"Be As Brave As You Can" (fine art print from the "Maxims" series, comes in two sizes)

ABOUT THIS LISTING
This is an unframed archival fine art print on Moab's Natural Rag paper. The print comes in two sizes and you can make your selection from the menu above. Prints are labelled and signed by the artist on the back and come with a printed and signed certificate of authenticity. (Please note that the listing photos show the original watercolor painting and embellished gouache mat, not the print. The print is derived from a high-resolution scan of the painting shown in the listing photos.)

This piece is one of ten intricate watercolor paintings Bryana created in 2025 for a series of illustrated proverbs called "Maxims." This series was created as part of the Tales From The Mandalina Tree, and exists thanks to the support of Bryana's subscribers over on Patreon.

ABOUT THIS PAINTING
In 2025, this maxim began meaning the world to me. In the face of my country's sudden shift toward autocracy, the vital and urgent need for risky moral courage moved for me overnight from the realm of adage to the realm of reality. Not by degrees but all at once, it became clear to me that being brave from the very beginning is the only hope for a democratic nation besieged by authoritarian whims. A ruler who wishes to be a dictator is only one man. Even an oligarchy is comprised only of the few. If the people, who are many, link arms in refusal, they will always have what it takes to be ungovernable under such a system. But bravery, of course, will not be effective unless many, many people choose it; unless the something that draws us close exerts a stronger pull than the grudges and hostilities that split us apart. And there is always The Question, hanging in the air and frightening: if I stand up to be brave and to say “no,” will anyone have my back? Or will I be as vulnerable as a solitary child wandering at night in a ceaseless wood? To act without knowing the answer is the brave thing I hope for us all to have the courage to do.

Artistic Choices: I heartily enjoy the aesthetics of mushrooms and fungi in general. They are fun to draw and fascinating to look at with all their curvature and gills, their slopes and shadows. But their habit of feeding on decaying things, while of course beneficial to life and indeed fundamental to earth’s ecosystems, always makes them seem a bit creepy to me too. So when I sat down to craft a surreal wood with a vaguely threatening vibe, I went straight for the mushrooms, drawing heavily on the work of 19th-century French lithographer Adolphe Philippe Millot to people my fungal forest. 

At 12x16 inches, this is one of my largest watercolor paintings, and was the work of several weeks. It’s accompanied by a painted mat adorned with luna moths, luna caterpillars, and autumnal birch leaves (a preferred host plant for luna caterpillars). I painted the mat with gouache, finishing it with black ink and polychromos colored pencils.

SHIPPING INFORMATION
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© 2026 Bryana Joy
The artist retains all copyrights.