Evolve to Paint

This story starts about two years ago. I was a freshman in college and I had a problem. It wasn’t a big problem, but it was one I wanted to fix. I couldn’t draw, I couldn’t paint. You could say I had no artistic ability what-so-ever. My older sister on the other hand did wonderful art work. She could create modern master pieces, well maybe not master pieces but they looked pretty cool. My art looked like a 7 year old had fashioned it, a talented 7 year old, but a 7 year old none the less. Most people wouldn’t think that it was a real problem. Afterall, I was good at math, science and all the left-brain things; they even bored me a little to be honest. I had started to think that maybe I wasn’t meant for art and yet I saw it as a problem. I wanted to create; I wanted people to wow over my stuff and I had learned that not a lot of people wow over math problems, no matter how long they are.

Then I found my solution. I was sitting in class one day, bored out of my mind, doodling on a sheet of paper. I wasn't trying to draw because I had given up, I was just making random geometric shapes(insert icon of art here linking to larger image), because, after all that was what I was good at. I put a square next to a triangle and a trapezoid on top of that, never a curve, only straight lines. Slowly my random shapes started to take form. I took out a few lines, added a few more and then….I had made a lion! He looked like a retarded lion but it was still a lion. I wanted to jump out of my chair with joy. “I can create, I can draw,” I wanted to scream; “I can be one of the greats!” I could be like Picasso, a cubist artist but different. Picasso took life and added randomness to it. I took randomness and created order.

I didn’t give myself too much credit at first because I thought it might have been a fluke. I might not actually have any real talent. So, I set out to create again. This time I started with a trapezoid, added a square, a few triangles and it became a man. I ended up calling him my working man(insert icon of art here linking to larger image). I did have it! I did have talent - a very unique talent. I became obsessed. Anytime I could I would draw random shapes until they turned into something recognizable. My ability to create became better and better. I made a rule that I didn’t want my shapes to contain over 5 or 6 angles. I wanted to limit myself in order to make them more interesting. I drew a shoe(insert icon of art here linking to larger image), a butterfly(insert icon of art here linking to larger image), a man drinking iced coffee which I titled The Globe(insert icon of art here linking to larger image) after my favorite coffee shop. My interpretation makes the man look a little like Homer Simpson but, I like him that way.

As time passed, creating sketches on notebook paper couldn’t sustain my need to create. I wanted more. How could you have an art show if all you had was a notebook full of paper with notes around the drawings? I needed something more, something better. I decided to paint and turn all my dull grey sketches into artwork full of bright vibrant colors. I got a few canvases, a couple of tubes of paint and started to create. I picked Homer as my first endeavor. I wanted something that people would wow over. But instead I encountered another wall. I couldn’t just throw the sketch on the canvas; all the angles had to be just right to recreate it. So, sticking to what I know, I made a grid of my sketch and a grid of the canvas. It was exactly what I needed to do in order for me to get it right. Then, I sketched my art work on the canvas with a pencil, painted over the lines with black paint and set out to fill it in with the bright vibrant colors I had envisioned. It was a mess at first. The painting looked dull. I had to learn how to shade things. I looked at the things around me for inspiration and tried to give my art depth. The first one wasn’t very good but as I practiced my colorations improved.

After a while, instead of taking randomness and turning it into something, I reversed my process. I saw things that I wanted to turn into my art and converted them. I started with simple cartoon drawings I found on the internet; breaking the images down into simple shapes that would work well in my style. Then I started with harder more complex images. The painting of the drive home(insert icon of art here linking to larger image) was by far the most complex thing I had tried to paint at that point. I was scared to mess it up, so I worked on it a little at a time. I just stared at it most of the time hoping I could make it look like the picture in my head. Then, one day, I had had enough and I sat down to finish it. It took me six hours of mixing colors and drawing lines and then remixing colors in order to get it right. When I finished it, it was gorgeous - well, in my mind anyway. I felt I had finally done something people would wow over. It gave me confidence to try something even harder. There was one area I had never ventured into before and I honestly didn’t think I could do it.

