There's a thought I have about working with different art materials: Some of them just make your heart beat a little bit faster.
When you try them for the first time, it's almost like falling in love.
When I was a very little girl, I got my "start in art" quite by accident. I learned that the broken wall in my garage was made out of chalk (gypsum, the main ingredient in chalk, is between the paper in any wallboard). The walk that led to my front door was made out of smooth slate stones, and the chalk worked perfectly as a drawing medium. I sat on that front walk for hours, drawing the birds and trees and anything my heart desired. In the summer, the hot stones would turn my legs red, and in the cold months my hand would be so numb I could barely hold the chalk, but independent me didn't care - I had free supplies that I didn't have to ask mom for.
In kindergarten I experienced painting for the first time. I stood in front of one of those big kids wooden easels, and dipped a fat brush into a pot of red paint, and swiped it across that huge sheet of paper, and my jaw dropped, and I swear, my little heart beat faster! I was IN LOVE.
That love for all things art has carried me through my life - and in my years of teaching, I've seen that different materials appeal to different people. There are certain things that will make your heart sing, and others that may just frustrate you.
I had a gal tell me the other day that she hated working with chalk pastels because she didn't like that her hands got dirty. But another student in the same class couldn't wait to buy a whole set of them and do a lot more!
And then a retired surgeon who explained that he really enjoyed colored pencils because they were so precise, but there are others that say they really want to work loose and free, and not tight and precise.
You may already have materials that you love, and you may be willing to try something new. If you'd like to explore, I'd like to offer you one of my classes at 1/2 price. Head on over to StartInArt.com and enter the code ARTFUN at checkout for half off any class.
If I were to recommend any of them as a first class, it would be Painting Without Paint. You may even already have the supplies you need for that one.
I'd love to see what you're creating! Join our Facebook Group and share!
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