Over this quarantine, I had a little too much of one-on-one time…AKA, me, and myself. The typical things that I usually immersed myself in were activities that are done with other people such as socializing, working out, or simple luxuries like laughing in other people’s presence. Due to the shortage of human contact, I was pushed to find things that occupied my time and increased enjoyment.
One thing that I quickly latched onto was painting. My sister was already into the art form, so learning the skill and finding the supplies proved to be easy. We started out painting together in which she would critique my work as we laughed and listened to music. This pastime suddenly became my passion in which I would find myself working late at night trying to master the perfect paint combination. At first, I thought that painting would be simple because I’ve worked with other mediums, but I quickly became aware that it was not the case. Painting requires lots of doing and redoing, but most of all, patience.
I started off my first painting with a large 12×16 canvas. I wanted bright colors so I could hang the pieces in my apartment, so I decided to make a huge penguin with dripping color in the background. Of course, my idea was grander than the finished product, but my first painting taught me the importance of staying in the lines and how to keep a steady stroke going. This piece is probably one of my favorites due to the large canvas, the bright colors, and of course, the big penguin on the front.
After that, I became really obsessed with making everything after that even better. I was still relatively new to the skill, so I stuck with cartoon and animated ideas until I figured out what I was doing. I really like bright primary colors, so I drenched the blank sheets with yellows, reds, and blues. I ended up making a dancing sheep, another penguin, an ice-cream cookie monster, a panda on an island, an abstract eyeball, and two cacti with maracas.
By the time I got out of my little dream world, it was already September and it felt like the weeks and days flew by behind me. But unlike before, I had something to show for what I did during the quarantine. For me, painting became my favorite thing of the year because it was a reminder of what I did during my time and an example of a skill I learned.