Back to the beginning

 

While my painting abilities are still in their infancy, I thought it appropriate to go back to the beginning for subject matter.  For my third attempt, I chose one of nature's oldest plants, the fern.  These plants are one of the earliest vascular plants, being found in nature 423 million years ago in the Silurian period.  Without flowers or other complex structures, they should be easy to paint, I reasoned.  Well, judge for yourself.  I suppose one might recognize this work as a fern...

Let there be light

 For my second attempt at simple watercolor paintings, I turned to a popular subject: lighthouses.  For me, it's a fitting source of material as my favorite place in the country is New England where beautiful lighthouses abound.  Another connection is through my brief association long ago with the US Coast Guard, the agency long tasked with maintaining such aids to navigation.  So for this painting, I broke out a few additional colors of paint after the simple green leaf in my first effort.  And once again following the online step-by-step tutorial, I sketched the simple, stylistic lighthouse in pencil.  This work now attempted to incorporate some shadows and depth not found in the simple leaf, which I replicated with indifferent effect.  But I did gain some experience and begin to understand the application of watercolor paint to both dry and wet surfaces.  Certainly a learning experience.

Ars longa, vita brevis

 As part of my daily doom scrolling, I recently happened to click on an ad link for an art supply store.  And naturally, my web pages were instantly full of all manner of similar vendors.  One product that caught my eye was for a tiny little portable watercolor painting kit.  This touched a poignant corner of my psyche:  I'm fascinated by the creative arts, yet long ago I accepted that I have absolutely no talent in that area.  In addition to so many other areas.  Nope, no athletic talent, no artistic talent- performing or creative arts, and no talent in business or any other human occupation.  And yet, I admire those who show ability in any of these endeavors.  My vacation earlier this summer took me to the Farnesworth Museum where I sat in awe of the works of the Wyeths - a whole family of gifted artists.  The cruel trick, of course, is that people with talent make it look so easy.  Shooting a fadeaway jump shot, painting a beautiful painting, acting in a play or playing a musical instrument- when done by experts, it looks so simple.  And in hawking watercolor paint kits, a multitude of online sellers play to my precise emotions and aspirations. 

So, with a firm self-knowledge developed over decades, I purchased one of these inexpensive kits.  Despite, I re-emphasize, having absolutely no artistic talent, I really would like to be able to create joyful little paintings.  So when the kit arrived, I daydreamed of the beauty I would create with it.  And a significant amount of joy was had via just the daydreams.  After several weeks of that, I decided I might actually try to use the kit.  A nice thing is that the particular vendor who provided mine, Tobios, does have some resources for abject beginners like me, to guide the first attempts.  Now, I don't know if it's possible to teach myself this craft, or if some more formal instruction would be necessary.  But today I made my first attempt, using the web page's step-by-step instruction.  The Wyeth family has nothing to fear from my artistic talents, but I did manage to produce a work that some astute observers might recognize as... a leaf.  From such humble beginnings, what will follow?  Stay tuned.