4/9 Blog #2: Happy Accidents

Hi, everyone! Welcome back to my blog. Now, this past week I painted my first album cover (gasp!). Super exciting, right? That being said, let's dive right into the good stuff.

I started this week watching some beginner's tutorials regarding acrylic paints, canvases, brushes, etc. I practiced a little on some canvas paper. I will leave the links to the tutorials I used at the end of this blog post if you're interested in beginning painting yourself. I found these tutorials very helpful considering I didn't have a great idea of when to use each brush and how to stroke/use them.

Practice, Shmactice, right? Now, let's talk about what everyone wants to hear: BOB ROSS! I watched some of "The Joy of Painting" this week, and that man just relaxes me and puts me at ease. Therapist? Pshh, I got Bob Ross. I watched Season 20, Episode 1: "Mystic Mountains", and his artwork is pretty darn good.

Just look at this. What...How...Like...What!? Once you're down marveling at this work of art, you can continue reading. Anyways, I have three takeaways from the episode: Bob Ross is pretty darn awesome, the painter ultimately has complete control and power over his canvas and work, and that there are no mistakes when painting. Paintings can be made however the painter pleases. It's important to let your imagination and creativity lead. Also, he says that mistakes are "happy accidents" that you can use, fix, and add on to. 

With this knowledge, I was ready to begin my copy of "Doo-wops and Hooligans" by Bruno Mars. This album has to be one of my favorites of all time. This album is literally my childhood. I was bumping songs like "Talking to the Moon" and "Grenade" in my booster seat at the age of seven or something. Ahh. Good times. These two songs are probably my favorites in the album. Anyways, this album only has ten songs, and I love all ten. There's such a variety in them, too. You've got songs of heartache and sadness, songs of crazy, stupid, love, songs that make you feel good. It's just a beautiful album crafted with some of my favorite songs ever. Here is the album cover.

Seems simple enough to paint, right? Yea, no. It was much harder than I thought. Turns out painting without a tutorial is actually pretty difficult. Who'da thought? It went wrong pretty much from the beginning. I needed a bigger brush because using a small brush to cover 144 square in. is time-consuming and frustrating. Also, I had to mix paint to create that golden yellow background color, and I didn't make enough. It was difficult to replicate that exact color multiple times.

Once I got the background down, I just couldn't get the winding path down. My brain and hands just didn't work, I don't even know. I'll just let you guys see rather than explain it.

Yea, so that's not what the album looks like. This "happy accident" did not make me feel very happy. It seemed unfixable and unusable. I would get frustrated which would lead me to make more not-so-happy accidents. I realized I needed to take a step back, calm down, and clear my head in order to fix this mess. I eventually got the shape I wanted after several tries.

I made "happy accidents" with the rocket, the little man, and the letters, too, which is pretty much the whole album. Anyways, here is the finished product.

I am very content with my first ever canvas painting. "Doo-wops and Hooligans" provided many hardships and happy accidents that made me want to restart, but then I thought about the money I was throwing away, so I persevered. Oh, and also because that's what you should do when faced with challenges. Although mistakes may not make you happy, it's important to not get frustrated because there is a way to turn big mistakes into masterpieces. And, yes, by masterpiece I mean this week's painting. 🙃

There is still much, much room to improve, but that's what the next nine or so weeks are for. I'm excited to practice more and become better at mixing colors and painting in good, steady, strokes. Also, I want to try to just be a more intelligent artist. I want to be able to replicate colors that I mix and know how much paint I will need. I'm content with this painting, but I'm excited to paint more difficult albums.

Remember that all of the albums I paint are recommendations. If you are looking for some new music, the albums I paint are all delightful. I will be describing these albums and listing some of my favorite songs. Also, remember that I'm open to any and all recommendations. If you have an album that you would like to see painted, comment below, and I will do my best to get it done.

Well, that's all I got for today. I really hope that you continue to stick with me throughout this journey, and I'll see you all next blog post. I'll catch ya later!

Links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-U9U3eoM0o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YjGbsbDoxs

[commented on Mia, Logan, James]