• Thank you to Carol and Steve Bowman, the forum owners, for our new upgrade!

Is there anyone who draws or does oil painting?

Not any more.
There was a time when I tried drawing. Drawing with pencil on paper and digital drawing and painting as well. While an art teacher told me that I have no talent when I was a kid, I found out that even I can learn and make progress. Seeing my personal progress made me happy. Even though I wasn't really good at drawing or painting.
But somehow I feel that I am done with this for now. I still can see the world through the eyes of an artist, you know what I mean, when everything is just a play of light and shadows so that even a trashcan or an ashtray suddenly becomes beautiful to behold... yet still, I am done. I do not feel frustrated anymore that I cannot draw or paint like a master and never will. I still can appreciate art. And music. And literature.
Art teachers should be told that artists do not usually begin as good artists! They evolve over time! My Mom ran into criticism early on, despite the fact that she is a natural ! Only in her later life did she resume art. Maybe you will start again. Totally your choice.
 
Never knew this thread existed. I like painting, but I'm not much good at it. I'm better at making sort of abstract drawings with charcoals.

Here's one I did a few years ago; it's the flower of life as seen in sort of a dream.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2924.JPG
    IMG_2924.JPG
    945.1 KB · Views: 6
Thanks for sharing this Ebeth199! I'm glad the author hired you for this. His book would be uncomfortable for me to read- but maybe informative at least. That "scene" is definitely not one anyone should go towards. That drug, as with the rest of them is deadly and, if it doesn't kill you, the remaining life can be worse than death! I do like your cover work!
 
Hi Deborah,

I just looked back and saw your samples from the prior page!!! Beautiful. Likewise kudos to truthlove and Jim78! Lots of talent here. I'd love to see some samples from some others who have indicated that they do art/painting (like Tanker).

I drew throughout my childhood and my class notes through grad school were always covered with random drawings. However, that was not a direction I chose to pursue (to my regret at this point in life). Hence, I only took a couple of courses. A basic one in High School and another basic one in College. I got A's. The only thing I have to show for it is a pen and ink (attached) from High School about 50 years old. I left it at school when the school year was over. When my little sister went through the same class about 9 years later, she found that the teacher remembered me and had saved it. It had been folded by me at some point while I was doing it (for which my art teacher gave me a hard time) and is yellowed and stained with the years. Anyhow, my sister brought it back to me and my Dad framed it at some point (like Dad's do), but it has never hung at my house (too sad looking!). I referred to it as Nicodemus, but my father called it The Frenchman.

Anyhow, I'd like Nicodemus to have some company. So, a question for you. I don't do fencing, but one of my sons did. The usual sequence for learning is foil, epee, saber. That is not because foil is less of an art form and saber is more of an art form. There are specialists in each, and each is an art form. However, it is considered that there are lessons to be learned in a certain order that are best taught in the order I have given. So, since I am interested in cultivating art in my old age (which is now!), is there a usual order for approaching the various media in this field? I tend to like the idea of pen and ink and watercolor. Ultimately, I'd like to get into oils, especially as I have books of portrait paintings and love this subject matter. However, I really don't know where to start at this age.

Cordially,
S&S
Hello Sea and Sky! It's so good that your ink drawing was spared and that your sister found it! There are drawings and such that I did about that time that I so wish I still had, of had copies of! The memorial of the spirit(s) that were helping me back then seems to be in the actual works. The gift of being able to engage in image making was more precious than I consciously recognized, and it had the potential for keeping me out of trouble, had I been wise enough to give it a little more importance. 'Imaging' amounts to a language we speak , unique to us, that others can feel and enjoy. Presently I would recommend finding a teacher you are in sync with, as a person, or, as well, spend time on youtube looking at demos of various sorts. At our age, it might be best to go with whatever you are attracted to rather than seek to learn more through steps that younger people might take. We only have so much time, in this life, although I do not believe we are denied the option to continue in life that follows, whether in the non-physical or in reincarnation. In the last two years I am hearing and learning that even the best of spiritual teachers give high importance to our creativity, that it matters and that it serves bona fide spiritual purposes. Practicality seems to interrupt many peoples' creative expression, but I was not practical, and carried on with it once I got off the streets of impoverishment and delighted in a fresher perspective. The gift returns! and you have it- it's ours- it's part of who we are. I hope you continue. Maybe go back to pencil and or ink until you know what else you might wish. If you spend some time with oils you may find yourself becoming comfortable with them.
 
Hi David,

Thanks for your advice and encouragement. Your own stuff is really good! Most of my painting books involve portrait art. I'd love to be able to do people's portraits. Somehow there is something so profound there to me. Perhaps it is the fact that an immortal being in disguise is being "captured" there. The eyes may be "the window of the soul" but the whole person is in some respects a reflection of what lies within. The best portrait artists capture this in how they portray their subjects and the way they bring out their personality.

Cordially,
S&S

PS--Also, your "faces" make wonder anew what I might have done if I had just stuck with it over the last 50 years.
 
Hi Tanker,

Another wow! There is so much talent on this board, and I never would have guessed. I can't remember now without going back through some threads, but did you do any drawing during WWII?

Cordially,
S&S
 
Thanks, S&S ... I find it interesting to see how many of us seem to enjoy painting and drawing. So many of us that I wonder if there's a connection between expression through art, and reincarnation, perhaps?
Interesting observation.

I would say (my opinion) that reincarnation is universal, it applies (with possibly some rare exceptions) to everyone. As for an interest in painting and drawing, well, not so much. Some enjoy it but don't put it into practice, but there are many who don't have any particular interest in artistic expression.

On the other hand, it seems not all of us recall past lives. It may be that recall means the opening of some sort of window or connection to something beyond this current physical life. I would also argue that any artistic expression which is satisfying, involves an inner vision, which is more than the mere mechanical processes of construction, and which again depends on a connection to something deeper, beyond the physical.

Perhaps it is that window of deeper connection which is the common ground.
 
Back
Top