I hope you have decided to enrich your retirement and learn to sing again (see previous blogs). How about also starting to draw and paint? You will say, of course, that’s out of the question – “I can’t draw a straight line”. Apart from the fact that most lines in Art are not straight, you can make pictures. All it takes is a little imagination. So let’s go!
You will need a few sheets of A4 paper. The reverse side of discards from printing will do. Also a felt pen. Later, some coloured pencils or crayons, or water paints. On a piece of paper, with the felt pen, draw a line that does not reach the edges. Turn the paper a bit – say 45 degrees, then draw another line. It doesn’t matter if the lines are different sizes or cross over. Repeat this process a few more times – move paper and draw etc., until you have 6-8 lines. Move the paper again and draw a small circle anywhere you like. Move again and add 3 or 4 dots. Congratulations, you have made some abstract art!
Hold the paper up to see what you have created, turn it to see which view you like the best. Now is the time for your imagination to work. Half close your eyes. Does it look like a landscape; is there a building in it, or an animal; perhaps a crowd of people with flags or trees in a forest? Or is it still just a random pattern? It doesn’t matter. Use the pencils or crayons to add colour and emphasise parts of your picture and change it towards what you can see in your imagination. Or if it still remains a pattern, increase the thickness of some of the lines and fill in small parts with colour.
Whatever you do, you will have created a piece of art. And there’s plenty more paper for extra attempts. Art is in the eye of the beholder, and if you like what you have done, stick it up on the wall. Whenever you pass it, think what you could have done differently, and if others criticise, give them some paper and challenge them to do better! Who knows, perhaps this will stimulate you to join a life drawing class, or to take a sketchbook into the park or out to the country. It’s time to reveal your hidden artist!
Renaissance not Retirement 