Painters: Need help impressing a girl.

Discussion in 'Miscellaneous' started by Kommander, Jan 11, 2013.

  1. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    PAINTED??
     
  2. thestrangequark

    thestrangequark Admiral Admiral

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    ^Probably. I can't remember, it's been awhile since I saw it. There were a lot of penises, though, and a lot of painting bodies!
     
  3. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Well I like penises. Not as much as space ships, though they do have similarities. Not sure I'd want them painted personally (though I recommend Kommander develop a very special plan involving tendrils and/or circuits for his) as they are kind of unusable until you wash it off.
     
  4. nightwind1

    nightwind1 Commodore Commodore

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    It's totally NOT a good idea, it's borderline stalker-y to just spring it on her.

    Besides which, every artist is different- only she knows what types of paints, brushes, pallets, canvases, easels, etc. that she likes to use. Some artists like oils, some like acrylics. Every artist also has their own favorite brands of materials, their own favorite types and brands of brushes, etc.
     
  5. Grey

    Grey Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    Well, you said you were willing to spend up to $200 or so. That's good, because the whole set up won't be cheat whatever it is.

    If you want to get "better than what she has" you'd have to find out what she has first. And it'll probably be pretty expensive to upgrade a full set of painting supplies from there.

    As an artist, it has taken me years to build up my collection of paints, brushes, canvases, etc. because buying them all at once would be out of the question. If you're just buying the supplies for one painting, it might not be so bad, though.

    Me, personally, I use little tiny canvases (4 x 6 inches and smaller) and those are pretty cheap. Were you thinking of getting one of those huge stand-to-paint-on-it canvases or something kinda smaller?

    Find out what she does and what area of painting she does and it'll be easier to help.

    As for the springing this on an artist thing...if someone did this to me, they probably wouldn't get a painting so much as a self-deprecating laugh and a shrug off. But I'd appreciate the new art supplies. :)
     
  6. thestrangequark

    thestrangequark Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah, I don't think any one artist can speak for the rest. She might really appreciate it, she might not. If someone went and bought me a bunch of canvasses I'd be pleased as punch: those things cost a fortune. If someone bought me paper, I'd probably be grateful, but wouldn't use it; I am very particular about the type of paper on which I draw.
     
  7. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    That's why my idea is so excellent. It's all about HIM while subtly lighting the fire within HER. He should buy the body appropriate paints he wants for an inspired creative idea he has and eagerly request her skills. It's not about how she is burned out, it's about his desire to be her canvas. That's romantic, isn't it.
     
  8. sidious618

    sidious618 Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah. If someone plopped a piece of paper in front of me and said, "Write a story" I'd probably tell them to go to hell. Some people can do things on the spot and get excited while others would find it annoying.
     
  9. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    POST NOW SIDIOUS
     
  10. sidious618

    sidious618 Admiral Admiral

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    DAMN YOU!
     
  11. rhubarbodendron

    rhubarbodendron Vice Admiral Admiral

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    not overly creative, but not all that bad for an on-the-spot performance :D

    Have you ever been abroad and when discussing languages someone asked you to say something in your native language? One is always at a loss what to say in such moments. I think it's much worse with painting or any other creative art.
    I'm a scientist but I, too, would have trouble to extemporize an article for the Scientific American or a similar magazine.

    Luring someone into being creative might work. Forcing is not going to.
     
  12. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Duh, you swear.
     
  13. Gul Re'jal

    Gul Re'jal Commodore Commodore

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    I always choose a tongue twister :D :devil:
     
  14. Kommander

    Kommander Commodore Commodore

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    If she needs prompting to get ideas flowing, I'm going to suggest something abstract or metaphorical; focus on what she's feeling rather than what she's painting. She doubts herself a little too much. If I asked her to do a portrait she'd probably be worried about not being good enough, and impressing me with her skill isn't the point. She does a lot of fantasy/mythological imagery, I don't even know if she'd want to do a portrait.

    I'd like to avoid painting myself if possible. While watching me try to paint would definitely help her with the self-doubt issue, as it would be really bad, I really don't want to be doing any painting myself. Her and I have plenty of other common interests that she might find inspiring without me having to paint anything.

    Although... when I do what the thread is about. If she's hesitant to get started, maybe then I should paint something, or get it started. If the final result is a painting we worked on together, that might have some special meaning. I'm probably going to ad-lib most of it based on her reaction, but it helps to have ideas ahead of time. Thanks for mentioning this.

    This I could do. I have to do a school thing at the Detroit Institute of Arts and I'm going to ask her to go with me, but that's not until April. Maybe I'll do something before then.

