It explained a lot and, had it been diagnosed earlier, my earlier life might have been a lot easier. When I was growing up I suffered a lot of harsh criticism and punishment because of what seemed like absent-mindedness, lack of concentration and a tendency to fidget. I don't say this with any bitterness; there might be other things in my past I could be bitter about but in this case it would be entirely unrealistic to blame parents and teachers back then for not recognising the symptoms. Indeed, when I did voluntary work with children, there were some children who I now realise probably suffered with it but I didn't recognise the symptoms at the time.


My ADHD became especially obvious to me during COVID when I went back to playing the piano. I would be in the middle of a piece, my mind would wander and my hands kept going on automatic pilot until suddenly I would find myself lost. 


With painting, or writing, if you lose the thread of your concentration you just come to a stop, so there is no harm done. But obviously you can't stop in the middle of playing a piece of music until you gather your thoughts. I will never be much of a musician but, even with ADHD, I have the capacity to be a competent painter (or writer).


A watercolour always starts with the pencil outline. That normally takes one session (1-2 hours) but, in the case of subjects with a lot of detail (like architecture) it can take longer. The next session is often much shorter; it's where I do a wash for the larger patches of smooth colour, like sky and water, and background colour for areas where more details will be picked out with a finer brush later.


This is when the painting looks its worst. Mistakes with washes can be patched up later but at this stage all I have is a pencil outline with splotches of plain colour. For the next few sessions I really have to force myself to continue, as I fill in detail. It's still too soon to visualise how the picture will finally look, and it's easy to lose confidence. Only when it's about two-thirds completed do I reach the stage of being confident that it's at least presentable (If I haven't already dumped it). At that stage there's more to lose if something goes wrong (as can happen) so I either have to patch up mistakes or abandon the work (which doesn't happen often - perhaps not as often as it should). It's always a relief to finish it. I normally leave it overnight and examine it again for things I might have missed before I bring it to the framers.


I am always pleased when I can share a photo with friends, either on WhatsApp or on Facebook. That's when it's worth it.