I hadn’t ever been able to draw people before. The eyes were never the same or the lips were uneven but with my new style it didn’t really matter. The whole idea was that things didn’t match. I set out again with a new determination. I took a picture of the person, a guy named Alex that I know, and made a sketch of him. Then, I put the sketch on a canvas and colored the image in. He was by far the hardest thing I had ever tried to paint. It took layer upon layer of paint for me to get the shading right on his face and neck and then all of a sudden there Alex was, sitting in front of me on the canvas. I had done it! I had drawn a person and you could tell who he was and he didn’t even look like a deformed monster from the deep! I was a little sad because Alex was in Australia and wouldn’t be able to see my take on him until he came back.

So, I wondered, what was next? I was able to paint all of these interesting pieces of art, but no one could see them except my friends that I dragged into my room every time I finished a new one. Then it hit me - an art show! That was exactly what I needed! I wanted my work to hang where the whole world could see it, or at least quite a few people. But where would I find an art show? Luckily for me I knew just the place. It is a little coffee lounge in downtown St. Pete called The Globe. Every year they have a patron’s art show. It was perfect. I knew that the art show at the Globe I would find my fame and glory, well maybe not but it would still be cool. I was able to enter three pieces but for me, to sell or not to sell, was the real question. I had more than three pieces, so my next roadblock was which three to pick. I decided I would enter the one titled The Globe, because it was about The Globe; Alex because he was my most difficult painting and for the third… what should I pick for the third? I really liked the drive home, so much that I didn’t want to sell it, but I was curious to see if anyone would buy my work, and as a result I thought I should include the working man(insert icon of art here linking to larger image). I debated and finally decided on the drive home(insert icon of art here linking to larger image) as my final entry and that I wouldn't sell any of my work, just let people admire it.

My three pieces were accepted into the art show with enthusiasm by JoEllen, the owner. A lot of people entered the art show; the coffee shop was filled to overflowing with art. It was wonderful. The show lasted a month and towards the end, I happened to be in The Globe one night and JoEllen came up to me and said, “How would you feel about selling one of you paintings? A guy has asked me about it the last three times he has been in here. I know you said it wasn’t for sale but he really wants it; he even said he would make a nice offer” “What?! Someone wants to buy one of my paintings?!” the little girl in my head screamed - as she did her happy dance. My mind raced. I had no clue how much to ask for the painting. It was kind of large, I thought to myself, a 16’x20’ canvas and I had framed it, so - maybe $50. That way, I would make $20 off of it and for my first sale I didn't think that would be too bad. Instead of saying it out loud, I asked her “How much is the guy willing to pay?” She told me “He doesn’t have a lot of money but him and his wife said they can go as high as $100 or maybe $125.” The little girl in my head went nuts but I tried not to act surprised. I agreed to sell the painting for $100. I had wowed someone, like I had wanted to! I had met my goal. JoEllen passed the good news onto the guy and a week later we set up a date for him to pick up the painting. He was almost gushing with joy when we met. He told me he spends a lot of time driving, that my painting reminded him of his drive home everyday and that he loved my take on it. He also told me that the first time he saw it he knew he had to have it. I tried my best not to blush but I never expected a reaction like that out of someone. The glow on his face when I handed him the painting was priceless.

It has been about a month since the end of the art show and my other two paintings are still hanging at the Globe. JoEllen likes them so much she asked if she could keep the painting of Alex until he comes back from Australia to retrieve it. I have really done it. I have wowed people and I still am! So, where do I go now? I have decided to keep painting and keep getting better. Most of my paintings are gifts for people but my next big adventure is going to be a 16’x20’ painting of Riley, my boyfriend’s daughter. Her first birthday is towards the end of the month and I think she will love it when she gets older. I know my boyfriend and his family will love it now. I am just glad that I have found a creative outlet that I love and know now that I am good at more than just school.

The End.