Open In The Safety of Colors

[Lars van Houten]

While Lars preferred to paint outside in nature, he had learned a lesson last year that at Hogwarts that wasn't the smartest move. The weather wasn't very nice today, anyway, so he didn't mind too much that he had to stay inside. He would rather not run into the Slytherin bullies again who had bothered him before, and was fairly certain they would not come to the Arts Room even if they knew he was here. At least, he hoped not. They had really mocked him and Elliot last time, and Lars was still embarrassed as he thought back to it. He was grateful to Maddy, who had saved them, but he really shouldn't need saving. It was a good thing his sister Fleur didn't know about what had happened, or she would have given the boys a stern talking to that would only have made Lars look more weak. Lars sighed, trying not to focus on those thoughts but instead on the painting. It was of a river and a field with flowers, but the water wasn't looking the way he wanted it to. Lars was starting to get a little frustrated, frowning at the canvas as he tried to add different shades of blue to it. He was focused on his task and forgot his surroundings a little, completely focused on the painting.

 

[Amy Jewel]

Amy was lying on the floor, trying to catch her breath. It had been a while since she pushed herself that hard with her dancing, that she was struggling a little. She sighed, but decided to go back to her common room when she saw a painting being done. It was beautiful, the way the flowers looked three dimensional, the way the water ran."That looks beautiful," she said quietly. She wasn't sure if she was right to distract the artist from the painting, but she needed to let him know that it was good.

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars was so focused on his painting that he hadn't noticed anyone else in the room. He'd gone straight over to the easel, the idea too fresh in his mind to ignore. So when he heard a voice, he jumped and turned around with wide eyes. "Oh!" He said, then gave her a nervous smile, and a little wave for good measure. "Uh, hi. Sorry. Did I ignore you? I.. uh, thanks." He scratched his neck with the back of the paintbrush, not noticing or really caring that it made a few splotches of paint fall onto his clothes.

 

[Amy Jewel]

"Oh, it's okay, you didn't ignore me. I was just waking past. Um, how did you get the flowers to look like that?" Amy blushed, embarrassed by her question. She had only just started to learn how to draw, and she knew that she could use some pointers."I've only just started drawing," she said."Since I came to Hogwarts. How long have you been painting for? Is painting easier or harder than drawing?"

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars was glad he hadn't unintentionally hurt the girl or been rude to her. It was nice to talk to someone who seemed friendly and interested in his art, and Lars felt himself relax a little as he glanced at the girl again. Her question made him perk up a little, as he was always eager to talk about art. "Well, I painted them on directly." He told her with a nervous smile. "I didn't sketch them first, because I've found that you can make really nice flower petals with a paintbrush." He decided to show her. "If you apply a bit of pressure at first and then less and less as you go, you get the shape of a petal. Like, broad at the start but thin at the end. It looks nice, especially if you then add shading with a smaller brush." He said, gesturing to the example he had just made on the canvas. "But don't be discouraged when you're just starting out, everything takes a lot of practice." He said, realizing he had maybe made her feel a little bad. "I've been painting... as long as I can remember, I've always loved it. My mom taught me some things... " He trailed off, wondering if he was boring her by talking too much about himself.

 

[Amy Jewel]

He showed Amy how to do flower petals."That's amazing!" she said."My Mum tried to teach me, but I never had enough time to practice. I thought I could surprise her when I go home over the holidays." She held out her hand."I'm Amy."

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars smiled happily when the girl seemed impressed by his flower petals. He loved painting, and it was one of the very few things he felt confident about. Lars nodded at her words. "That's nice of you... you can always practice painting here, there are plenty of supplies." He told her softly. He shook her hand after a moment, then gave her a shy smile. "I'm Lars."

 

[Amy Jewel]

Amy nodded."I thought that practicing here would be a good idea." She grinned."Any tips?" Amy thought that getting tips from someone that obviously had a talent was a great way to get good at painting.

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars nodded when the girl said she had thought practicing there would be good. He supposed it was a bit of an obvious suggestion, now that he thought about it. But it was really a good idea. He went silent for a moment as she asked for tips, staring into space as he tried to come up with something. Then he turned his gaze back to her. "You should make things that make you happy. You shouldn't be sad if it looks different than in your head, because that's only good sometimes..." He paused. "Use a lot of yellow. It's a nice color that makes things look happy."

 

[Amy Jewel]

"Okay," Amy replied to the tip of using yellow. She sat down a few feet away from him, mostly to give herself some space and so he didn't feel so cornered. She grabbed out some colours, and grabbed a brush. Maybe something easy to start of with? She thought. What was something easy? She didn't really want to do flowers as well, so she decided to do a sun in the corner to start with.

She took her time, hoping to make it somewhat decent. By the time she had finished her sun, her arm felt like it was going to fall off. But she started on the next part, her grassy cliff looking over an ocean. She had spent some time on the coast with her family before coming to Hogwarts, and had remembered a place similar to what she was painting. The grass was being a pain, so she moved on to the water, hoping to have a break from the grass.

