Watercolor secret learned!

As some of you may know I was recently married. Well one of the gifts we received was a caricature of Cheri, my wife, and me from a good friend and fellow artist, Maho Garner. I was studying it today and like a ton of bricks I suddenly realized the way to master watercolors was not through random mastery (let it do what it does), nor was it through absolute control, it is just in keeping it light and simple. Let the colors do their thing...and on good paper! (paper can make or break a watercolor...) That's where this pic came from. It's just a sketch/study.