I took an art class back in college. It was an introduction course and we used acrylic paint and explored a lot. It wasn’t what I had expected, I thought it would be a lot of sitting and looking at object and trying to replicate it. But mostly it was painting color scales, color wheels, making shapes and cutting and pasting. The last assignment of the semester was the first one where we were to actually paint an object, a fruit or vegetable. And I was so surprised that it turned out way better than I would have imagined, even though we hadn’t practiced that at all. I got out of that class really happy and excited about art and painting.
Being isolated definitely takes a hit at my sanity. I’m used to being out and about all day, most days, and suddenly I’m home pretty much all the time. Lately, I’ve for some reason felt really drawn back to the arts and crafts, and drawing and painting in particular. So I decided to pick up the pen and go for it. And it’s been like therapy for me. I can feel how my train of thoughts takes a little break. It might be just a short one, but even so, a break.
I don’t know why, but I’ve always been the one to choose the most time consuming projects. And with drawing as well, I fell for drawing with dots. I really can’t draw, but with this technique I feel more confident as it feels a little bit like dodging and burning when retouching. It’s all just about values of tones. However, it takes a lot of time. But for some reason that seems to be my cup of tea. When I crochet, I always pick out the big ass, never ending blanket project instead of baby socks or something quick.
This flower took me about 5 days to draw. I would estimate it to maybe 6 hours of work. But I’m happy with the results, and mostly I’m happy to be back on a piece of paper. I’m thinking about doing a 10 mins of art every day for the rest of this period of isolation. That might be a good way to keep giving my thinking brain a little break each day!
