My hands prevailed flat on my side, my eyebrow rumpled up a bit at the white palette Abriana held in her hands. In front of us were an easel and a paintbrush along with some painter's tools.

I was befuddled with what we were going to do with pieces of stuff like these not fully understanding what the tenacity was but I don't question and just wait impassively, waiting for her to do something about it.

I see her open a bottle full of acrylic paint, slowly emptying each of them in the holes of the palette that was suddenly and increasingly filled with different colours. Her hands lean forward reaching for a substitute bottle and a cup. She opens the blue plastic bottle, pouring water into the pliable cup.

I stood next to her side, crouched on my knees as I watch her pour the clean clear water into the cup. She takes the soft quill of the brush and dips it into the cup full of water, the brush later coming out wet.

The different colours were on the palette. When I see her stand up, I get off my knees doing the same thing with her.

My eyes profoundly watched as she brings the acrylic paper that looked somewhat thick, having an adherent surface and a fine white texture and attached it to the easel, coming out structured and well fixed.

After the cursory silence, she turns to me with a small smile that grazed on her features. "And now we paint." She says after a long quietude.

I lift my gaze from her going around to look at the arrangement of the colours and art supplies. I was quite confused about what she said earlier about painting but I didn't know-how. She made mention of we meaning it was both of us.

"I don't know how to paint," I say simply turning my gaze to her. She smiles more, going over to where the buoyant easel was.

"I don't expect you to know but we are doing it anyways. We're going to paint an ocean and name it out project." She explains taking out two brushes on the small stool. We stood outside under the small roof of the maintenance house. It wasn't a bad day to paint or do an outdoor activity.

I see her glide over to the other easel and fixing an acrylic paper on the easel presumably it was for me. She takes one of the brushes and hands it to me, hauling me in front of the white paper.

I stand there looking disoriented as ever. I knew for a fact that being my first time painting, she was going to give me guidance but I couldn't help but feel insignificantly nervous. I didn't want to ruin things for her and myself.

"So I'm just going to sketch an ocean for you." She says absent mindlessly. She takes out a green pencil, coming in front of my canvas.

The tip of the pencil touches the bland surface of the paper, her hands suddenly working wonders. Abriana skillfully takes the pencil and divides the canvas into three portions horizontally and then into three portions vertically.

"This helps keep the proportions realistic." She says, her eyebrows squeezed in absorption. I stood by her side, my eyes and mind focused on the process in front of me. As she went on, I noticed the lines weren't thick so I decided to ask.

"Why are the lines thin?" I say drifting my focus on her a bit before going back to the sketching.

"It makes it easier to erase if I ever make mistakes so the latter of the erased lines isn't visible." She tells.

After she was done, she brings the palate of colours close to my stool of mine. I also recognized the colours she chose which was consisting of blue, purple, green, and white.

"I'm going to go do mine then we'll start together."

She walks back to her canvas, taking the green pencil along with her. She does the same thing with her smooth plain paper, dividing the paper into three portions horizontally and vertically.

I'd never seen her so peaceful in this state, her face looking so relaxed. She seemingly enjoyed painting because she was an artist herself.

"Let's start." She says, the both of us holding our dry brushes in our right hands undeviatingly facing the easel.

"We're going to start with blue. Take your brush and dip it in the palate gently." Her instructions were undoubtedly sounded.

I do as she says taking the dry bristle and dipping it into the small spot of light blue. She also does the same, waiting for me to finish.

"Draw a small line of it on the paper." She says next.

I bring the brush, drawing a small but large line on the paper, the moist colour coming in meeting with the paper.

I look back at Abriana that was on my side, an apron on her fabric.

"This is the strongest shade of this particular colour. Then, add a small amount of water and draw another line." She points.

I bit my lips, the baby curls from my hair flying to my face from the slight breeze.

I slowly dip the brush into the same bright blue, this time, the brush was varnished with colour so it comes out more moist.

"Good." Abriana comments.

"Continue this process until the colour slowly fades into white. This will give you a sense of the full spectrum of that colour and an idea of how much water you should add to get your desired shade."

I continue painting the exterior of the paper, the blue paint fulling the canvas. I never thought that painting was this fun and relaxing but it gave the right sense of direction. It was something doing to get your mind off stress and I was planning on making it a hobby.

"One thing you should know is that the rule of art says that, start your painting with the lightest colour." She begins crushing the silence.

"It allows you to form a foundation." She explains brightly so I understand what she was saying.

"Use your brush and gently paint the areas on your canvas that need to be lighter." She stops painting and takes a peek at what I was going to do next referring to the next instruction.

I dip my brush into another spot of another lighter blue, drawing the edges of the ocean that looked like it needed to be bright. I could picture the ocean in my head, using the image to understand clearly.

"Running water tends to be lighter, as do the tips of waves and swells. The time of day also affects colour. For example, water may be lighter earlier in the day."

She sounded like a professional in teaching painting which made me curious about her antiquity and how she got taught. She looked like she was enjoying doing this piece of art, the strength plastered on her face.

"And we're done." She announces, placing the brush down on the stool. I stop painting and drop the brush, taking a distance back to admire what I just did.

My eye grew wide a little, the painting in the front standing out clear by the blue colours. The vague image of the ocean already forming. I was amazed and intrigued not finding the heart to take in the truth I was the one who did this.

"But we still need to do what we call masking fluid."

I stare at her, her eyes glazing bright and crystal. She looked so satisfied and happy in teaching someone the beauty of art.

"You really do like painting, don't you?" I question, taking a glimpse at her painting.

"Why not? I enjoy doing what I love best." She smiles, her eyes scanning her canvas in front of her.

"I'm planning on making painting one of my hobbies," I announced without difficulty. Without double thinking, I chose painting to be one of my hobbies because I believe whatever made you happy should be what you will spend hours doing feeling contented. What If I'm just a beginner and not a pro like Abriana? I can still try and learn and get the hang of it someday.

"That's a good one. I can give you lessons every day." She looks at me, rapping the brush on her palms.

After we were done taking a break, making mink talks in the process, we finally get back to finishing the painting.

According to her, masking fluid was like adding colours to brighten up the ocean so it looks realistic. At one state of time, I had problems doing it but of course, she was there to help.

I felt so happy knowing I wasn't once again spending my time doing nothing inside but making use of my time with someone as energetic and free-spirited as Abriana while enjoying the cosmos.

"That's all for today. I'm exhausted." I see her roll up all her painting tools to one side of the counter, taking a small break and went to lean unto the wall, her hands placed on her knees. The painting was in fact not easy. It is time-consuming but definitely worth it.

"So what do we do now?" I ask, walking next to her and going in the same position as her. She glances up at me, her eyes twinkling for a bit with stress and somewhat happy.

"We let it dry while go inside to rest. I'll come outside to check on it afterwards."

I nod, standing upright and going over to the small sink attached to the side of the building. I open the tap, washing the dried paint off my hands as the blue paint comes off my hands and mixes with the flowing water and down the drain.

This chapter is dedicated to painting and art to appreciate the beauty of nature and artist's talent.

Xoxo Emily❤️