    Yeah, I need to try to get a look at her stuff. I doubt she uses oils, given that they're always expensive. Maybe she'd like to if I can find the budget for it? Actually, it probably doesn't matter what supplies I get. Given I am not a painter and she knows this, she'll probably be impressed if I get stuff from an actual art store and not present her with paints and brushes I bought at Home Depot.

    I'm sure she does, but not that I have access to and can set up. If I use her supplies, at best she figures out what I'm up to, at worst she'd be pissed about me stealing her stuff.

    Her and I have discussed it. She wants to get painting again, the only issue is the lack of inspiration. I also said I'd like to help her with it if possible. Her response was along the lines of "you've got your work cut out for you."

    Hmm... I just realized I already have implied consent to do what I'm going to do. Kommander: 1; Doubty McBuzzkill: 0

    I have slept with her, in the sense that we slept in the same bed after the NYE party, there was lots of cuddling, and it was awesome. I have not had sex with her yet.

    I actually think she might go for something like this. It doesn't really appeal to me though. We'll see.

    I have a problem with statements like this. Actions in themselves are not creepy or stalker-y, how the target of said actions perceives them is what's important.

    If I bought her a ring and purposed right now, it would be creepy as fuck. If I do it three or four years from now, probably not. My actions would be exactly the same. However, her perceptions would change between dating me for two weeks and dating me for several years.

    Even typical stalker behavior, such as tracking people down, or driving past someone's house repeatedly; it's not the behavior, it's that it's unwanted.

    As for my situation: The thing with this girl isn't exactly typical "dating." We connected, and are thoroughly impressed with each other. We got talking a little after midnight, and then the next thing we knew it was 9am, the party ended hours ago, and everyone else had either left or gone to bed. I'm a smoker, and the house was non-smoking. Do you have any idea how thoroughly engrossed in a conversation I have to be to go more than eight hours without a cigarette when I've been drinking? Before that night, my record was three. We went to bed, got up around four, and then spent another several hours talking and only left because the home owner made us leave. I never asked her out, and she didn't ask me out. We just mutually decided "we're dating now." Well, she did ask for my phone number, but we'd need some way to contact each other in order to date.

    My point is, her and I have the rapport necessary for me to try something like this. If we didn't, I wouldn't feel comfortable doing it.

    I was thinking something medium-sized, but I should probably find out what size she normally uses and go for something similar to that. I think 18" by 11" or so, but I'm going on cell phone pictures so that's only a rough estimate; could be anything really. If she uses various sizes I'll go for something in the middle: enough room to work with without it feeling overwhelming or cramped. If she seems to prefer a particular size I'll go for something close to that.

    That's probably about the worst reaction I'd expect from her. If that's what happens, maybe the new supplies will help to get her going again. So, mission accomplished.
     
  15. Kommander

    Kommander Commodore Commodore

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    Even though I did not ask for input on whether or not I should do this, Doubty McBuzzkill still sucks, and I am definitely going to do this, I've rethought my strategy a bit.

    I'm going to hold off a little longer than I originally planned. I'm going to try to get her painting again in other ways, and then do the surprise art set thing to keep her going. If I do it this way, it'll come as slightly less of a shock, I'll be able to get a better idea of the kinds of art supplies she'd need/want, and the chances of it being awesome go way up, instead of being only kind of awesome or thoughtful but not resulting in anything other than new art supplies for her. So, thanks to everyone that offered ideas on other ways to inspire her. I will probably use some of them, pretend I came up with them on my own, and not give anyone else any credit.

    While I'm here, some more about the other thread:

    I'm meeting her for coffee on Monday. She thinks meeting at a coffee place is awesome so everyone in the other thread was wrong.

    Completely different girl in my new Creative Writing class wrote a poem for me. She was being a smart ass about a conversation we were having, and it wasn't creepy at all. So, everyone that disagreed with the basic premise of other thread is also wrong. I responded by writing her a poem where I picked on her for being an Objectivist, which was funny and also not creepy. Then she started telling me about her sexual tastes and that was mildly creepy, but awesome. Still, for being a Randroid, Other Girl is actually pretty tolerable. My point is, Doubty McBuzzkill is bad at everything and should feel bad.
     
  16. Kestra

    Kestra Admiral Premium Member

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    I'm less inclined to try and be helpful in the future.
     
  17. Kommander

    Kommander Commodore Commodore

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    ^ Fine, you get credit if I use something you said. No one else though.
     
  18. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I think your exuberance makes people want to throw cold water on you.
     
  19. Kommander

    Kommander Commodore Commodore

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    So that's why people are always randomly throwing water balloons at me? I figured they were doing it because it's funny. It doesn't matter though, they always miss.

    Also, my attempts to be concise when posting probably make me come off as more manic than I really am.
     
  20. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Oh you mean your staccato listing of pertinent facts?