Actually that painting is good! You are too hard on yourself in this matter.

Posted by Jonathan Mark on 17 November 02006 @ 1pm

It’s the technique that kills me. It’s just straight-up hard to wield that brush correctly. The water runs down the page, the paint bleeds, the paint gets all gummy…it’s a mess.

That’s that’s to say nothing of the difficulty of actually having the skill to envision and accurately lay out a portrayal of something being observed.

I think I’ll take a drawing class next. I have no capacity to render anything on paper, even if I did have great technical skills. A simple drawing class seems like a step in the right direction.

This was, by the way, on my list of things to do. I still haven’t taken up knitting or sewing, and I certainly haven’t learned to play an instrument, but it’s a start. :)

Posted by Waldo Jaquith on 17 November 02006 @ 1pm

It actually looks like an apple, which is much better than I could do!

Posted by Joanna on 17 November 02006 @ 1pm

It may not be your “thing” so to speak. But you managed that quite nicely.

Posted by Ward Smythe on 17 November 02006 @ 1pm

Waldo, I think you did a great job with that apple!

That is one of the reasons why I love our school: Alex is only seven and already wields the water color brush, draws and understands color beautifully; knits (and will learn crochet next year); sews; and is learning to play the recorder (and will have learned at least the violin and likely another instrument before he graduates). :-)

Posted by Malena on 17 November 02006 @ 2pm

I guess I shouldn’t have used the less than and greater than signs to put in my shameless plug markers before and after that second paragraph…

Posted by Malena on 17 November 02006 @ 2pm

‘Fraid not. :) WordPress figures those are HTML tags (like <strong> to bold something) and strips ‘em out because they’re invalid. But, hey, shameless plug it is. :)

Posted by Waldo Jaquith on 17 November 02006 @ 3pm

It’s a great apple, but why does it have goose bumps?

Posted by NOVA Scout on 17 November 02006 @ 10pm

Interestingly, the right side of the apple looks nicely rounded, but the top and left sides look more… cubist. One of the factors that seems to make watercolor difficult is that as a patch dries, the water pulls color to the edges (just like a drying coffee stain that leaves a ring.)

Posted by Tim McCormack on 17 November 02006 @ 11pm

Well, I like the shiny spot. :-)

I looked at your apple on my laptop screen, then I stood up and walked about ten feet away and looked again. Yes, a good clean apple, a very appealing, edible apple. Frame & hang the fruit.

Did Amber do a companion piece?

Posted by Parenthia Page on 18 November 02006 @ 6am

It’s a great apple, but why does it have goose bumps?

It’s the texture of the paper.

Interestingly, the right side of the apple looks nicely rounded, but the top and left sides look more… cubist.

*Laugh* That’s an awfully kind way to put it.

Did Amber do a companion piece?

The whole class did apples. Apples for everyone! :)

Posted by Waldo Jaquith on 18 November 02006 @ 9am

I taught my daughters to sew, and I haven’t tackled learning anything new in ages (as long as you don’t count learning when to hold my tongue and when to speak up; a very useful skill).

I have been a hobby photographer since I was 11-12, but I am still struggling with it. I like some of my photos, but I am unaware of whether anyone else thinks they are worthy.

Painting and drawing are especially daunting for me. I only learned to draw well enough to serve my occupation (land surveyor) and I am more comfortable with 2D drawing, like AutoCad or a similar program.

Posted by Mark Brooks on 18 November 02006 @ 1pm

Nice job, I’ve been painting for thirty years, been to art classes in a school of art for five years, etc. and my apples come out looking like tomatoes…so not bad, I declare “you’ve got the touch”

Posted by John J. Trippel on 18 November 02006 @ 4pm

Amber and I took a watercolor class for the past month, mostly because it’s precisely the opposite of the sort of thing that I’m inclined to do.

Which is partly why I’ll be taking a graphic design course next semester. It’s something I’m not too good at, and I need to learn at least the basics.

Posted by Tim McCormack on 18 November 02006 @ 5pm

You and Amber come up to Alexandria, and I’ll teach you both to crochet, knit and sew, which are three skills I learned precisely for the same reason you learned to paint. :)

Posted by Genevieve on 18 November 02006 @ 6pm

My wife and I took an art class though a local church with some friends for that same reason. My brain enjoyed the different style of thinking required. Our class used pastels and we all did the obligatory pastel apple as well. It’s good to reach out of the comfort zone and it’s quite surprising to find out you can actually put something down that looks vaguely like the subject you want it to look like.

Posted by Chris Bast on 18 November 02006 @ 8pm

Hey there, I think after a month or so when you come to that apple you will love it and appreciate it. I believe you lack determination to become a painter. Try a pumpkin and you will see progress.

Posted by Wassef Debian on 4 December 02006 @ 5am