Canvas Painting + Wine

blank....freaks me out

A blank canvas.  This scares me.  A lot.  I sit down in front of one and immediately freak out.  What if I make a mistake?  Can't I trace it first?  LOL  Thank goodness they encourage bringing your own wine to drink (see mine to the right of my canvas?).  It helps the creative juices flow.

I attended a Canvas Painting workshop recently - it lasted about 2 hours or so.  You probably have heard of these types of things before.  Sometimes you'll find them in a restaurant/bar area or in a studio like this one.  The Pottery Works in beautiful Lancaster City is where this one was held.  And Lindsay was our instructor!

So there we are...starring at our blank canvas.  The thing I absolutely loved about this class is they walk you through it step-by-step.  No artistic ability is needed - no really! 

step one

First we picked where on the canvas we wanted to start the sunset/sky.  We started with yellow then mixed yellow and red together to get the orange.  The red was last at the very top.

Step two & three

Next we made our setting sun.  I like how there was no real wrong way to do this.  It's whatever you see in your mind.  You just go with it.  I didn't like mine at first, but it grew on me.  While the setting sun and sky were drying we went ahead and did the black (ground).  This was the easy part, I couldn't really mess this part up.  HA!

Step four & five

OK, time to freak out again.  It was time to paint the elephant.  WHAT?!  I can't draw an elephant.  Oh but I could.  Once again their step-by-step instructions saved me.  And guess what?  I painted the elephant!  Next was the tree, which I painted with no real issues.

step six & finishing touches

I added some finishing touches to my tree then it was time to paint the baby elephant.  UGH here we go again.  But it wasn't so bad.  I finished it off with some plants and other touch ups; and of course my "ASA" at the top.

I gotta say that this was a really great experience.  I will definitely be going back to paint more pictures.  At the beginning of class they told us that no negativity was allowed.  You were not allowed to criticize your painting (I have to say this was hard not to do - it's just human nature I think to be your own worst critic).

Have you ever done one of these classes before?  Share your story!

This is not a sponsored post by The Pottery Works.  I used my own money to pay for the class and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Finish This! 6th Edition

Hope your week is going good so far!  I can not believe this weekend we'll be observing the Memorial Day Holiday.  Time sure does fly!

It's time for the weekly 'Finish This'!  I always link up through:

My favorite recipe is.....

I totally just make it over the weekend!  It's a weight watchers friendly baked beans.  I'll have to post the recipe for it one of these days.  Goes great with summer-time cook outs!  NOM!

I believe in.....

equality...for EVERYONE.  There!  I said it!  Yes I did!  OK, listen...I'm mainly talking about same-sex marriage.  Just today, the Federal judge strikes down Pennsylvania's same-sex marriage ban and will be issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.  Now, I totally know what the Bible says....Yes I sure do.  Not only that, but we've heard it over and over again by the people that do not agree with same-sex couples.  I look at it this way....it doesn't affect me.  It's none of my business.  If they want to get married, who cares?  It's not for me to judge...that is up to the Higher Being that you believe in. Don't get any ruffled feathers people...just a thought.  :P

I need to set boundaries....

hmm I've been thinking about this one all day.  I guess I would have to say with my computer usage.  Maybe spending too much time on Facebook or cruising around the web.  I want to write more.  So perhaps this is a time management issue instead.  I don't know.  LOL

I began living when.....

No offense to my sweet pea Heather-Feather, but I'd have to say once she grew up and didn't need me anymore.  Well, as a child would anyway.  But if I'm honest with myself, I would say when I turned 40 is when I really started living.  I explored my artistic side with drawing and writing.  I've been having fun!

So there are my answers...how would YOU answer these?  C'mon, I wanna hear!

Prompts for WEEK 21 (May 28) are:The best mistake I ever made …
From this mistake, I learned …
When I’m anxious, I tell myself …
All I really want to do is …

Do you have hidden artistic talents?

For me, I think I do.  I mean I have so many things rolling around inside my head all the time.  I like to write.  I've been wanting to write a book for a long time!  So I started this blog and hardly use it.  :(  I think it about too hard then I get frustrated and just stop thinking about it.

I like to paint - either free hand or paint-by-numbers.  LOL  Yep, did those as a young kid!  Still like to do them.  I like to pencil draw/doodle.  So I get myself a sketch pad and pencils.  I drew a picture of Jesus.  I started drawing other objects.  Mostly just doodling.  Then I set it aside and Hubby gets irritated with it just sitting there.  HAHA! 

I don't know how to take these things in my head and put them to use.  I guess not giving up would be the first thing.  Just keep practicing.  I feel I have something deep down inside me, just need to figure out how to pull it out.

How do you bring out your artistic talents?