It seemed sad that today was the last day of our Art Starters course.

I had made some very lovely new art friends.  Hilary the happy carefree accountant, Sarah the alternative fun loving massage therapist, Sisi (Le) the very talented “I have not really done art before” lady who sat next to me, Dee who home schools her daughter Marie (who sat opposite me and I would guess that she was maybe in her early teens), Anita another talent “I have not really done this before” young mother from China. Then there were the more quieter students further down the table, Monique, a primary school teacher who gets to “play” as she puts it everyday with arts and crafts with the kids. Monique is extremely detailed and realistic in her drawings, the envy of the class I would say.  There was also Vicki and another lady who were so quieter that I would forget they were there.  Terrible I know, I often make an effort to get to know everyone (that’s providing the class isn’t too big).  It was a fun class and most of us had decided to continue and enroll in the three week beginner’s acrylic course to begin in a few weeks.  So luck you, you will get to see more of my art journey.

Time to Play

There seemed like there was so much to learn today.  It wasn’t purely about acrylics but about the materials that could create texture for us (as budding artists) to paint on.

There were so many different types of media to use that I couldn’t remember what was for what?!  They all seemed to look the same.  I’m sure that if I took the time to do a little research then it would become familiar to me.

The plan was to use the various forms of media to create texture and layers, let it dry then everyone was to paint the same picture.  I have to admit there was a small degree of anxiety there, knowing that there were all these talent “beginner” artists in the room. 

Whilst that was drying outside, we all chose our own picture to paint with acrylics.

So that was the plan, however, our acrylics painting took longer than expected (not that anyone was time checking) but it left little to no time at all to commence painting the other. Which would have been fun!

I didn’t know that about acrylic paint

Donna explained to us that although acrylics are easier to paint with than water colours, once you dollop you paint on the pallet you need to use it up because once it dries, that’s it! You can’t use it again, unlike water colours.

So the idea is to only squeeze out a little at a time so you don’t waste it.

Here are some of the brands that were recommended to us from the quite expensive quality paint ( Matisse) to the student grade paint .(A2)

I went completely left handed today

I really didn’t think anything of it.  Especially given that the week before I had painted about 80% of my water colour painting with my left hand.  This time I sketched and painted. No awkwardness, no hesitation, no brain “farts” even.

So maybe I am supposed to do all these artist activities with my left? Seems like the intuitive thing to do.

I also stood up the entire time to paint and sketch this one.

It looks terrible

Again , like all my others during the painting, I thought “this looks terrible” I have “no idea why I chose this  one to do”.  Also it doesn’t help when every now and then you look up and see emaster pieces everyone else around you is doing!  Especially Sisi who has a knack for detail and realistic copying.

But I seem to say that every time to myself and then am astounded that it actually looks quite good and it’s something I’m quite proud of, especially when I take a photo and see it from the view finder of my camera.

At the time of painting I felt like I was just splodging paint randomly on my paper.  It funny how standing back from the paper you can see the painting but up close it looks like a mess of colours on the paper.

Feedback from Donna our Art Teacher

It was very encouraging to have Donna come past and say to me that I have “the style” right!  She meant the style of painting that I was copying.

Getting it into my head that painting  or drawing need not necessarily be an exact reproduction of what you see but an interpretation of what you see and experience has been part of my art journey.

I’m really looking forward to my three week acrylic class. Stay tuned for more of Aggie’s Art.

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