Learning to Paint with Oils: The Psychedelic Owl and My Journey with the Milan Art Institute

I have held a staggering variety of jobs since I first started working at fifteen years old. My first job was shoveling horse poop out of the stalls for a neighbor. She paid me $10 an hour, several bucks more than the current minimum wage. I did a shamefully poor job and didn't deserve her kindness or the generous pay. I have a distinct memory of shoveling away with my cousin when we decided to start throwing the horse dung at each other after one of us accidentally splashed the other in the face with an ill-timed flick of a feces-covered shovel. We even spent some of our "working" time trying to save the hens from the rooster who would aggressively mount them while they squawked and screamed. We were sobbing with emotion because neither one of us understood what the rooster was doing, we literally just thought he was trying to murder the poor ladies he was tasked with protecting! Haha, oh so embarrassing.

After this first job, I went from job to job, searching for something that sang to my soul. I didn't have a coherent plan. But I didn't necessarily feel like I needed one either, I was young and living my life on my own terms, moving around and seeing the country from its many beautiful angles. I did make many friends and everything I learned has proven to be invaluable, although eclectic. But I never felt a real love or passion for any of my jobs, regardless of how well I did those jobs. This doesn't mean that I did not feel love or passion, because I did. My emotions have always run very deep, good emotions, bad emotions, everything. I hear that is common amongst those in the creative arts. To see and feel the world around me with deep intensity. It has gotten me in trouble many times, but I think the sharp and sometimes painful world is also that much more vibrant and stunning to people like myself who feel life so deeply. I want to share the beautiful things I see with everyone and I have found that being able to make something beautiful with my own two hands. That is what brings me joy. That is all I want to do. To make something beautiful, to create a thing that will elicit emotion and cause you to stop for just one more second, and then again another second passed. Until you get a little lost in what you see.

Learning this about myself, that I love creating art and then deciding to take action, has taken a surprising level of consistent and constant self-love and a willingness to fail. To fail and to fail again, repeatedly, choosing repeatedly to get back up again no matter how many times it takes. It is a roller coaster ride that flings me carelessly from excitement and aww to the brink of 'Oh shit, is this it for me? Is this really how it all ends?' and this ride is one that I am desperately in love with.

Deciding to take on this journey of becoming a professional artist while also raising three wild humans that look eerily like me, first picking up a paintbrush well into my thirties was like attempting to juggle flaming torches while riding a unicycle—daunting yet also exhilarating! I have finally found a path that consistantly fills me with passion.

This painting, a psychedelic owl with mushrooms sprouting from its feathers, was my maiden voyage into the world of oil painting, and let's just say, it was quite the hoot (was that too cheesy?) Prior to painting this psychedelic owl, my experience was limited to about a dozen (or maybe two dozen?) paintings done with watercolors, all of which had been completed within the prior eight months. I mostly learn by looking things up on Youtube and googling things, I use chat GPT a lot now too. But the Milan Art Institute- Mastery Program has made everything way more organized and easy. My experience with the program so far has not only taught me the alchemy of transforming what I see out in the world and putting it onto a canvas or piece of paper. They also promise to demystify the art of turning passion into profit. I'm a firm believer that we must all dispel the garbage idea that artists are destined for a life of poverty. Let us choose instead to start teaching artists the basics of business and marketing so they may find success. Maybe we could even talk a little bit about socializing (haha, don't look at me, I'm a work in progress). I just believe that the world would be a much kinder and more beautiful place if we chose to value the arts more within our society.

Jeez Chej, enough rambling... Strap in, fellow dreamers, and let us wander this colorful world together, attempting to recreate the beauty we see, and paint the feelings we feel. In this colorful version of the Twilight Zone, our mistakes in life are merely brushstrokes in disguise, and every accidental blob or drip of paint holds the potential for magic.

Step 1- Subtractive Underpainting

Step 2- Add Transparent Colors

Step 3-Add Opaques

Step 4-Add Fine Details

-With Love-

Chej

P.S. If you are looking to create your own art and are in need of supplies, there are many great resources online. I always scavenge facebook marketplace first and scoop up people's throwaways. Or if you only want new items I would suggest Blick Art Supplies, They are pretty cheap and they have EVERYTHING. I buy 90% of my supplies from Blick.

P.S.S. If you or anyone you know wants to learn how to paint and draw and actually make $$$ with it. Check out the Milan Art Academy, which is where I chose to go (other than watching a million Youtube videos). The people at the Milan Institute don't believe in the 'starving artist' myth and every lesson is designed to help you in the long run to successfully make money. We can all make a living with art, especially in a day and age where we can contact people on the other side of the planet within literal seconds if we choose to do so.

***If you want to donate/leave me a tip you can do so at https://buymeacoffee.com/chej

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