paper bag

1995
acrylic on canvas panel
12" x 16"

mr. bryans used to paint a lot of paper bags. i mean, like, a lot. when i asked him why he painted so many paper bags, he replied that it was a good exercise and suggested that i paint one myself. and i learned that painting a paper bag is not that easy; there are many tricky shadows and sharp angles, as well as subtler, softer surfaces that need to be captured just right. this is the first and last paper bag i ever painted, though i was quite pleased with it when i'd finished and kept standing back to admire it, thinking it looked pretty realistic. looking at it now, it's not the most amazing thing ever. i still have it and when i pull it out to look at it, it kinda looks like...a square rock sometimes. still, these are the lessons you grow from, and grown i certainly have since 1995 when i was just 13! such a young thing.