Well here the very first blog post with just a musing, not even a question. No assignments today folks! If this makes you happy please provide thumbs up in the comment section 🙂

Wow!!! I’ve got proof that my smart ways does help me! Actually made some cash with it along the way. You remember day 2 where I provided the assignment to really analyze something you liked in order to ruminate good mental food? Yeah, I know, that tricky assignment where you really had to do stuff like do some research on your own chosen topic, that I do fear no one else then me did.

I choose Monet back then and analyzed the way he painted his landscapes. I saw how he blurred things and put stark contrasts next to each other in his water lily paintings. With this knowledge I went to Amsterdam, one of my favorite places to paint. There I set up my easel and started putting the knowledge into practice.

I sat on the site of the canal (you have many of those down there, trust me on this) and watched the reflections in the water with a canal boat at the other side (we have loads of those too).

The main portion of the image I was looking at wasn’t that interesting, brown water, some reflections and some birds drifting by. But so were the paintings of Monet of simple water lilies. So I started to work. First the undercoating, painting everything gray except for a few light spots. And in pencil the scenery I was looking at…

Then slowly the colors were added, loads of browns and actually quite dull colors that Monet used in his paintings as well…

And slowly filling up the rest of the scene…

When working on it I began to see more and more. The tire that the birds had made a nest in, the neat reflection of a warehouse in the water, the greenery on the canal boat near to me, and there I was, finished…

I actually liked how the painting turned out and the day after it was exhibited in a gallery where it was sold on the same day!!! I did have the chance to speak with the buyers and told them how I had analysed Monet and tried to copy his way of working with colors and scenes. I’m not entirely sure if I followed all of his ways, my painting definitely cannot be compared with a Monet, but still, I sold it!!!

Conclusions

• Performing the action items that are provided does make you smarter (and richer along the way)