Shout Out to Charcoal!

So people don’t smile here much as you pass them on the street. It’s not like in the mid-west, my friends from IN and TX have confirmed my thought in this oddity. However, we discussed this idea of smiling at strangers with our friend Alex from Great Britain and he laughingly confirmed that in fact, we are the odd ones. Who smiles at strangers he says. He followed this statement with some British phrase that assured he might just kick someone’s ass if they decided to randomly smile at him. We all had a good laugh and continued on our break.

While walking to class this morning, and every morning, I pass the elementary school that is near to my flat, today it aroused the concept of children and culture. We are not born thinking; today I will or wont smile at the people I pass. No this is a cultural difference amongst many regions in the world and even parts of the US. While sitting at McDonalds (yes, we went the super cultured route) for lunch with my peers we noticed that the little baby sitting in the high-chair next to us was ever so playful, as playful as any other child. A child with out restraint, with out judgment and with the simplicity of joy in a laugh, a smile and a kind gesture such as reaching their little hand out to a complete stranger. The children here are so beautiful. They wiz around on their little razor scooters and roam the streets playfully just as every other child in this world. Children hold such a beauty in their innocence.

On my way to the art supply store another child caught my attention. He sat on the floor of the metro train peeling the chocolate center from the cookie his mother had given him. Watching him in such a carefree manor again arouse the feeling of innocents that children poses. To sit on one of the filthiest surfaces eating a cookie in such a content manor made me a little jealous and quite envious. I thought to myself, man, children really have it all; what I wouldn’t give to be a child again just for a moment. As I tasted that thought in my mind for a moment my eyes slowly shifted to his mothers leg and then up her body until I reached her face. This slow movement allowed me the time to realize yes, being a child is and was great but what an honor to poses wisdom. If possessing that innocents again means that I must trade the value of my ever-growing wisdom I don’t know that I would do it. More often I look at my elders and envy their wisdom far more than I envy innocents of children. Not to discredit the children of this world they hold such a unique and precious key in this life, one that touched my life more today than the wisdom of any adult, a smile.

So I made it to the art store after a long week of sketching with a mechanical pencil in my tiny little sketchbook… pa. However, it was well worth the wait this supply store rocked my socks off!! This store had soooooo many stinking supplies of all colors and sorts! Metallic gold and bronze oil pastels!! I didn’t buy the metallics this time but perhaps on my next visit… oh yes, there will be a next visit! Finding this place made me mucho mucho happy! They didn’t have paper but they had a little brother store, which wasn’t little, just down the street full of paper! It was just as wonderful as the supply store. The great thing is these places have postings and connections for art classes in the area. If I stick around here for a while I will surely be signing up for a class… I would really like to take another figure drawing class and I know somewhere in Barcelona has one but I’ll just have to see about pricing.

So to end I would like to thank all of you who read my blog regularly or just at all, especially those who make comments. I must be honest I was a little discouraged to find out that I don’t have many readers. I know I write a lot so I find it completely understandable. I mean seriously… who writes almost 10 pages single-spaced in less than a week! I’m not sure I even wrote that much in a week in college. Well I probably did but not by choice that’s for sure… What has happened to me!!? Just Kidding, I love it and as time and passion allow I intend on
continuing with my blogging as planned.

Love and miss you all! Hugs for everyone!

Also, I have included a drawing that my new art supplies helped me achieve… thanks art supplies!

(Also I would like to note that the lady in this picture is fully dressed... rare of my drawings... I know. So if you like clothing you may have to keep coming back to this drawing)