This Saturday, I went to Snug Harbor, arriving before 11:00 AM to ensure I would make it in time for their demo classes. Upon my arrival, I met with a classmate and we explored while we waited for other students of the seminar to fill in. Once more people began to enter, we began to loiter around the stalls while the vendors set up. I was interested in looking at one stall with very beautiful handmade bracelets, though I wasn’t actually interested in buying anything. However, the woman running the stall began to tell me about the bracelets, and we got into a conversation, so I felt like I should buy something after our chat. I just bought a kids bracelet because it was cheaper, and I thought it was cute.
Once I bought the bracelet, it was nearly time for the classes to begin so we made our way into the building with the demos. The first class we entered was ceramics, and it was different from my expectations. Normally, I’ve only ever painted ceramics, but this class was sculpting them from clay. I didn’t like this class very much because it was really messy, and my little bowl came out badly. I only really enjoyed throwing the clay, but it got on my clothes and tote bag which I was disappointed about. I found the sculpting to be a little monotonous, and disappointing once I saw how poorly I had sculpted my bowl. Also, they told us we had to go the men’s bathroom to use the slop sink so I felt a little awkward being in there, but persevered nonetheless.
Upon exiting the first class, I wandered into another demo room where I saw other classmates. I wasn’t extremely interested in this class, I had only really entered in order to see what it was. The class was still life, and I can’t draw or paint, but once the woman running the class asked which subject I wanted to paint, and with which material, I felt it would’ve been rude of me to say I wasn’t interested. So, I told her oil paint because I like oil paintings, and I chose to paint the bust as I thought it would be the most interesting.
Once I began to sketch the bust, I didn’t take it too seriously as I know my limits when it comes to my creative abilities. Furthermore, I thought I should leave as soon as possible so someone who is more interested can take my place, and I could go to a class which would be more fun for me. So, I put minimal effort into my sketch and just put something together that was good enough that she would allow me to paint and be on my way to the next class.
So, with approval to begin painting, I started by attempting to put black splotches where I saw darker shadows on the bust. However, once the instructor introduced white paint, I immediately regretted my actions. I realized quickly that painting with intention was actually quite fun, and with multiple colors, it was actually less difficult than expected to try and recreate the depth of the statue. Unfortunately, I realized too late to fix my initial sketch so the best I could do was attempt to make it less abrasive and blend in the black splotches, leading to a muddled blob face.
My final painting looked like this, and I was regretful of my initial disregard which prevented it from looking more proportional and composed. However, I am thankful to have had the experience, and I am interested in oil painting again in the future!
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