I just finished reading Painting as a Pastime by Winston S. Churchill. Yes, that Winston Churchill. I will confess to having had no idea that he was an accomplished painter until I watched The Crown on Netflix. I'm sure that says something about our education system but I'm going to try not to worry about it.
Churchill writes about painting as related to war which is both hilarious to me and also, surprisingly, sometimes accurate. I laughingly say I'm winning when I'm happy with a painting and I definitely feel like I'm losing when I am unhappy with a painting.
What I related to the most was his description of how painting changes the way you see everything.
"I found myself instinctively as I walked noting the tint and character of a leaf, the dreamy purple shades of mountains, the exquisite lacery of winter branches, the dim, pale silhouettes of far horizons. And I had lived for over forty years without ever noticing any of them except in a general way."
Learning how to paint is mostly learning how to see.