Trying my own art

I have always loved doing many types of crafts. Years ago when I became disabled, the occupational therapists said that painting or doing crafts would help me physically as well as mentally, and they were definitely right. Though I enjoyed crafts, I always envied conventional artists.

In eighth grade, the high school art teacher asked our class to draw a tree in full autumn color. So I picked my tree and proceeded to draw it. When the art teacher came to look at our work, the artist in our class had done a beautiful lifelike one using crayons. It was gorgeous and full of color. When the art teacher saw my drawing, she said, “Oh that must be that dead tree over there!” The tree I drew was not dead. But you get the idea of my talent for drawing.

On a recent shopping trip to a dollar store, I decided to buy some art supplies. I will have to enlist assistance to do art. I told the activities director that I had a project coming up and she gave me a funny look. But I have been giving it a lot of thought. I want to do art that reflects my different artistic ability.

I bought some poster board and poster paint. But I think I will need watercolors or oil paints that will not dry up quickly. I will research to find out which one is best. I can only use one arm so whatever I paint on will have to be elevated. My arm will need to be propped and I will need to paint in an unconventional way.

I realize now that this project could get to be expensive. When I did ‘paint by numbers’ years ago, those kits were inexpensive only if they were on sale. I spent hours back then painting and blending the colors into each other. Painting taught me a lot about color and depth. So I need to figure out how to do a quality project now.

What started out as a lighthearted project has become more complicated. I will have to figure out the best place to do my art. I want to be as self-sufficient as possible so that I can concentrate on what I am doing. I briefly considered using Paintbrush on the computer. But previous experience has shown me that it takes a very steady hand.

I will probably start out with my poster paint. The small brush will not be adequate so I will get a couple of larger brushes to smooth the color quicker. With just a few extra things I should be able to get an idea of the possibilities. Meanwhile, my bag of art goodies is sitting here waiting for me to get started. I think trying my art would be an inspiring and diversionary fall/winter project for me.

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