Hobbies of Mine: Art

When it comes to hobbies, I have quite a few.  Today though, I’ll be talking about my hobbies of  drawing and painting and how it is a part of me.

I began painting like any other normal kid would when first introduced to it, but my interests went elsewhere. I would still do it occasionally, but it wasn’t my main focus. The same happened to my drawing. Then a few years ago, a former Sabbath school teacher sent us a box of art supplies. Inside were several things, including an art book and colored pencils. I quickly began to draw pictures of nature scenes, and continued every once in a while so my drawing skills improved.

One day, my mom bought a few canvases for my siblings and I. Since I hadn’t painted in a while, I was excited to paint something. I thought about what I wanted to paint onto the canvas, and decided on an island with the moon behind it. Then I dug out some watercolors and an old paintbrush, and cut out a water bottle to hold the water. Once I started with that painting, I didn’t want to stop. There were so many ideas I wanted to paint out.

I continued painting scenes of nature like I used to do with my drawing, then one day I had an idea to paint a couple in a beach sunset. But I had a problem. Most of my people pictures before looked like moon men with large hands, or abstract art. Neither was going to fit into a beach sunset, so I thought, ”what exactly can I do here?”

Ding! A lightbulb went off in my head. In photography there are pictures where you see the shadowy outline of a person. Of course the lighting has to be just right, but I didn’t have to worry about that since I was painting. Then, I put the idea in my head onto the canvas.

After that painting I came up with even more ideas and turned them into a story, starting with the painting of a couple in a beach sunset. And as I continued to paint, it kept getting better and better with practice.( It also helped to have access to better tools as well.)

I didn’t forget about drawing as I became more invested in painting. Sometimes if something really funny happened I would write it down as a little comic. And I still doodled from time to time, leading to an improvement with my pencil sketches.

When it comes to having art as a hobby, you don’t need to be a Leonardo or Michelangelo. I did it at my own pace, painting once a week and continued to get better. Compare one of my first paintings to a recent one.

 

   One of my first paintings

 

                                                       One of my recent paintings

All painters have a different way of painting, how they paint and what they do while they paint. For people who do it as a hobby they can decide how often they want to paint. Should you chose it as a hobby, don’t see it as more work to do; that takes the fun out of it and makes you want  to quit. Instead see it as a way to relax and rejuvenate yourself.

One thing that can affect my art is what I listen to while I paint. Most of the time when I’m doing a painting leisurely I’ll listen to radio dramas  and enjoy the story while creating art. Sometimes I’ll have an exciting idea that has to get onto canvas so then I listen to music.

As I have progressed, art as a hobby has become a part of who I am. It is like having a dimensional wormhole that leads to another dimension. Only my imagination is the other dimension, and the canvas is the dimensional wormhole. Art is one of many things I enjoy doing, and I’m pretty sure it will continue to be one of my favorite hobbies. One, because it is something I love doing, and two, I could eventually make money from it as an adult.

If you ever are feeling inspired to take up art as your hobby, go for it and see where it leads. It could be life-changing, or it could be a little something more that makes you unique. Who knows where art can take you?