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My Art Journey Lives to See Another Day!

If you have been following my blog, my last post left you wondering whether I gave up on the world of art or not. If you haven't been following, basically I made a mess of my third painting and was wondering if I really had what it took to paint. I decided to push on. I am new. I don't have a painting style or technique down yet. I joined an art community and they informed me that if I don't like a painting, I can just gesso over it and start again. Gesso, yet another new art instrument I learnt about on this journey. It is basically a paint-like substance used to prime or prepare a surface for painting.

The community also reassured me that they produce duds too, and that it was ok to fail sometimes. I felt a little better but it would be a few weeks before I got the confidence to paint again. During those weeks, I surfed through the community, looking at painting by others. Some of the paintings intimidated me. Thoughts of, I would never be that good  entered my mind, but I tried my best to brush them off. During those weeks, I looked at paintings done by my fellow artists and tried to learn as much as I could.

My friend's birthday came up and I decided I wanted to do a painting for her and all of a sudden, my drive came back. From the moment I prepped my canvas from white to black, all I felt was happiness. I was content and relaxed while painting. My anxiety went out the window. My friend loves The Nightmare before Christmas, so I painted Jack and Sally for her. Jack was a breeze to paint. Sally was a little bit harder. At first I couldn't get her face to look quite right, but then I told myself get out of your head. You "paint" your own face with makeup all time, so just do the opposite of what you usually do because Sally has dark circles. Once I envisioned how I did my makeup, it suddenly became easier. Sometimes technique can just be lying dormant inside you all along. So lesson learnt, the journey won't always be easy, but eventually I will get it.





So how am I faring today? I am struggling with some flowers on the painting I am currently working on, but I am happy to report that I am not giving up. I just took a break and will get back to it tomorrow.

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