What a fun week in Art 110! This week was our painting week and for it, I went all the way to Venice Beach’s free art walls. This was a wonderful experience and I know I’ll be doing it again. I was psyched when I learned that Venice offered this service for artists since, before being told in class, I had absolutely no idea there were public, legal walls to paint on.
In spite of staying up till 3a.m. the night before, I was up bright and early to make sure I had ample time to get to the art walls (I wanted to be there as soon as they opened). After meeting up with my friend Diaz, we pooled our 6 paint cans and got to work. We both decided to draw our names and we had a great time doing it. When starting out, I was very self-conscious about what I was doing. I had no idea how to start and I could tell there were other very serious and talented artists also painting there (who I later found were very kind and helpful). I found however, that as I started to paint, all that left me. In fact, everything left me. I didn’t notice the sun come out, cute girls walking-by in bikinis, or even people stopping to take pictures of my work. This feeling was powerful and relaxing. By the end, I wasn’t completely finished with my work (I ran out of the colors I needed) but I felt very happy with it. It was something done just for me. It may have been my favorite visual medium to create in. I usually draw, but have been much less satisfied with it lately. Spray painting actually felt very natural to me. I loved how the paint reacted on the wall and I found it very easy to manipulate.
When coming to the walls I was sad that my work would not be saved but afterwards I was actually happy it would soon be painted over. Not because I was ashamed of it, but because I felt it made it more special and personal. This was not even a particularly personal painting for me either, so I can only imagine the satisfaction I would get from a more thought-out and meaningful piece.
andrewraragon 