subject: How to Paint Blind [print this page] How to Paint Blind How to Paint Blind
Like teachers the world over, instructors at a guide dogs school for the blind, are careful not to show favoritism to any one of their students, although recently a painting of one of the graduates was proudly hung in the new lounge of the non profit school. Jeannie the golden retriever is now stationed as the blind seeing eye dog of a Denver, Colorado lady and she is the one in the picture. The artist just recently lost her eyesight and she was the one who created this amazing portrait. For some people, like this artist, it is important to have something to turn to when you are in a deep place and painting saved her. It was the Indian life in Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona that she loved to paint long before her sense of sight diminished.
Nowadays, she never paints without first gathering her thoughts. Using her noggin, literally, she thinks about all of the things that she translates onto the canvas. Most of the time, she would make outlines with pins but the pins tended to disfigure the canvasses which she uses. Pins have since been an obsolete tool for this artist.
When she painted Jeannie, she began by making a line drawing with a crayon. Filling in the outline with paint, she follows the crayon outline with a brush in her right hand.
When Jeannie was given to this artist, the instructor at the school described her and this was what she used to paint her. She says the instructor described to her that Jeannie was as warm as the setting sun with a little brown added, a golden bronze. To tell the pigments apart, she smells them and this is why she only uses two to three colors at a time.
When she painted Jeannie, she made use of a small brush but when it came to the tail, she was going for something that is proud and fluffy and this is why she decided to use her fingers for this portion. She knows for a fact that her works, especially this one of Jeannie, was good and this she can truly say because of a feeling that she has, she knows herself well enough to make this conclusion. What Jeannie did when she saw her painting according to the artist was growl and dance a little.
She knew that the portrait was nice. Life can still be useful even with a disability according to the guide dogs school for the blind. Almost all of the people who graduate here are working regular jobs. Those who graduated from this school did not have to pay for anything even if it took $1700 to pay for the training that was necessary for each man and dog team.
