[Open Log] If I were a painting, captured on canvas

[thepull_mods]

Who: OPEN - for artists, portrait-sitters, and park spectators!
When: Noon-3pm, Monday April 23rd
Where: Versaid Lake Park
Summary: "The Charles Redcliff Art Museum is sponsoring a Portraits in the Park Art Contest, beginning today at noon. Artists and their Portrait Subjects will have 3 hours to complete their entries at the lakeside. Any drawing or painting medium & both amateur and professional skill levels welcome. Supplies will be provided. Three Winners will be featured at the Redcliff’s spring gallery, and receive store credit at Redcliff Photo Labs, for 500 high quality fine art prints of their work."
Warnings: Sitting still for 3 hours might be difficult for some of you...




It's a mild and sunny day, perfect for a spring outing. Down by the lakeside, contest sponsors have set up easels and a long table of different supplies to use, donated by the Redcliff museum and other affiliated art supply stores. Judges, ribbons pinned to their lapels, wander back and forth among the participants throughout the afternoon, appraising the works.

It's easy to sign up and join in, open for anyone to give their best try.

Comments

[plum_that_snaps]

"Alright." A smile was easy. Hers hardly every turned off. She tried to situate herself in way that would be both comfortable and, she hoped, visually appealing, and gave Larry one of her best.

"You learned from someone famous? That must have been exciting." She tried to keep fairly still as she talked, so that Larry could work.

[laurice]

When Hinamori smiled, Larry clapped his hands with delight, without dropping his paintbrush. That was a very good smile.

"Hey, that's good! That's the kind of smile I was looking for!" Now he was even more excited than ever, and got to work instantly on the canvas. These lines had to go this way...no, the light would be coming from here...

Still, he managed to squeeze in the rest of their conversation. "It was. I learned a lot from her..." His voice trailed off a bit, not only because he was more attentive to his art, but also because remembering his mentor was a little difficult sometimes. Not because the memories were unpleasant, but because his last memories of her were heartbreaking. It was a cruel twist in their story.

[plum_that_snaps]

Hinamori enjoyed watching Larry work. There was a kind of energy in the way he moved, eyes flitting from canvas to her and back, that made her smile that bit more genuine.

"I never had anyone famous teach me." She said thoughtfully, still being careful not to move and keeping her eyes fixed in one place. "I just took group lessons, like everybody else. I never expected to really like it even. It just turned out that way."

[laurice]

"Group lessons are also fun," he pointed out wistfully as he worked, glancing at her briefly just to make sure he remembered her smile correctly. Everything had to be just right. "Sometimes I wish I had a fellow apprentice. Y'know, someone to talk about what we were being taught."

Larry paused for a moment, examining what he had so far - the framework, so to speak. Then he looked at Hinamori again.

"What did you like the most about your lessons?"

[plum_that_snaps]

"Like you said, I enjoyed having people to talk to about what I was working on. It was fun getting to share my process with others, and seeing how they worked."

Hinamori took a moment to breathe and take in the atmosphere of the park. A breeze rustled the leaves of the trees and teased apart the dark strands of her hair. It was a beautiful day. She couldn't help but let her eyes wander the bright blue sky, noting with delight that every cloud seemed to be white and not a hint of rain was in sight.

"It's a good idea, having this contest in the park. It's such a lovely day for it, and it does exactly what you were talking about—gets artists together in the same space to talk."