When You First Started Painting Or Photography

Mine is a little bit of a different story! I found it very hard to learn at school in a noisy disruptive classroom until I started 'doodling' as the teacher spoke. I would draw all the time, many different doodles and soon realized that as I was doodling I was also learning at the same time.

As I got older I then began to realize that I was a 'picture' person, i.e. I learnt better by looking at pictures rather than by audio.

I often wondered how people were able to recite conversations they had heard word for word but I couldn't do it, couldn't remember what they had said, yet I could remember number plates of cars, faces, places, and also able to recall people names from years ago or places by associating an image with it.

I began to base my learning around pictures, and even today at work if my boss want's to tell me something I say well you can tell me and I may forget it or you can draw a picture and I will probably remember it forever.

So I love photo's, images, probably for a different reason to most, it resonates with me and it's only later on in life I have self realized the reason why.

It's only in the last few years that I have applied more time to photography as a hobby as previously I had spent most of the time on creating music, running and chess.

I am self taught, and have been self taught with every hobby, sport or qualification I have attempted.

Started as a small child. My dad was an architect, I loved to see him make drawings of the houses with pencil. He took photos too, had a dark room, but never let me. My mom had a big colorful yarn collection to make embroidery and knitting, she says, as a toddler I was around that drawer to take out all her yarns.

I studied in a sport specialised school in elementary, and I was the worst in sports I hated, because I was very clumsy and slow, but best in the art class, so I went to have at afternoons and weekends to the local art studios to learn more. After 8th class, I was determined to go to art high school, and after that to Art University in Budapest. I graduated as a Textile Designer at MOME in Budapest, I had a giant loom for making textiles, and ended up with a big wardrobe filled with kilos of colorful yarn.

I restarted painting some years later, when I left my country with my Portuguese husband, and I couldn't take my big loom with me.

in a nutshell :)

I never owned a camera until I was 39. That year I was doing a lot of bird watching and also was a volunteer biologist at the marine mammal stranding and research center. That same year my sister met a guy named Russ Kinne, who wrote a book on bird photography. It was something I wanted to do, but not until I could afford the lenses, which were very expensive at the time. Russ gave my sister ac copy of his book to give to me, signed with a little message to me.

I read the book and planned on buying a camera when I could afford it. Then one day where I volunteered they gave me a nice Nikon camera to use because I was documenting where seals hauled out on Long Island and other areas. I payed to get the film processed right away and they said I was wasting film on birds.So I went out and bought the same camera, knowing I could use their lens. I took to it like a duck to water. It was like the missing ingredient in my life. It was a matter of a few months and I was getting asked to sell prints and I was submitting to magazines and had an author asking me for photos for his book. Soon I quit my day job because it was getting in the way and took work that allowed me more time to photograph. My reputation as a biologist soared and I had a little spot in a local paper for my observations and photos.

One day I ran into Russ. He was a constant companion of Roger Tory Peterson, the famous bird field guide author and traveled the world taking bird photos. I showed him a few prints. He said there was nothing more he could teach me and I had mastered photography in a short time.

I had a cheap camera when I was a teenager and dabbled a little back then, but nothing serious.

When I was in my early 30's I went back to university and studied film. I bought a secondhand slr for some assignments.

Eventually I started getting more and more into nature photography...photographed flowers and birds around my neighbourhood mostly.

It wasn't until I moved to a more rural area in 2001 that I really got into nature photography more seriously. I went through some super stressful events and basically tried to steer clear of humans for years...luckily there's plentiful wildlife in this area, so I spent a lot of time hiking and photographing animals.

A few years ago I was feeling the need to expand my horizons and I started creating collages with vintage ephemera...I taught myself Photoshop along the way in order to do this.

Over a year ago it was time to expand my horizons again and I got into creating digital abstract cat and dog artwork. Having lots of fun!

I'm about to move to a new area and expect to get back into photography a little more, with new places to explore.

When I was about 6 I was given a box camera and relatives always commented about my framing of the images.

They said that I had "an eye."

I guess they were right because I became a TV cameraman and then a director for 45 years.

What they didn't know is I was born with good sight in only one eye, so they were right: I had "an eye."

I was extremely young, shy, bashful, introverted and happy, when a brother wasn't tormenting me. I often found myself deep inside my own world. So much so that I sometimes let my imagination rule. When other kids were playing dodge ball during the hour lunch in the playground, I was drawing pictures in the dirt with a stick. The next thing I know, someone is tapping me on the shoulder. It was like waking up suddenly to find all the kids were gone and I hadn't heard the bell ring to come back to class. The principle had to send someone out to get me.

