I was never really good at painting while I was growing up. I loved art, but I hated painting – colors were not my thing. I was better at sketching, things looked better in black, white and gray.
It all began this year when my parents wanted me to paint something for them to hang in our new house. They went out of their way and bought me a canvas and told me to paint ‘anything‘. I ended up painting a bouquet of lavender for my mom. I had a lot of paint left over and ended up buying more canvases.
A friend of mine came over soon afterwards, she noticed the blank and semi-painted canvases littering my room. Her company was planning on launching a new project, where they would informally teach an audience how to paint a specific painting. The point of that project was to get people to conquer their fears of painting and have a great time with their friends and loved ones. They were looking for art assistants and instructors. My friend managed to convinced me to go for a trail. I was poorly prepared, I didn’t think I would make it. I scrolled through my phone – looking for anything to paint within the time limit of 30 minutes.
That was when I found it. It was a picture of a sunset in Muscat, with a silhouette – my friend’s profile picture. It was perfect. The colors and landscape were ideal for me to paint it within the time limit.
I surpassed my expectations and for the first time, I managed to paint something that I was proud of. I ended up getting the job as a paint assistant, although they would like for me to be an instructor. For that, I’ll have to paint a few more paintings to show some variations. But with a full time job, I found it too difficult for the time being and decided to stick to being an paint assistant.
I later found out that the photo was taken from my friend’s balcony. Captivated by the sheer beauty of Muscat, from the balcony’s view, I painted another painting from the same view. It took me months to complete it, I was fine tuning the clouds, adding shadow and light. Its by far my favorite painting because it made me realize how much potential I had.
