Watermelons... and something else

Today I just knew that some people like to read my blog (thank you dears!), especially in those boring days when you endlessly count second by second. Well, it has been a while since my last entry to this page. Sigh… it has been indeed quite tiring recently. Me being caught up in Singapore – Johor Bahru to and fro trip almost everyday for work (story about it later), leaving this flesh and blood exhausted each time I reach home.

Moreover, already these few days I labor myself mightily to finish up my homework. Homework? As in… student’s homework? Yes, most definitely. If you open my Friendster page, you would see that I describe myself as a dedicated employee (apparently a hyperbole) during weekdays and an art student in weekends.

And here I am, a Western Painting Class student with limited talent but loads of homework.

Oh well, I can’t really blame anybody as not all my classmates have this homework. The problem is, I am always oh-so-slow in doing my painting. Especially in doing those in watercolor, one of the most difficult painting media imaginable. Controlling the water content in the brushes was far from being a simple task. Or is it only for me? Until now, I am still unable to tell whether this brush stroke that I am doing will give me watermark (eeeuuurrgh…) or that watery effect as my teacher always does (oh please, please, please let it be the latest…). And you know that with watercolor, an instant result is out of questions. Before you proceed with other parts, more often than not, you just keep your finger crossed and seeing that part drying up and see. If it is a watermark, then you sigh a bit, inhale, exhale, mix the colors again, reluctantly lift up your arm (the one with the brush between your fingers) and redo again, with a harder prayer this time.

Not only watermark and watery effect, in general I am compelled to say that this watercolor is a liar (tukang tipu – red.). Every time you sweep your brush gracefully, the first color it shows to you might not be the one you will get after you finish your painting. Which means… finger crossing again. Ouw, in this case, since you need to hold our palette with your left hand and your brush with your right hand, you can only cross your toes and not your fingers. Oh gosh, so troublesome.

Under this circumstance, I am always the one who finish the work the latest. When the teacher has walked around and fixed others’ paintings, I am still struggling with my object, let alone the shadowing and background. But sometimes I intentionally do that so I can have the painting of my own and not Mr. Lim’s. Needless to say, my style is different from him. I feel like seeing somebody else’s painting if he fixes my works. Well, needless to say again, his is actually better. But it’s just… different style. Got what I mean?

Well, just like any other Sunday mornings, on 10th April 2005, I was – again – so slow. If you wander around, you would see three cuts of watermelon plus the shadowing plus the table plus the background. If you stand behind my stool, you would see three cuts of watermelon, c’est tout. There was one lady from oil painting class came by and said “Wow, your watermelons look very sumptuous.”

Oh well, so it is three cuts of sumptuous watermelon, and barely nothing else. As if from nowhere, I found a silvery colored thingy in my huge Levi’s backpack. Oh, wow it is my Canon PowerShot A80 camera. Thanks to digital technology, I just took few snaps – the table with watermelons, and my classmates’ painting after having final touch by Mr. Lim – and then wrapped up my things and was ready to go. Mr. Lim looked at me disappointedly and said “Yours still lack of shadows, background, blablabla…” with that gimme-gimme-gimme-lemme-fix-it look. Oh, and plus this questioning will-you-really-leave-this-classroom-with-that-unfinished-painting look. Dignifiedly, I stare back with oh-yes-I-will-leave-this-room-with-this-unfinished-painting look.

I told him “Don’t worry, I will finish at home. I’ve taken few snaps of it.”

Sunday afternoon, after having an enjoyable lunch with my dearest and a trip down to Yew Tee to pass a birthday present to my dear friend, I sat in my room with all the watercolor tool kit ready and those watermelons – oops, sumptuous watermelons – in front of me.

“Cut the paper, your painting is skewed rightward.” Oh yes, oh yes, Mr. Lim, my myopic eyes noticed that damn well too. But on that Sunday afternoon, my mind was welcoming a novel idea “Why don’t I just put something else instead of cutting the paper?” Imagine those tree cells crying out loud of being cut… oh stop it, stop hyperboling things.

And it was the beginning of everything.

One thing led to another.

It’s the answer why I have never finished this watermelon thingy.

So I started with adding a blueish ceramic flower vase to fill up the void. Drawing done and Rhea was satisfied – the first stage.

It’s not good to leave the vase empty. So Rhea added a flower (Hibiscus). Drawing done and Rhea was satisfied – the second stage.

It’s so “dry” to see a flower without any greeny leaves. So few greeny leaves suddenly sprung into life, dangling around that yellowish hibiscus. Drawing done and Rhea was satisfied – the third stage.

Ouw, should I just place them on the table? Hmmm, we need something to spice up the watermelon a bit. So Rhea decided to cover the plain white NAFA classroom table with a tablecloth. Drawing done and Rhea was satisfied – the fourth stage.

Gosh, should I add… Hell, no. Big NO. If I added something else, it won’t be a watermelon painting, it will be pasar malam instead.

OK, let’s proceed on coloring.

Put the basic blue on the vase and some colors on the flowers and leaves. Evening passed and morning came – the first day.

Add on the shadowy blue on the vase and apply the basic colors on the table (no longer whitey) and tablecloth. Evening passed and morning came – the second day.

Finish the colors on table and tablecloth, especially those edge parts. Evening passed and morning came – the third day.

Oh, bugger. Oh, well. Gosh, I am so tired. If I still continue, my painting may go haywire. Oh, well… forget it. Let me write for my blog instead. Evening will pass and morning will come – the fourth day.