A while back, I was planning to go visit a friend of mine for a couple of days who lives in a different city. However I didn’t have a clue what gift I could bring her. She’s the type that really doesn’t care about material things, so of course jewellery was out of the question. She’s more into sentimental things, so I decided to make her a gift. This idea came to me while I was cleaning out a closet and found a box of paint supplies. I opened it up and instantly remembered she once bought me those acrylic paints. So I then decided to paint her a picture. The only problem was I hadn’t painted in over a decade and had lost most of my skills.
That didn’t deter me though because I was thoroughly motivated. In the back of my mind I thought I was going to paint her a masterpiece. Yet when paint touched canvas, reality hit and it said I sucked. I just couldn’t express what I wanted the way I had imagined it. But again my motivation didn’t weaken considering the fact that my intentions were good. I just thought of the positive things my friend had brought into my life; and I realized that what she loved most about me was who I was and not who I was trying to be. So I decided to start fresh and think of a style that I loved and could imitate.
While I would have preferred to have been original, I felt painting a tribute painting was just as good as making a CD for a person you care about. In that, the songs are better able to express your feelings than you are capable of. My paint style of choice was van Gogh’s post-impressionist style; which combined bright or solid colors, which harsh brush strokes, and thick paint applications. I felt at ease and liberated with this style and decided to take on one of his most famous paintings, The Starry Night. Unfortunately I’m not rich so I had to settle with painting supplies (brushes and canvas) from the Dollar Store. Yet to my amazement once I had finished the project, the painting came out better than expected and my friend really loved it. I now hope to carry on this re-found hobby and start off with tribute paintings, and maybe one day create my own style. I also hope to give them out as presents to all my friends.
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