What to do next?

After the Inktober madness that I did from October, it was decided that I have to take a week-long break to recover some creative and physical energy in order to come back strong in the upcoming month.

If you haven't read yet the previous episode of my personal art journey series, you can go and take a read from the parts below, as this is a continuation of those.

Part 1: It's Never Too Late to Learn Something New (Start of Journey)

Part 2: I Was Encouraged to Just Keep Going (Colored Pencils and Inktober)

Part 3: Taking the Next Step, While Dealing with Memories and Loss

Check out these amazing people, they are truly inspiring and full of support!

While resting and pondering for days, there was a question lingering in the back of my head about what to do next. Working with colored pencils was fun and addicting, but I wanted to have a medium that allows me to paint extensive areas with a brush, leading me to choose between the wet mediums. From there you have acrylics, watercolor, and oils.

I am hesitant to work with oils yet because I am still a beginner and learning with different techniques, plus there's the concern of working with solvents and drying time of the oils. I pondered about getting watercolors, but I already have watercolor pencils on-hand so I need something different. Then here comes the acrylics, which I decided to get after crossing out the choices. I thought that acrylics are cheaper, forgiving, easy to clean, and easily accessible as long as you have the brushes and canvas alongside it.

My First Painting Medium

After the decision, I immediately went to the online store to get some knowledge about the prices of the materials. Thankfully, the timing was on point as the Shopee 11.11 sale is just a few days away! The personal budget is about to take a hit again lols.

I got all the brushes, acrylic colors, and some canvases to begin with. I was so happy to start painting and I can't wait to get the first brushstroke on the canvas!

It's time to get painting!

As a newbie, I am still learning about the different acrylic painting techniques and the type of setup I need to begin comfortably. Since the materials arrived in the morning, I am so excited that I began painting after lunch.

I was wondering about what should I paint that time, and quickly remembered our aquarium having lots of fish during my childhood. I got a royalty-free reference photo online of a fish that my eyes wanted. Then I watched some tutorials online about how to mix paints and blend acrylics.

I am glad that I finished the painting after working with it the whole afternoon! I am trying to get everything feel "perfect" and I was satisfied with the results. The shading of the fish, seascape, and background bubbles was great.

The unfortunate loss, leading to the cup of memories

Around mid-November last year, we received a call at 9 am from our aunt that our uncle passed away. He had stroke that time and he peacefully rested as there's no sign of struggling.

I consider my uncle as my second father since he was always close to me during my childhood. Their house was just a few steps away from us and I often pay a visit, sometimes sleeping in there. My uncle taught important lessons in life that helped me grow as a person. He was a good role model too as there was never a time that he got angry or impatient when dealing with anger or bad situations. His words of wisdom and stories often revolves around respecting others and being resilient about challenges in life.

What really makes him memorable for me is his cup of coffee, which he often drinks every morning and afternoon. Those times we often talk casually, or he was imparting stories and wisdom. I am awakened by the smell of the coffee every breakfast and it's best to start the day with great life lessons.

After the call, my emotions were hard to describe as I felt the shock, sadness, and grief. Since it was quarantine, there's no way for us to pay a visit to his final moments. Instead, I used the time to paint his cup that will always remind me of him, giving this painting a sentimental value. He passed away on a Friday, and the upcoming Monday was supposed to be his birthday.

Celebrating Christmas with the loss...

After the death of my uncle, it took their family for weeks to mourn until the burying of his remains. December is just around the corner and the plans of us having Christmas celebration and New Year was shattered.

To move on happily for the holidays, I tried to paint a snowman because it is something that I want to personally experience when I go into a country with winter snow. I enjoyed creating this one because I liked the snow effect and the blue winter background. The shading of the body was blending nicely with the scene. However, his face went too white though. 😅

We had a great Christmas and New Year celebration despite the loss, and we decided that it's better to move on knowing that our uncle is having a great time in the Paradise too. And I personally have a resolution for 2021 to be more creative and create more art basically. The question is, what might be in store for me next year?

See you in the next part!

*All images and words are mine, original content

Copyright by MegaKyodaiBanrai 2021

[# 10, published August 25, 2021]