So since being an art major ruined my desire or ability to draw, I haven't done anything art related in a long time. But this guy I know had this big open space on his wall that screamed for some art work. It was right above his fireplace and it was just this big, bare, span of wall. And he's the kind of guy who's pretty serious about keeping his life organized and nice and his condo is all very "well-appointed" as Austen would say. So I told him he needs something there and he totally agreed with me and said he'd been looking for something for a while but couldn't find anything he liked. So I mentioned that I could bang him out something simple if he wanted because it was really a problem to have that space of wall left empty. And he was really into the idea and we discussed what he was looking for, and I painted it! And then he paid me for it! And then he wanted me to do another one for the opposite wall, so I did that one too and he paid me for it! And he had people over and this girl liked my stuff and is interested in having me make something for her too. And these two people at work are interested in having me do stuff for them too. So...yeah...I'm basically Picasso now.
It's been weird doing these though. I've never been a painter. Even when I was doing "art" my thing was always drawing- just with a pencil or charcoal. So I really don't know how to paint and it just feels...so foreign. Plus, making paintings in this commercial way (just painting what someone else tells me to paint) feels strange because I feel like a little factory for the types of vapid faux paintings you buy at Target. Like I'm making home decor masquerading as art. Which I'm not opposed to, it just feels odd. I'm hoping I'll get to a point where I'm able to follow through on my own ideas for paintings and then people will pick from those. You know, like real painters.
My biggest fear about this has been that I'll make something my "client" doesn't like, but they've already commissioned it so they're stuck at this point. With my first painting for this guy, I was afraid of that, but he kept saying he thought it was great and he asked for another. And I just dropped off the second one, so I'm afraid again. I just really don't want to put him in the position where he has to pay for this thing that he's disappointed with and he feels like he has to have this thing on his wall that looks stupid. Art is very personal, and I don't want to make it awkward for anyone.
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