Painting on the Job

by **Lora** on November 9th, 2014, 9:46 pm

Timestamp: 37th fall, 514
Lora sat on her blue blanket. A clouded sky hung over her threatening to rain. It was early morning; the time Lora had found was the busiest at the harbor. Over the first few days Lora had been able to amuse herself by watching the huge diversity of the people who walked by but pretty soon she got used to the different people and they were no longer any different than the people she saw around Mura. The long hours sitting there were rather dull and she didn’t have many customers anyway so she decided to start painting while sitting there. Since she was selling paintings she decides it would probably be ok for her to paint while she sells her painting.

Sitting next to her on the blanket was the piece of wood she used as a palette. In her lap was a medium sized half finished painting. Her paint brush was working over the canvas adding colors and shades. She tried to make sure to look up whenever someone stopped to look at her art so she didn’t seem to absorbed in her work.

As an older Konti woman stopped in front of the blanket, Lora looked up at her. “Is there something you like?” Lora asked, eager for a customer.

“Yes,” The woman said slowly, her long, white dress swaying in the wind. “My daughter collects such thing. Her birthday is in a week, you see. I need something nice for her. Which of these would she like?”

“This one.” She said without thinking and pointed to a medium sized painting of a building. “I mean, um, what kinds of painting does your daughter like?” Blushing a bit from her slip up, Lora looked down at the blanket.

“This does seem like one she would like.” The woman laughed kind-heartedly. “How much do you charge for it?”

Lora though about it for a second she had been selling most of her medium sized paintings for 7 silver so she decided this was what she would charge. “7 silver.” The konti nodded and pulled out 7 silver coins from her pocket. She handed them to Lora, who had to push her painting off her lap and go into a kneeling position to reach it.

“Thank you.” Lora said, slipping the coins into her pocket, picking up the painting and handing it to the woman. The woman took the painting, mumbled something about thinking her daughter will like it, and then smiled at Lora before walking away. Lora smiled after her as she walked away. She had been Lora’s first customer and Lora hadn’t even been sitting there too long. This was a good start to her day.

Crossing her legs once more, Lora picked up her painting and paint brush to continue painting. She was half way done with a scene of the harbor. Having never had the chance to paint the harbor before, she was delighted in the new opportunity. The contrast of the wooden planks of the ground, the ships in dock and the sea made for an interesting subject. Generally when it was cloudy and Lora painted she would make it a sunny day in the painting due to the fact she liked light colors in her paintings but today she was painting the harbor as it was: cloudy and a little bit depressing. A good thing about this was it prevented her from having to paint the sunlight reflecting of the surface of the water, a subject that was always difficult for her.

As she dipped the brush in the yellow paint a man came up to her blanket. Setting the paintbrush down on a so the bristles were on the wooden palette she looked up at the man. “Hello, sir. Is there anything you like?”

by **Lora** on November 14th, 2014, 9:58 pm

The rough looking man mused over the selection of paintings. Eyes shifting over each one, his gaze eventually settled on the painting Lora was working on. “I’d like that one.”He nodded at the wet painting.

“It’s not finished.” She said regretfully. She never liked to turn down a customer. “But, you can have it when it is finished. I mean, I’ll sell it to you when it is finished.” She added the last sentence quickly not wanting him to get the wrong idea.

“‘Course, I’ll be waiting ‘till you finish.” The man replied. “And ‘course I was planning to pay ya. What do you take me for? Some kind a thief?” The human’s sudden increase in tone frightened Lora a bit.

“No, of course not, I just-” Lora paused, not sure how to explain herself. “I didn’t mean to offend you.” Lora bowed her head, a bit embarrassed. The man just laughed a rough but oddly warming laugh.

“I know ya didn’t mean nothin’ by it. I will be buyin’ that from ya then.” Crossing his arms in a businesslike manner, he asked “When will it be done and how much will ya be chargin’?”

“Um,” Lora looked up and collected her thoughts. “4 and 7. I mean, 4 days and 7 silver.” She corrected herself quickly. “Sorry.”

“Alright.” The sailor grinned, showing off some missing teeth. “ I’ll be comin’ back in 4 day. Would you be wanting the payment up front or when I get the painting?”

“You can pay me when you get the painting.” Lora decided.

“Ok good. I’ll be comein’ back.” With this remark the man headed back in the direction of a boat parked in the dock. Lora watched him weave in and out of the people until he eventually boarded the boat that was waiting for him.

Picking up her painting once more she continued it. Taking the paintbrush, which was still wet with light yellow paint, Lora began adding small streaks of yellow to the already brown boards of the dock. Mixing the colors on the canvas, she was eventually able to give the ground the weathered look it actually possessed. Accidentally she had added a bit too much yellow that the boards started to be an unnatural color. She washed her brush off in the bowl of water and dipped the brush in the brown, using the new color to balance out the light yellow. With a bit more tweaking she was able to bring the boarded docks to an acceptable-at least in her opinion- state.

Washing the brush off again, she moved on to the first boat in the dock. It had peeling red painted sides, with a sign on the front that read, what Lora assumed was the name of the boat but she couldn’t read it due to paint being almost completely gone. Scooping a bit deep red paint onto her brush, she began painting the little boat’s side. Before long she was painting the other parts of the rusty ship. Every once in a while she had to stop and smile at people who were looking at her art. She didn’t mind, after all it was the entire reason she was here. Despite the constant distractions she was able to make some good progress on her painting.

by **Lora** on November 17th, 2014, 10:35 pm

Just as Lora was finishing off painting the boat, a older woman, who Lora thought was a human but she could have been a human sub race, walked up to her blanket. The woman’s black hair had strands of white in it and was pulled back on her head into a tight bun. Her small brown eyes glared at Lora seeming to stare into her soul. Her face turned toward the paintings.

