Traffic jams, deadlines, garbage piling up, crime stories left and right -- are you about to explode from the pressures of daily life? Why not take on a relaxing hobby? Try picking up a brush, a drawing pad and some tubes of watercolor and discover the artist in you. Watercolor painting can not only take your mind away from the daily grind, it also allows you to see beauty and get inspiration from the simplest things around you.

Watercolor is the common medium used for still life painting. Among the noted watercolor still life painters were Giovanna Garzoni (1600-1670), Emil Nolde (1867-1956) and J.M.W. Turner. Paul Cezanne (1839-1906) painted in both oils and watercolor. His still lifes are noted for making viewers see the beauty of colors and forms even of the most ordinary objects such as apples or a jug.

For a beginner who wants to bring out his talent in watercolor painting, the steps are fairly easy:

Choosing paints and pigments. Watercolor paints come in a wide variety of colors in different forms such as pan and tube colors. The main difference is that there is more glycerine in tube colors. Glycerine is a syrupy liquid which enables the color to adhere more to the paper. Glycerine makes tube colors more soluble than pan which makes the former more suitable when painting large areas. Meanwhile, gouache paints are water soluble paints that appear more opaque. These may be used in creating highlights. You may find these at the art section of leading book stores.

Mixing colors. A wide range of colors may be produced by mixing basic primary colors in shades of yellow, red and blue. Yellow and blue, for example, will yield green, while red and blue mix to form violet. Blue pigments are relatively powerful, thus a green should be mixed by adding only a small touch of blue to yellow.

Paint stripes of the different colors on your palette. When dry, paint another set of stripes in the same order of colors, this time criss-crossing the first stripes. Record all the colors you have produced in a sketchbook to remind you of the colors you get by mixing the primaries.

Reds, bright oranges, golden yellow and other orange-tinged shades are warm colors. Objects painted in warm colors appear to move forward on the paper. Cool colors are essentially blue-tinged colors. When placed side by side with warm colors, cool colors appear to recede.

Brushes and brushstrokes. A good brush is an essential tool but to will it to produce great art, you must practice to perfect your brushstrokes.

Choosing paper. When choosing paper, it is important to know the texture and weight based on the painting technique you intend to use. Some types of paper are more suited to certain painting technique than others. Rough textured paper is good for grainy effects while smooth paper is best for even washes of color. Heavier papers do not need stretching and can withstand rigorous techniques such as scrubbing out colors.

� Wet your sheet of paper thoroughly with cold water for about to minutes. This is to allow the fibers to expand.

� When your paper is thoroughly wet, put it on the drawing board, smooth it out, and sponge off excess water.

� Moisten four strips of masking tape, one for each side of the paper

. Stick the tape on four edges of the paper and let the paper dry. As the water evaporates, the paper fibers contract. This makes the paper hard and flat.

Making sketches. Painting subjects are all around. It is always helpful to carry a sketchbook with you so you can quickly sketch images that may catch your interest. Sketches enable you to try out various compositions before you embark on full scale painting.

Once you see an object or a scene and be so moved by it that you want to paint it, carpe diem! There are no absolute rules to follow in painting. The best guide are your feelings towards the things that you see. Let these feelings and emotions flow from your mind to your heart, then through your arm, to the tip of your brush and onto the paper. And voila! See your masterpiece unfold before you.