Art is a vital part of our culture that begins at an early age.
Remember those long forgotten days of summer camp and arts and crafts? How about elementary school art class? Can you remember finger painting as a toddler?
Art has always been a part of our lives. It’s a great way for children to learn encouragement and self-expression. More important, they experience joy and happiness.
Sometimes we lose touch with our artistic roots because life “gets in the way.” Those happy days of finger painting and making beaded necklaces at camp disappear. Conference calls and last minute meetings take their place. Before you know, it’s all behind you.
Today, we’re sharing the story of a young artist named Ben Bowling. Ben is now a seventeen-year-old who began painting when he was around nine years old.
Even at that early age, Ben, too, experienced something that holds us all back at the canvas — failure. He admits to giving up because he couldn’t understand how to correct the mistakes he was making.
Can an eighty-year-old and a nine-year-old experience the same frustrations at the canvas?
You bet they can!
Ben emailed us and sent a photo of some paintings he had done. He couldn’t figure out what he was doing wrong. We don’t normally do this, but we sent him a video commentary on his paintings. We encouraged Ben to enroll in our “Fundamentals” art course.
The photo on the left was the first one he sent. The photo on the right was after completing our “Fundamentals” art course.
I chose Alexander Art due to the lack of good information and assistance out there for the wet-on-wet technique. Bill Alexander is the best teacher, and the Alexander Art company seemed to genuinely care about the success of artists, Ben said.
Ben spoke of Bill’s encouragement and positive attitude as a key motivator.
The course helped me with mountains the most, Ben said. The way Bill approached his paintings encouraged you to really analyze and think about how he was doing what he was doing.
Ben’s improvement and success are easy to identify in the above images. What Ben loved most, though, was that he enjoyed painting again!
While everyone gets mad at themselves for making mistakes and wanting to get better, painting should never be a burden. The course just encouraged the learning process, said Ben.
These are wise words from such a young man. Ben now has a renewed sense of self-satisfaction and confidence for the future. He is an excellent example of someone who, even at a very young age, rediscovered the joy of art.
We invite you to do the same. Check out our “Fundamentals” art course at this link.
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