“These painting are obviously done by an amateur!” She announced looking at the paintings. “You can see the smudges around the smaller details and style is all wrong.” The woman looked back at Lora folding her arms. “Well, what do you have to say for yourself, selling such awful pieces? In my art school back in Syliras such things would not be tolerated.”

“I’m sorry.” Lora said, not sure of how else to respond.

“And you should be. I-” Suddenly the woman was cut off by a young adult girl running up to her and grabbing her arm.

“Mother!” The silky haired girl said with exasperation. She started pulling her mother away. “Come on!” Glancing back at Lora, the girl gave Lora an apologetic look as she pulled her mother down the harbor in the direction of the city.

Lora started to think about the encounter she had just had. Was her art really that bad? Maybe she shouldn’t be trying to sell her art yet. Maybe she should have gone in to copying books or another simple job. In an attempt to distract her mind from her unhappy thoughts she went back to the painting she was working on. As she started to work on recreating the next boat in the row her mind returned to depressed thoughts. She needed to try to do better. Trying to make the boat as perfect as possible she ended up adding too much paint giving the canvas a gloppy sort of look. Frowning down at the canvas she hoped it would look better when it dried.

Taking a deep breath, Lora started to work on the third and final boat depicted in the painting. After a few layers of paint she stopped herself from doing any more. Noting multiple placing that needed some touching up she itched to fix them but instead just left them with the few other mistakes in the rest of the painting. People continued to walk past as Lora continued her painting. Eventually another person stopped by.

by **Lora** on November 20th, 2014, 10:06 pm

“Can I help you with anything? I mean anything you want to buy.” Lora looked up at a young Konti woman, probably no older than Lora. Her short blond hair fell across her face when she cocked her head a little frowning.

“That’s Kontinesse, isn’t it?” The woman smiled she seemed oddly interested in the language. “I don’t speak kontinesse.” She spaced out her work and said each syllable clearly like she thought Lora wouldn’t be able to understand.

“It is Kontinesse,” Lora replied to the question in common. “Oh and, um, I speak common as well.” She tried not the make the sentence accusing but the konti’s pale cheeks still flared a shade of red.

“Sorry,” Her reply was rather awkward and her eyes bored holes into the ground. “Your paintings are very nice.” She attempted to change the subject.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say it like that.” Lora stopped herself realizing she was making the situation even more awkward. “Thank you.” She responded to the girl’s previous statement.

“No problem.” The reply came in a short single breath. “I should probably get going.” She jabbed her thumb over her right shoulder indicating the direction she would be going in. As the konti began to walk away Lora immediately felt bad, having scared away a potential costumer. She needed to stop doing that. This wasn’t the first person Lora had scared away with her odd conversation. Just not saying anything when people approached her blanket started to seem like a better and better idea with each person she scared off.

Disregarding her straying thoughts, Lora returned her attention to the almost completed painting that sat in her lap. She needed to get this done. When she had told the man she would be getting it done in 4 days she had assumed it would be finished that day so it would have enough time to completely dry. With the stormy clouds overhead still threatening rain Lora wanted to get the painting done as soon as possible so she could get back to her house and not risk getting her paintings wet. Returning the paint brush to her hand she began to put the finishing touches on the painting.

by **Lora** on November 22nd, 2014, 9:23 pm

As Lora finished up her painting another person stopped at her blanket.

“Hello, I’m interested in buying a painting.” The person said. Putting down her now finished painting Lora looked up at her costumer. She was a relatively tall konti with strait blond hair and an excited grin.

“Is there anything in particular you would like?” Lora asked smiling back at the woman.

“Yes, actually, I like that one.” She pointing to a painting Lora had of the beach.

“Great!” Lora said a bit relieved that this costumer had been so easy going, unlike some of the ones she had earlier that day. Noting that the painting was of medium size she said, “That will be 7 silver, please.”

Reaching into her pocket, the konti pulled out a collection of mizas from her pocket. She counted them then putting 2 extras she had back in her pocket she handed them to Lora.

“Thank you,” Lora said accepting the coins and handing the painting to the konti. “I hope you like it.”

As the woman walked away with her new painting Lora decided it would be best for her to leave for the day. The sky was threatening rain and if it did rain all her paintings would be ruined. She stacked each of her paintings making sure to put the wet one on the top of the pile. Shaking off the blanket to get as much dirt out of it as she could, she folded it and stuck it under her arm. After emptying the murky water filled bowl on to the ground; she placed the bowl on the palette taking care to put it in a spot not already covered in paint. In one hand she picked up the painting stack and in the other she took up the palette with the bowl on it. Her blanket still tucked under her arm Lora started to make her way back to her house.

It was a bit more difficult on the way back than it had been on the way there due to the fact that on the way there Lora had just been able to have the palette, bowl and paintings all on one tall pile. Having two piles made it that much more difficult to carry. Walking slowly, it took her longer than normal to return to her house but she was glad she got home when she did because no more than 10 chimes passed when she got back before it started to rain. Happy and dry in her house Lora set her drying painting out on the floor and started waiting for it to dry.