Paint it Black

With each stroke of the paintbrush, I get more lost in thought. The questions I ask myself

daily run around aimlessly in my mind. What college do I want to attend? What career path do I

choose? How can all of this be achieved? By looking down at what I am creating, I can start to

allow myself to relax and organize my options. I read my art by observing how the colors and

shapes reflect the ideas I hold in my head; this reflection helps me seek some of the answers that

go along with my recurring questions. Paintings are the medium through which I choose to

express myself.

The colors I lean towards mean something to me. When feeling hopeful, I may add pastel

pinks, yellows, and blues in a cup and smile as I pour the paint over a canvas giving it a marble-

like texture. While other days I paint with dark blues, purples and greys showing my sadness or

anger. Highlights of whites and bright reds help me to add drama, typically tying together the

piece. However, the color scheme I start with is not always how it ends. This is where I find

some of my answers. The dark left side I began with could be later contrasted with a bright, right

side. The questions I ask may seem scary now but it will all turn around, resulting in something

great. The way colors blend together to make such beautiful scenes gives me the optimism that

the choices I make in my own life will come together to make something just as spectacular.

Pictures of nature scenes, such as flowers, skies, and trees, gives off a sense of irony for

me seeing how I stay inside to paint because the outdoors often makes my allergies worse. These

portrayals do not give me a runny nose or sore throat; therefore, I find them more enjoyable.

Using oil paints to create space scenes help me to step back and realize how small my worries

are compared to “the big picture.” I draw inspiration from random thoughts, requests like team

logos from family/friends, and influences from movies and music. For example, I tried drawing a
realistic eye for months, yet every time I got close to finishing I would mess up the iris. Until the

day I had my music on shuffle and a certain song came on, the Beatles song Lucy In the Sky with

Diamonds. The lyric ¨kaleidoscope eyes¨ stuck with me. I then knew how I would finally finish

the eye painting, by making the iris look like what one sees through a kaleidoscope. I love being

able to picture something in my mind and follow through with the image on paper.

I have a rule to never give up on my art work, no matter how bad of a start. Knowing

that I will not always be able to find a creative way to save it, I have a plan B. Instead of

throwing the painting away, I simply paint over the canvas in solid black. This creates a blank

background for the start of something new. I am not necessarily destroying what is below, but

instead, building on top of it. Painting over in black demonstrates that when a bad situation

presents itself there is a way to step back, devise a new plan, and make it into something

positive. Having the ability to not abandon my creations allows me to take that mentality and use

it in my everyday life, such as having patience, perseverance, and hope. Creating pictures helps

me relax and collect my thoughts, because I know I can always paint it black.