You Too Can Paint

I was terrible in art, during high school. My mother had always praised my sister’s art, while mine was always mediocre. So I gave it up, and excelled in other areas that I felt more comfortable in. I was good at cutting hair, makeup, and coloring hair. My dolls can attest to that fact, at least they could until all their hair fell out from over brushing, cutting and using food color on it until there was nothing left.

In the back of my mind though I had always wanted to paint, even if it was just one picture to hang on my own wall. After my children were born I drew and painted all their favorite Disney caricatures on their walls, toy boxes and other surfaces, even the items I hadn’t built myself. They had turned out pretty good, I still drew in my art book, but I never showed my artwork to anyone.

Then one day I was channel surfing and ran across a paint show on one of our local channels. It was a show that demonstrated the talents of Bob Ross. I was captivated by his paintings and his methods of bringing that painting together in just thirty minutes. I started tuning in as often as possible. I like the idea of happy trees, nature, snow scenes, and mountains. All the while my children were growing up I kept coming up with reasons not to even try to paint.

One day I ran out of excuses I was no longer married to a man that needed his hobbies over mine, my children were grown and living their own lives. So I took one of my paychecks and headed to Hobby Lobby and spent every penny on art supplies. I was going to have a painting that I painted over my sofa. My first attempt was sorry to say the least, but it hung over my sofa in my living room never the less. As time went on I realized my paintings were improving still not perfect, but more and more people were praising my work. Although I did take hints on several areas Bob Ross would point out I could never get the mountains right with his way of doing them. I had to come up with my own methods to improve them so they actually looked like mountains. The trees also never looked right so I keep looking and keep redoing until I feel they resemble a tree I like. I have grown to be my own worst critic, but that is okay it is my painting after all.

I am living proof that anyone can paint, so even when you feel you may not have any talent at all remember, take it from another artist the only person you have to please in yourself. You too can paint, mistakes can be fixed, and some mistakes add character to your paintings. My best advice is whatever you do, don’t quit, and don’t give up. You can always cover an old oil painting with a new picture until you find it to your liking.