, are donated to ICAF through July. (use this link to see them all in a mishmash list, or use the menu on that site to navigate to your favorite medium).
2. 100% of several new products will be donated to ICAF through July: Animal Artist Printables, Robot Printables, and Watercolor Bookmarks Livestreams 2025. (You can attend the livestreams for free, but could also donate the $25 for the course and not only be able to miss some of the Zoom calls but to watch them over and over.)
3. 10% of fine art purchases are donated to ICAF through July. Shop now!
4. Donate your art! We’re collecting handmade art bookmarks to give to the kids ICAF serves in 2026, and there’s more info on that here.

The bookmarks made during the Watercolor Bookmarks Livestreams Zooms may or may not be appropriate for the kids – like Espresso, which is the them for tomorrow’s call. But you can use them, swap them, give them as gifts – and you’ll learn some fabulous techniques!

Subscribe to receive blog posts by email:

And now…what’s a phenology wheel?

All through 2025 I’ve been working on mine daily, after seeing Marion making her own. Phenology is the study of how nature changes over time, and documenting the world right around you is eye opening! 

Each month I’ve chosen a different theme, and used different mediums….in April I created a handmade round book to keep everything together and to allow me to take it with me to show people at events. I’m half a year in and it’s coming along so well, as you saw in the video!

My themes each month have been:

1. January: all things green, watercolor
2. February: skies, gouache
3. March: birds, marker and pen
4. April: spring buds and blooms, watercolor
5. May: deciduous and flowering trees, alcohol marker
6. June: tiny flowers on weeds, colored pencil

This month I want to try something different and follow ONE plant through the month. My hydrangeas have started coming in, and I’ll be painting from the inital bud to the full on blossom. My Mom, who passed last year, would be so happy it’s still blooming after all these years since she bought that bush for me and helped me plant it. In August it’ll be a year without her, and this is a happy memory to spend time with as my sisters and I come up on that sad anniversary.

I’ve seen lots of people starting to make phenology wheels, and that’s so great! Remember these are about the progression of nature over time – not just a random picture from your phone a few months ago. It gets you out there to look at your surroundings and notice things every day. What new birds have arrived, and which don’t you see anymore? What did the initial buds look like on a fig tree that’s now bearing fruit? I now have my eyes wide open while out walking my dogs. I used to just listen to podcasts but now I’m too busy listening for birdsongs and visiting trees I’ve sketched, just to see how they’re different now than before.

Will you be participating?

I hope my un-rules inspired you to jump in and take part in World Watercolor Month this year! I’d love to see what you’re creating, and Artventure is the only place I can count on to show me the creations all the time, so I hope you’ll join us!