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars was relieved when the girl accepted his advice, and was a bit surprised when she started to paint right away. But he was happy too. He had hoped to make a friend who liked painting like he did, and it seemed like he had somehow stumbled into one. He glanced over at her and her painting after working on his own for a while, and smiled. "It looks nice." He told her, his voice a touch shy now. "For the grass... maybe you can use a smaller brush?" He suggested timidly, unsure if she wanted more suggestions and advice or not.

 

[Amy Jewel]

Amy smiled at the compliment. She had hoped that it looked nice, but wasn't happy with the grass. Lars suggested using a smaller brush, so she picked one out, and continued working. The smaller brush definitely helped."Thanks!" she said, slowly smoothing out her previous errors. She hoped that she wasn't disturbing him, since she would hate to annoy someone with similar interests. So she quietly worked away at her painting, concentrating on making her grass as even as possible.

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars was glad the girl didn't seem angry with him for the suggestion, and gave her a small encouraging smile as she continued to paint. He then focused on his own panting, feeling himself relax more now that he was quite sure Amy wasn't going to make fun of him. After a while, he looked at her again and smiled nervously. "Uh, so you like to paint too?" He asked, though that had been established already. "What other things do you like?" Lars wasn't the best at keeping up with conversation, but he was trying.

 

[Amy Jewel]

Amy nodded."Painting is fun. It's a good thing to practice. I like dancing and reading, sometimes studying but it depends on the subject." She moved further down the cliff with the grass, continuing to make it even."Do you have any other hobbies? Besides painting, I mean. You're really good at it!"

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars nodded as the girl explained what else she liked to do. Dancing wasn't something he had ever really tried, and it definitely wasn't something he thought he would enjoy. But reading could be nice, occasionally. He watched her paint as he contemplated her question. "I like drawing." He said softly, though that really had a lot to do with painting. "And walking around in nature. Daydreaming... thinking of things." He shrugged awkwardly. "I don't know if that counts." He said.

 

[Amy Jewel]

"I think that daydreaming counts. I do it too often when I'm supposed to be asleep." Amy laughed. She would spend long hours daydreaming in bed and then would be tired the next morning."Nature is cool too. I don't really spend much time outside. I've been trying to go outside more though. I studying outside often."

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars smiled a little as the girl told him she thought daydreaming counted. He wasn't sure if anyone else would count that, but he liked that she did. He nodded as she said she wanted to go outside more often. "It's nice... Hogwarts has a lot of nice places on the grounds." He said softly. 'I used to draw or paint outside sometimes, like... at the lake or in the gardens." He mumbled, though he hadn't dared to do that lately.

 

[Amy Jewel]

Amy nodded."I think that there would be a lot of nice places to paint at. And you'd be able to capture them nicely too. Amy wasn't very good, so going outside to draw or paint was not something that she was thinking about. But Lars was good and it seemed he liked painting outside."Maybe there's someplace quieter that would be good?" She had never thought about looking out for good locations to paint that were quiet. It didn't cross her mind until then.

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars nodded a little wistfully as the girl said there would be a lot of nice places outside to paint. But he felt like he had to warn her too. "Some boys were kind of jerks to me about that. So if you do that... they might be mean to you too. I don't know." Lars didn't really think that was likely, but he felt like he had to say it. He had the feeling those boys were mostly seeking him out because he was an easy target, and someone a bit weird in their own year. "But I've been thinking of going to the cliffs, those are pretty quiet... I just don't know if we're allowed or not." His sister Fleur had said she had gone there plenty of times, but Fleur was never really that concerned about rules.

 

[Amy Jewel]

When Lars mentioned that he had been bullied about painting outside and that she might be too, Amy was a little shocked."Oh, that's..." She didn't know how to finish the sentence. Lars spoke about the cliffs and Amy nodded."I'm not sure either, but it sounds like a good place. I haven't been there yet though, so I'm not entirely sure if it would be nice. It sounds like it would be."

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars was kind of glad Amy didn't say too much about what he said. It would be embarrassing to talk about it a lot. He nodded as she said it sounded like a good place. "I haven't been there yet either... but my sister says its pretty good." He told her quietly.

 

[Amy Jewel]

Amy nodded."I think that it would be worthwhile to check them out. They would be really cool to paint." Amy didn't want to pressure Lars into doing anything he wasn't comfortable with, but she thought that it was worth trying to paint outside again."Not necessarily to paint, but you know. Just to see them."

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars nodded a little distractedly as Amy said it would be a good place to check out, and probably cool to paint. He figured she was right, though he wasn't entirely sure if he dared yet. But then he agreed that it would be cool just to see them. "Yeah." He said with a slight nod. "That would be nice. I hear they give you a good look over the lake." He liked the lake a lot. The water was nice to look at, and he enjoyed wondering what was underneath the surface.

 

[Amy Jewel]

Amy agreed."The lake is pretty cool." She had spent a lot of time practicing spells down there. She had once had a run in with someone, which hadn't ended in a friendship, but that was okay. Amy was happy with the friends she had.