first paintings

the first painting i ever did was about 13 years ago. it was of a whale jumping out of water. basic shapes, basic colors, not much in details nor shadowing. It was mediocre at best. I never again picked up a paintbrush. Today I come to learn: Art is more than just a reproduction of what lies in front of the eye. I was looking at things through too analytical of an eye. Rather than be ashamed that my work wasn't in the same ballpark as the best of my classmates, it was still MY art. Naturally with time and effort perhaps I can pick up a better, cleaner technique of painting. I simply need to give it time. That said, these next two pieces are the first two I've done since the whale in the water long ago:

What I've learned:
Perhaps 5x7 is a little small for me to practice on.
Perhaps i need a bigger array of paintbrush sizes.
Perhaps I've lived my life being too hard on myself.

Updated: July 21, 2006 I've since added touches of gold marker to both of these paintings trying to clean and dazzle them up a bit. The first I've botched, the second i've improved slightly.. i have yet to scan the new copies in though. Back to the drawing board.