A PAINTING FOR THE EMPEROR

     This story was passed down from ancient China. An emissary of the emperor visited a famous painter one day. The emperor desired a painting, the emissary told him, asking him whether he could paint a rooster for his majesty. The painter replied that he could do so, but it might take him awhile, for a good picture needed time. Now, the emissary knew that the emperor was not blessed with much patience, so he granted the painter two weeks to paint the rooster. When the two weeks had passed, he appeared again. “Where is the rooster?” he asked the painter, who replied that he was working on it, but the picture was not yet finished. The emissary cursed, but granted the painter another week, since he was aware that the painter was a great master of his craft. For his part, the painter vowed to finish the rooster in time. However, when the week was over and the emissary appeared again, the picture was still not completed. The emissary ranted and shouted, but nothing helped. The painter demanded yet another week to work on the rooster.

     Now, the emperor was not accustomed to waiting, and when the week had ended, he arrived in person, accompanied by his royal household, to visit the painter. He inquired whether the rooster was now finished. The painter lifted his face and responded: Yes, indeed, the rooster was now finished. And before the eyes of the perplexed emperor, he took an empty sheet of paper, picked up a brush and painted a rooster for the emperor. The emperor was speechless. He barked at the painter: Why did he allow his emperor to wait so long for something that he could paint here and now, at the drop of a hat? The painter remained very calm. He crossed his studio and opened a door to a rear room. And, as all present looked into the room, they could see a space as large as the painter’s studio that was full to the ceiling with weeks’ worth of sketches, attempts, and drafts for the emperor’s swiftly painted rooster.

This story has a great deal to do with watercolors. Watercolor involves techniques that require some time to fine-tune. It does not, however, take much time to actually paint with watercolor; it is a very fast, immediate medium. Nevertheless, no matter how little time it takes to paint, it’s important to take the time to practice and get the hang of the techniques. To be frank, this may not be the advice people expect from a watercolor instruction book, which, by nature, attempts to help readers achieve rapid, dramatic results. However, the Chinese master’s watercolor technique has great potential. And since even the greatest Chinese master was not made in a day, we’ll just start out on our way together— as swiftly as possible.

From the beginning of Felix Scheinberger's Urban Watercolor Sketching: A Guide to Drawing, Painting, and Storytelling in Color.
A wonderful book!

You could exchange painting of a rooster to song about a rooster and the story still rings true........................................