I remember at home sometimes taking forever to get dressed. The reason was partly due to the fact that I was trying to put my pants on without using my hands! Although I was young, I had enough sense to know I needed to break out of whatever this was or I would find it extremely difficult to survive as I got older. I started expanding my prayers at night to include asking God to make me faster and more ambitious. Around this same time period, I sometimes would take my index finger and in mid-air would trace around objects in the room. I felt from that activity, that rudimentary drawing must not be that hard to do.

Now, as a more mature man remembering back to those earlier days, I wonder if I might have had borderline autism?

Within a few years, my oldest brother gave up drawing with his Jon Gnagy drawing set and I took it over. A little later I was collecting pictures from the Sunday magazine, National Geographic, past due calendars, TV guide, Life and Look magazines, etc. thinking, I will use them for reference to draw and paint images that appealed to me.

Growing up I often practiced drawing and eventually when my dad who worked as a maintenance foreman at a private school for boys would bring home some discarded items during the Summer break which included some used oil, acrylic, and watercolor paint tubes. I tried my hand at painting. I think my first painting was done at eleven years old. I bought a few of those large drawing and painting instruction books as self-help. Later I purchased a set of ink-pen heads which I think were mainly designed for calligraphy, but I used them for ink drawings.

Another item my father brought home was a large thick slate, like a blackboard that we hung in the basement which was also our game and laundry room. Dad also brought home some colored chalk which I used to draw portraits and pictures on the slate for fun.

Eventually, I did one of those drawings of a dog or pirate that you used to find in the back of magazines and sent it in. My parents were starting to try and figure out how to get us kids on a path for the future so they let one of the representatives of the drawing contest come and interview me at our home. At the time I had no idea the "drawing contest" was just a ploy to find some talent to recruit for their art school. I ended up declining the opportunity since I thought it was primarily for commercial art and that seemed like a dime a dozen, and at the time I only wanted to do art when I felt inspired and not have to do it on a daily basis.

I took art in High School as one of my classes and never got above a "B". That was disappointing to me and with my reserved, self-conscious, lack of confidence, inferiority complex, it didn't do much to encourage an art direction for a career choice.

By the time I was in the ninth grade, it seemed to me that a vocation was the best choice when looking past school, so I chose to get into electronics. I really didn't get much out of it from HS, and since I had RA, my parents found an electronics school allowing me to attend on a scholarship for vocational rehabilitation. After graduation I put in applications for work with companies anywhere in the US. Three months passed and finally I got two offers in one day. Neither one had much to do directly with electronics, but I'm sure it helped me get a job non-the-less.

So, I hope my choice of getting a more conventional, dependable, and stable day to day career job was the right choice. I think it was. I worked 37 years without missing a day which I thought was amazing since I was very sickly as a child. I started at 19 and retired at 56, all with the same company.

I was blessed (or cursed) depending how you look at it, of loving variety, so I have many interests and hobbies. So many in fact that I couldn't possibly juggle them all at the same time. Consequently I have to lay one down if I want to pick up something else. The last 15 yrs have been primarily focused on photography, including 3D stereo as well as the more conventional 2D. With the advent of personal computers and digital cameras, a vast new world of exploration and opportunity has opened up for artists who enjoy creating and expressing their ideas through artistic form. This is where I'm at now. Who knows what may lay ahead?

That's not the entire story but it's plenty for this thread. :)

Cheers,
Brian Wallace 4-23-19

Out of the blue I got the desire to really learn how to make art about a year or two after I turned 40, (about ten years ago). I had often dabbled in art before but was really mostly clueless about it, but I've always been a creative person, always making things with my hands. Why I suddenly jumped head first into art? I really have no idea, maybe it was a mid-life crisis.

The unspeakable. It was my get-away.

But my father was also a professional architect (like Dora above), drew people at concerts, and taught me how to draw.

A saving grace.

First and foremost very interesting stories. I enjoyed each and every one.

I will try to be short.

I first grab a camera when I was in high school, it was my best friend's camera. I used to finish all her film.

I studied Mass Media and they gave me photography as a class and I fell in love with it.

It was and still is a little bit difficult for me to take photos. I have cerebral palsy and can't move very well my right arm and leg. So figuring out how to carry a camera was a little bit challenging. I'm very stubborn and I decided on my first class that I was going to master Photography.

