Frank

When I was 25 and in military school, a Sargent asked my platoon if anyone had any artistic talent. Thinking it would be a good way to get out of less pleasing work, I raised my hand. I was brought to the school commandant who asked me if I could paint the Canadian military engineer emblem. To be honest, I didn't know if I could. It was going to be my first time painting on canvas, and the picture itself was more detailed than anything I had ever done. Knowing that I wouldn't get a second chance at it, I did what any young pretentious man would do. I lied. "Ha! Not a problem." I said. "I could do that in my sleep." Suffice it to say, it took much MUCH longer than it should have, but by the end, it looked pretty good. What is more however, is that I had found a new love. I had enjoyed it so much I started buying art supplies and working on my own projects. Here I am 20 years later and I think I learn something new with each piece I do. It wasn't until I had people asking me if I'd be interested in selling some of my art that I started believing I was any good. I play with different methods and try new ideas and I enjoy it more and more as time goes by. Lately, I've been doing a lot of black and white recreations of peoples pictures and I believe I may have found my specialty but who knows what tomorrow will bring.

I was 25 and in military school when my sergeant asked my platoon if anyone had any artistic talent. Knowing it would be a good way to avoid less pleasant work, I raised my hand. I was asked if I'd be able to paint the Canadian military engineer emblem. I wasn't sure if I had the aptitude for the task, but I knew it would be my only chance. So I lied and told them "Sure. No problem" as you can imagine, it took me a LOT longer to finish than it should have, but, once finished, the canvas was more than passable. But more than that, I had fallen in love with the work. So soon finished, I bought the necessary tools and started making my own paintings. Here I am, 20 years later, and I still love it. I learn something new every time I pick up a brush. It was when people started asking me to sell my art that I realized I was competent. Now I use different methods and try out new ideas, and I find that I like it more and more. These days, I do a lot of black-and-white recreation of my customers' photos and I think that's become my specialty, but who knows what I'll discover in the future.

**Automatically translated from the original text.**