I love crafting, drawing and I especially love to paint. But I think there is a certain chaotic process that all of us who love to paint go through. There is no escape. And if you have found one, please let me know. Until then, here are the stages we go through while painting.
1. Just moving your hand around the canvas aimlessly.
We're going to go ahead and assume that you've already gone through the painstaking process of deciding what you want to paint. At which point you've got your canvas, and you keep moving your hand from one place to another, wanting to lightly sketch the outline; but you just can't seem to find the perfect place to start. (For me, this goes on for at least fifteen minutes, and might take a full day because I'm indecisive and will have to take a break.)
2. The point of no return.
The first stroke of paint is applied and voila! Wrong angle, wrong color, wrong place on the canvas all at once. But you've committed and just have to work off of this horrible first step.
3. This isn't getting any better.
Nothing is going as planned, and so you start smearing paint in hopes that it'll just look like a cool background.
4. The zone.
Finally. You've settled into some sort of zone where the picture is starting to come together, you can see where it's heading and when people talk to you, you're only half listening because you're invested.
5. Where am I?
At some point, you found the perfect position to sit that you were hovered over your canvas without casting a shadow (see number 4). But now that you're out of the zone, you realize how badly your back hurts, the fact that both of your legs are asleep, it's been four hours and you're starving because you somehow managed to skip a meal. Also, there are at least six paintbrushes in one hand... somehow. A break is required here, or break(s), depending on how detailed your painting is, or the size of the canvas.
6. Repainting any color you ran out of.
If you run out of any color you have mixed, you'll have to remix it and you'll never (never) recreate the color. Every time you think you have recreated a color and try to use it, you realize it's a shade off but it's better just to move forward and repaint with the new shade. Ugh.
7. Details, details, details.
It's now a rush to the end. You just want to see the finished product, but the finishing touches are still in order. And you'll have to keep working at them because it never looks just right.
8. Sitting back and enjoying your work.
We may be a little conceited for a while, but being proud of a finished painting is nothing to be ashamed of. And Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat will probably be showcasing our masterpieces. (Sorry-not-sorry for a double Hamilton reference).
