I put my pencils down today.

A very dear friend on RB (who I call LTH's) asked me to sketch her beloved dog for her during the past Christmas. I decided that I would start the sketch for her today, but I kept looking at that table easel and acyrlics painting set, one of my son's bought me for Christmas, the box kept staring at me defiantly from the corner of my studio. Now I'm a self confessed pencil pusher, I only ever used graphite, always have and (until today) always would (I thought) simple graphite pencils, which I have used since I could hold one in my hands and which I know very well, what on earth would I do with paint, but you know, if you don't try, you'll never learn. I thought long and hard, then decided, why not?

So unpacking the wooden table easel (really nice piece of workmanship) I placed it on my drawing table, unpacked the set of shiny new brushes and opened (very slowly) the box of acyrlics. What on earth was I thinking? I know absolutely nothing about painting, nor colour, my art only exists in a world of grey tones, light and dark only, shadows, textures, cross-hatching and shading.

I wasn't going to give up that easily, for one thing. my son who bought me this gift, saw me looking at, and seemed excited to see his father actually open the box and look as it he was actually going to use it! I placed the canvas onto the easel and clipped it into place (that was easy) now smiling I grabbed a couple of jars (which contained quantities of 2B and 4B pencils -and unceromoniously emptied them of their pencils) and filled them them up with water instead, I was committed now!.

Now the first thing I had to overcome is that the canvas was standing upright and I am only ever used to sketching on something which is usually laying down flat or on my lap. But thankfully, it was a table top easel, and at least I could sit down and attempt this Herculean task I had set myself in a somewhat posture of comfort.

I pinned the reference photo I was attempting to paint, onto the top of the easel, hoping this wee dog would help me as I start.

I thought that best to start with the background, that shouldn't be too hard, surely, So squeezing a few drops of this brightly coloured toothpaste onto my home made easel (a square thin plastic Ferroero Rocher chocolate box – now empty) – with a couple of folded thin damp flannels in the base of it- (someone once told me, to keep the paint from drying out). I then started mixing a little green (oops Pthalo green) with Titanium white (lovely names these paints have – really sounded more exciting than plain old HB, B2 H4 etc!) and started applying the paint onto the canvas. Once you start playing with paint, I realised, it really does make it's presence known, no light shading here, no way!) Taking my life in my hands (well my right hand) I applied splodges of paint here and there (oops should say dabs, right?) and mixed some more different shades of green using a tickle of other colours (amazing how too little or too much of a prime colour can effect the colour your mixing or trying to replicate from the reference picture. I decided to work around where the dog was going to be placed. When I was finished, I was looking at a greeny background with a white yeti muppet thing waiting to be transformed into this beautiful wee dog! I really felt I was in kindergarden again (which was the only other time When I have painted in my life).


I wasn't going to let some faceless white yeti muppet defeat me, so I decided to start filling in the underpainting for the dog's head and body. I was determined I would pursue this form creativity even it drove my insane! I painted in the base tone which I thought were in the reference photo, and found out that acylics really do dry real fast! I also had a horrible thought, shouldn't I have prepared the canvas first? That's what all the real artist's do whenever I watched them on the TV or on video's, oh well, too late! I had already started, in for a penny in for a pound I continued regardless, I kept telling myself this is only a practice, if I make a mess (which is what it was slowly becoming) I could always fall back on my trusted pencils lying in the floor, looking unwanted and save the day with a sketch.

When I finished the underpainting, I stepped back (broke a couple of perfectly good pencils lying in on the floor) and admired (maybe that's the wrong word – more looked at it half squinting through gaps in my fingers) my progress.


I was so determined to proceed, remembering that when I'm sketching, the prelimary sketch sometimes looks atrocious until after you have worked on it a while. I decided to have a cup of tea and come back afresh, so whilst making a cuppa, I was already trying to think how I could salvage this with a pencil sketch – gotta stop thinking like that!

15 minutes late, I plucked up enough courage to re-enter the studio where this discoloured yeti muppet dog thingy was waiting for it's master to return (funny how dogs always do this, no matter how we feel). I sat down and decided that, I'm not going to stop until I had achieved what I set out to do. I found a few thin brushes, a couple with hardly any hairs but long and springy, and used these to start painting in the fur, going in the direction the fur was going on the refence photo. Thje more fur I applied I noticed that this faceless yeti thingy started to come alive, it was contagious! the more I used the brush the more it started looking like something, I was actually getting excited with this form of art (normally nothing short of a six hour session with a pecil behind my ear and one in my hand can achieve this, had I been bitten by the painting bug? it certainly didn't hurt any).

I found out that four hours later I had before me something that actually looked like the reference photo, and alright, not as photographic as I can get with my pencils, but, it was ALRIGHT! I was prouder than I had ever been in my whole life. I had conquered my own personal taboo of not having ever painted, I had climbed my steps to the top of the hill and done my Sylvester Stallone moment. I could now look everyone who ever held a paintbrush in their hand and shout at the top of my voice I CAN PAINT TOO!

Okay, okay, coming down to earth quickly (as we all have to evenually), I stopped and spent a long time looking at it, and decided that after five and half hours I was finally finished! I then (very carefully) with the wee-est brush I have in my arsenal, painted (love saying that word after years of sketching) my name to this, my very first painting.

Oh yes the dog is called Hercules, an apt name if ever to challenge my first attempt at painting.

You'll find the finished result here szymczuk.deviantart.com/art/He…