The art of just doing things

The difference between me and a lot of other people isn´t that I am wildly talented and they are not. It´s just that I never believed certain thoughts in my head that told me I wasn´t able to do stuff. I am the kind of person who just does something, despite the circumstances.

As a child I endlessly made drawings of Disney figures like the Lion King. While they were probably not perfect at all, this basic ability to draw things proved to be a huge help with learning how to paint. I think it was in 2009 when I picked up painting. First I started out with acrylic paint, because then I thought well that must be easier than oil paint. So after a few years of painting almost every evening after work, I sort of got the gist of it.

Then I started thinking if I really want to get good and do something with it, then I might as well attend an art school (sometimes it's wiser not to insist on inventing the wheel yourself and first learn from other people!). So I went to this big art school in Amsterdam which was very modernist oriented. It proved to be a decent introduction to painting and art in general. But after the first year, I drawed the conclusion that at this school they are absolutely uncapable of teaching me original painting techniques of the old masters. There was just no teacher present doing anything that even vaguely resembled that.

That´s when I found out about the Classical Academy of painting in Groningen. A very small art school with a great atmosphere and some excellent teachers. Who actually knew how to paint. I followed this school for two years, learned everything about oil painting, preparing canvases, composition, colour, perspective and the history and interpretation of art. Then I decided to go further on my own, set up a website, a pretty online shop and hold regular expositions in my area.

So that´s were I am now. I do hope my story inspires you and maybe take up painting or some other form of art as well!