I was very lucky because I had the opportunity to be in a dark room at my whole university. I loved it! For me, it was like making magic.

After I finished studying I came to the states for the first time as an Aupair (Babysitter). I came with one idea on my head to buy my first digital camera. I save all my money for that purpose.

I went back to Mexico, I arrived in Cancun got married and went for our honeymoon to England. When we came back from our long honeymoon 6 months I wanted to work on something related to what I studied.

My hubby had a friend that his mom was a Wedding Organizer. I got an appointment with her with the hope to become a wedding photographer. We were at the wedding paradise. I never shoot a wedding before (hahaha).

She gave me my first wedding on Dec 24 2009. She introduced me with a very good wedding photographer he took me to 3 weddings and I started working on getting weddings.

I shoot 350 weddings in 8 years. In Cancun, every day of the week is a good day for a wedding. On my big months, in the end, I was shooting 12 weddings a month.

My hubby and I were thinking to buy a house, to be honest with you Cancun is great for vacation, not so great to live in, is very hot and humid. Conor wasn't happy on his job and I was getting tired of dealing with hotels (they charge a fee just to let me in and shoot a wedding, and it is a very expensive fee from 500 to 1,500 plus my package) so we decided to go to an adventure.

We flew from Cancun to Miami with our four dogs, rented a van, drove all the way to Virginia we upgraded the Jeep drove to California, Washington, Montana and Wyoming I was documenting pretty much everything with my camera.

God brought us to Pinedale, Wyoming (the Jeep broke down here) and I love taking photos of landscapes and stories that I find interesting. I'm trying to make a living selling my landscape photos now.

Thanks for reading my story!

Sorry if my English is not perfect!

Great story Brian...!

Thank you all for sharing your stories ,
they are wonderful to read.

Angela Whitehouse.

Thank you Thomas, and Angela!

These are interesting. Nice thread.

I was originally a traditional oil painter, but after the kids came along and I had to work mega hours at my day job, I needed some artistic outlet that didn't take time to clean up from and that would get me out of my house and office, so I picked up a totally manual film camera at the advice of a friend who did some professional photography work. He said if I bought a completely manual (film) camera, it would force me to learn the basics rather than relying on the camera to do all the work. That was good advice. That was almost 30 years ago, and I've been enjoying it ever since.

I still have a day job, but I do have more time now to explore, and I really like macro work with small budding plants, etc. Even though I've not sold a single photo from the hiking trail in town, it's my "get away" place to relax and find the beauty in nature. Most of what people buy are memories and places they are familiar with, though, so I mostly sell well-known areas of Michigan and a few from other states, but I'll still go to the hiking trail a couple times a month and collect more little tiny gems whether anyone else likes them or not. It's kept me sane :-).

Thank you Mary, yes I thought this would be an interesting read, and it certainly is.
Thank you all.

I used to love colour - playing with colour.

Then, I got more than a few clicks on flickr!

So, I was encouraged, and have been a
photographic artist since about 2006.

Therapeutic yes I agree!

1961 out of boot camp began taking photos on a cheap Kodak Hawkeye for scrapbook.

Noticed everyone wanted copies of what I took.

Got better gear,.....haven't looked back.

I like most the technical aspects of manual settings, manual everything without the camera telling me what to do.

I continue today the same,...have never used auto focus,...don't know how.

My camera 57 +/- years old,....old tricks still work for this ol' timer.

oops

keyboard sticking,..sorry

sorry

my apologies

In junior high I was starting to hang out with the wrong kids and my parents said I needed a hobby. Sitting on the couch was not an option. My dad was retired from the Air Force and he brought my the hobby shops on the base. They had an auto garage with 10 stalls, a wood shop that was hugh, electronics shop, art, pottery, photoshop and more. They even had molds to make your own boat. Of course I wasn't interested in anything so my dad said your doing photography. The photoshop had 10 enlargers and a studio with lights and a 4x5 camera. They provided paper and chemicals for free including color. The airmen knew my dad was a 100% disabled vet and couldn't do much with me so they took care of me. They took me on shooting trips to the desert and the mountains and gave me rides home sometimes. I am very greatful to those airmen. The Airman that ran the shop as a second job moved on and he recommended me for the job and I got the job, even though I wasn't in the service. It was wonderful. I did all the sporting events on base with the shops 4x5 speed graphic. The shop was only open 3 days a week and I could use it the rest of the time. I went on to become an Army photographer and worked in the Pentagon as a civilian. I worked and the Depts of Interior and Agriculture and traveled to almost every state. I even photographed two presidents in the whitehouse. I moved to Vermont and freelanced until I retired. All because those wonderful airmen took me under their wing.

