To See, Perchance to Paint

I love art. I have always wanted to paint masterpieces. Unfortunately, I wasn't born with the talent needed for that. It wasn't until a co-worker, who was studying art at the time, pointed out that all I had to do was copy the lines of what I was looking at, that I really tried to overcome that lack. All I had to do was notice how lines converged, intersected, and diverged. According to her, anyone could draw. 

I tried it. The tricky part was looking at something in two dimensions, rather than three. Once my brain accepted it and my hand stopping trying to poke through the paper, I was drawing. It wasn't perfect, but it was acceptable. I scoured bookstores for books about drawing. I found one titled Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. The author said more or less what my co-worker had told me; anyone can draw as long as they train the brain to see differently. I followed some of the exercises and advice given, and I began to draw decently. I was no Albrecht Dürer, but what I drew was recognizable. My biggest problem was that I was slow. I couldn't make lightning-quick sketches like some street artists I have seen, nor finish a simple drawing in anything under three hours. 

From black and white I wanted to jump to color. I tried colored pencils, but I wanted something more sweeping. I was reluctant to try oils, so I bought some pastels and a book. I loved them, but I couldn't use them to get what I wanted. It was frustrating putting colors together. It seemed like a kindergarten child had painted inside the lines. I brought all my supplies with me when we moved, but I didn't take them out. I stuck with graphite pencils for a while, and then simply stopped drawing. 

Some years ago we were visiting an acquaintance with a talent for drawing who had some of his paintings hanging on the walls of the house he was renting. His drawing talent was not visible in his paintings, which were mostly abstract color renditions of I don't know what. As I was looking around, I thought to myself, "Surely I can do something better than this." The following weeks I searched for a good book to help me with pastel techniques and some more pastel sticks. I tried a painting and I liked it. I've been painting on and off since then.

They're not beautiful paintings. Some are better than others. Some I could throw out. But I'm slowly learning techniques and learning to see differently. My only problem is finding the pastels. Oil painting has become popular here, and you can find oil painting classes and supplies in many places. But pastels are more difficult to find because not many know what they are. I have to order some supplies, such as sanded paper, on the internet. But I have to order from the U.K. because it's not available in Spain, or, at least, not from any internet shop here I've checked out. 

I'll never be a Rembrandt, but at least I can try.

 

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