Do you get a little watercolor set and you start with watercolors?

No, well, actually, like in school, it's the tempera, right? And then she brought out the big squeeze bottles of acrylic the one time, and I really liked that.

And then, like I said, I got oil paints for Christmas the one year, and I made a huge mess with those.

Perfect, I love it.

What does a kid do with oil? Yeah, make a mess.

It stays wet forever.

So, and then when I, you know, when I started painting to kind of, you know, sell them or with the potential to sell them, I was acrylic for the first 10 years.

It can suck at the same time.

Um, but if you have a good relationship with your gallerist, they open up opportunities for me, for you to, you know, have exhibitions, to meet and greet.

greet.One gallery I was in would let me come in and paint, you know? And so I'd be in this, in the gallery painting, and I would meet a lot of people, and they see what you're doing, and they're like, "Ooh, I love that," and they'd buy stuff.

So

He doesn't wanna paint my dog." You know, I wanna paint your land- the landscapes that, you know, are of special interest to you.

I would say, like I said, I've always, um, take a commission work, and commissions kind of drag you down, um, especially if the client is really prescriptive about what they want.

Um, and of course, um, now that I'm showing in all of these galleries and selling, you know, the work that does come from my heart, I can be a little bit more picky and choosy on the commissions I accept.

Um, but recently, I, I just...

Commissions just are pressure n- no matter what.

It, you know, people are just gon- the work is going to speak for itself, so it has to be, you know, r- really good.

Uh, oh, gosh.

Well, this is gonna come back to the consistency and hard work.

Um, you know, I realize some people have, you know, full-time jobs, and they don't have the time to put in.

But even if you can just put in 20 minutes at the end of the day just to increase your skills, um, and take a few workshops from, from a few of your favorite artists.

Um, you know, find your weaknesses and then seek out the workshops that are gonna help with those weaknesses.

Um, uh, but don't workshop too much.