When my 8th grade teacher (Mrs McCabe) felt that I had potential in Art, and suggested that I apply to the High School of Music & Art, located in the bowels of the City of New York, requiring an hour and a half commute, by bus and subway, each way......

...my parent's response was "Whatever"......"Whatever he wants is OK with us."


I applied and was accepted.

It was an exciting, diverse, fulfilling experience....and at times, a bit scary.

I THRIVED

And devoted my life to Visual Art (of one form or another), ever since

I started drawing when I was high school. I am not the boy enjoy doing any sport during PT I read a lot of books and hid at the Library. College period I learned three Years of Painting, drawing mostly water colour and pencil. I like oil painting but Could not effort it. I hate someone took the photos of me that why I started taking camera early 1980. Taking photos of all kinds nature documents travelling editorial for newspaper. 2014 changed my life visited to Paris for three weeks and bought Lourve painting Book inspired by it tried to paint again. I created my garage and outdoor garden spaces for painting! photos first paint later!

Now I did not take photos for others anymore for my reference photos for painting! I enjoy painting oil. Like the slowing changing process and I lost my time drifting through painting session. Two or three sessions for a week each session for couple of hours. My free time visiting gallery walking learning techniques and preparing for my retirement! Still long way to go I am now 54! This is my two cents!

Win

Thank you all for your stories, so wonderful to read.

Marty
don't worry it happens .

When I finished college, I ended getting a job in Wyoming. I had never been out west before, so I thought what the heck. Being out there with its beauty, I thought this would be great to have a camera to capture what I was seeing. I bought a film camera and tried to figure it out by trial and error. Although I did not end up with a lot of success, I was hooked on photography. Well then I moved back to Wisconsin after 3 years and got married. The camera went to the wayside for the most part, while raising a family. One of my wife's nieces was getting married, so she said I needed to get a better camera then the point and shoot cameras we had. That is all I needed, I bought a digital camera and have never looked back. I used that 5 mp camera for eight years and then my wife bought me a camera about 6 years ago and I am trying to wear it out. I have had other hobbies or interests, but I would go gun ho for a while and then onto something else or lose interest. But not photography. I may take breaks now and then, but then I have to get out and see what I can capture. I am nearing retirement and can't wait to chase with the camera and see what I can find.

I relate to all the stories above and my own is only different in that I was in prison and needed something to do that was productive for myself.

I wasn't in a correctional facility, but a dead end job that had me validating results of the work of others for sixteen hours a day. It was so boring and meaningless that something creative and positive had to happen for me. I painted in my spare time and other people wanted my art.

Thankfully that job ended.

Thank you for adding your stories, they are great to read.
It's certainly lovely to read how people started being creative , and what made them continue.

Perfect, thank you all.

Angela, fun thread!

My story is rather boring.

Art and the various supplies and lessons were inflicted on me as a young child, I now imagine to keep me quiet and out of trouble as much as for the "artistic" experience.

Luckily for me and the parental units I enjoyed all of it and still do.

Thanks Val Arie yes I thought everyone's stories would be good to read.
And they are.

My mom died while I was very
young and had yet to learn to speak. For some reason my brother translated for me, he was the only one who could understand me. I could communicate with pictures so I have always thought of the visual arts as a form of non verbal communication. In any case I speak fine now but still make art for many of the same reasons.

Many Thanks for your story ronald.

And yes sometimes visual art says it all for you.

Great stories everyone.

My start was very spontaneous, totally unplanned, with zero aspiration underlying it.

One day, I saw an abstract human figure painting that struck me as such an awesome example of simplicity and elegance that I probably envied the person who created it to the point that I could not imagine that I could have missed out on the wisdom that enables somebody to physically perform such a seemingly simple task. "I can do that", I thought. "I must do that", I thought.

I tried to do it. I could NOT do it. This pissed me off, and so I got obsessed, until, after probably a thousand quick paintings (using black house paint, trashed computer paper fished out of a dumpster, and a cheap paint brush), I arrived at just a few figures that I could live with: Here they are:

https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/robert-kernodle.html?tab=artworkgalleries&artworkgalleryid=535962

After that, one thing led to another, and, well, ... here I am.

Thanks Robert kernodle
Glad you continued.