Old Town Landscape, Oil - 1984

"Old Town Landscape" is my very first oil painting. I remember, I was barely 18 when my father gave me a medium size canvas, few brushes and let me use his "Rembrandt" oil paint tubes for this project. He said: "Go ahead, paint something... let's see if you inherited any of my talents".

I was extremely nervous as I saw my father on countless occasions creating a great piece of art from "nothing". So there I was, standing in front of my father's portable easel with a blank canvas on it. In spite of the fact that in the past I have created some drawings using watercolors - which by the way were just art class school projects - I really did not know if I had it in me to create an OIL PAINTING to live up to my father's expectations.

Since my own imagination at that time was completely shut down I decided to find something that could serve me as a "model" for my canvas oil project. I remember browsing through famous painter's albums - my father's prized possessions. One particular painting made quite impression on me - it was a beautiful landscape by French painter Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796-1875) - and that picture served me as my inspiration to create the Old Town Landscape. Couple of days later, after I was finished I showed my own very first oil painting to my father... he was stunned. I could see how proud he was of his only son - "Good job" - he said, and such words coming from an experienced artist and a painter with a Master Degree in Fine Arts were the best expertise one could dream to receive, not to mention that this unforgettable experience from my teenage years contributed to the "epiphany" of 2002 when I realized that painting is something I am destined to do. Even though I had a "painter's block" between 2005 and 2010 yet in my case creating art - whether it is poetry, essays, oils or photography - it is like a bike ride: once you know it and practice you will never forget it.

-- Alukotron