First Steps on our Journey - Revisited

This is a side by side of the first painting I ever did (left), and one I did as a recreation a couple weeks ago. I know my technique and understanding of the art has improved, and it's nice to see that reflected on canvas.

Last year, my 9-year old daughter said she wanted to be an artist, so we started watching Bob. A few days later, we hit the craft store and picked up a $25 kit that had something like 30 colors and 5 brushes and a little table top easel, and we both tried to do what we could. We weren't following along with Bob at this time; just doing our own thing.

We both quickly experienced what most people probably do after watching Bob. That is, that all the things that Bob makes everything look so effortless are actually quite challenging, and that it takes quite a bit of practice and dedication to do well.

Now granted, I've got much better paints and brushes now, which certainly helps in doing things more "correctly", but looking back at that first painting, I realize how little I knew about how to mix and blend colors, manage their consistency, and just generally how to apply the paint to the canvas.

I'm really glad to see my improvements along the way. I suppose I'll have to do another recreation in a few months to see how things have improved then.

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