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 Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 6:37 pm
Lucky for Alexandre it wasn't hot out today, nor raining, as he disliked both. The reason it was so lucky was his need for some new paints, watercolor, he'd run out of several colors. The blond had been seated at his easel when he'd realized this. His paint apron snatched off, and dumped unceremoniously to the floor, he's headed out of the room.
After a trip into his father's work room he'd left with permission to run out for supplies, he didn't need money as he had a debit card connected to his parents bank account.
It didn't take long to make it down town, he had his drivers permit and a car after all. Parking in the small back parking lot he entered from the backdoor entrance. This was his personal favorite art supply store in the city, it wasn't the only one. It was just they had the supplies he preferred, and competent assistance should it be needed. He'd liked the help from the first time he'd came here, after walking out of two other stores due to poor assistance and incompetent workers. This place had workers who knew the various art forms and tools of the trades.
The day he'd spent hundreds, paints, brushes, and all manner of other things. Today he wouldn't be spending nearly as much, at least that wasn't in his plans. Making his way toward the right side of the store where paints, and painting supplies, were he found the isle labeled 'paints' with ease. He didn't need an canvas' today, he had three blanks still.
As he moved through the store, and down the isle he needed, his slate colored eyes glanced about. Side long, haughty, glances given to people as he walked through the store.
"Blues and greens..." Browsing over the colors, red, orange, yellow...and greens and blues. A nice, wide, selection.
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Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 7:41 pm
Castille tapped her fingers impatiently on the side of the bus, enjoying the sound of the metal going clickity clickity in time with her fingernails. Her father and mother were out today, and that meant when she turned the last page in her sketchbook and found not another page, but the back cover, it was the bus that took her to the other side of Destiny City.She pulled the cord when the stop came up, and bounced off of the bus, adjusting the pink and blue floral skirt she wore instead of her usual school uniform. She placed the sunglasses over her eyes. It wasn't super sunny but hey, any sun was reason enough to rock some sweet shades. She picked her bag up off the ground and walked past a couple shops until she entered Blank Canvas, her favorite art store. Here she could find anything and everything she could ever want involving art. Today, she needed a sketchbook.
The door made a tinging sound as she pushed it open. The red head adjusting doll dress patterns looked up and said a friendly "Hello!" before going to back her organizing. Castille walked past her, and to the left. She gazed at the sketchbooks of varying sizes and qualities. There were so many to choose from! But she had a favorite. Singing the second verse of her latest musical find, she picked up the notebook sized sketchbook and tucked it under her arm. She had what she needed.
Time to find what other treasures could be found here today.
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Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 8:31 pm
Alexandre had needed to go get a small basket, once he'd found they had the colors he needed and than some. So he was back, standing in front of the collection of Da Vinci water color paint tubes. Eyeing them each, four already in his basket, he grabbed another one. Inspecting it, the color was manganese blue mixture, the tube found itself in the basket along with three other tubes of various blue shades. He'd need some white also, but first the rest of the blues and greens he needed.
Hearing the door chime, someone had just entered through the front door, Alex headed down the isle so he could peek out and observe who had just entered. Red hair was the first thing he noticed, how could he not? It wasn't the most common of hair colors, and it was bright, thus it stood out.
Going back to his paints he continued grabbing more colors, perhaps he even went a little overboard. But that was alright, he had more than enough money to pay for all the paints.
With the paints all gathered, including some light purple hues, he turned the isle and headed down the next; for brushes. It seemed there were some new brushes in, a set or separates. Hmmm....did he want to get them? Money wasn't the issue, but would he put them to use? One or two looked like they could be of a use, one was smaller than his smallest. He'd be able to do finer details, which appealed to him.
Reaching for one of the brushes the basket got in the way, with a lower shelf, and knocked over several brushes in a cup. Hearing them each hit the floor he bent fast to start picking them up even as they rolled away from his best form.
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Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 8:41 pm
She heard a faint clikcing sound off to the right, and she stood up from the watercolor palettes. There was someone else in the store? She quickly shut her mouth, cutting off the end of the song mid-chorus. She creeped down the aisle, peeking around the corner. Not many people knew about the store, and fewer came in. It was odd when she wasn't the only one there. She pretended to examine the canvases that were hung up and placed side by side. She could use them for her photography she supposed, but it was expensive to get pictures printed on canvas...
Pictures!
She walked quickly to where the matting was. The store carried numerous colors of matting in a few different sizes, and Castille hopped up and down a couple times in excitement, the other person forgotten for a moment. She resumed her singing, a little louder this time, picking up matting and comparing them side by side.
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Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 8:57 pm
He'd heard the sound of someone jumping, or bouncing perhaps? Seemed someone was excited, likely the red haired female he'd seen enter minutes before. The singing moments later, considering how empty the store was he couldn't miss it, Alexandre decided to investigate. It wasn't like he hadn't seen the person, but he was wondering what they were singing and more importantly was why they were singing so loudly?
With brushes, individuals, grabbed quickly, and the dumped over cup of brushes put away the blond headed toward the sound quickly. Well, someone appeared happy, and full of energy.
"Matting..." He knew what it was, and it's purpose. So this one was into hanging things, or photography. His own basket had around a dozen tubes of water color paint, and three brushes with black handles and silver metal banding. They were nice, expensive but nice. They'd last long.
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Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 9:16 pm
Castille was trying to decide if red or black matting would work best for her current photography project. She held the two colors up, trying to imagine her photos in them. She tossed the red one back, picking up a couple black ones, these were different widths. She was merry today.
"Matting."
She jumped, clamping her mouth shut as she twisted around to see someone watching her. Her first reaction: why was he standing there just watching her? Second thought, ugh did he hear her singing?
"Uhm, hi." She said, recovering well. She stood with a frame in each hand, though they were dropped to her sides now. She switched one over to the other hand so she could readjust her sunglasses that had slipped forward on her head. They sat nicely between her two odango style buns on the sides of her head.
"What's up?"
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Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 9:53 pm
Well, wasn't she common...though her choice in clothing wasn't all that bad. He'd left his sunglasses in his car, as opposed to wearing them inside a store. But he did take note of hers, the size was acceptable as was the shape.
"I am surprised...this place is normally so empty. It is...unusual to find someone else here." Alexandre spoke, his words slow and measured.
"Photography?" He questioned, slate eyes flickering to her hands and what both held. "Black and white or digital?" He wasn't into it himself, he'd taken a class on it but couldn't seem to get anything but blurry pictures from the old black and white camera. After that he'd stuck to his paints, though he might look into chalk pastels soon. They seemed to be capable of the same softness he loved about water colors, though it was a different softness.
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Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 11:03 pm
Castille smiled warmly, saying "Yeah, it normally is empty, so you scared me a little!" She stuck out her free hand, saying "My name is Castille, it's nice to meet you!" She was positively grinning.
She looked at the matting, saying "Mostly digital, but I just bought a Canon AE-1 that I'm going to be getting some film for soon." Photography was her thing. She loved everything about it! Picking the smaller width matting, she grabbed three from the shelf and tucked them under her arm with the sketchbook. It was a little more money than she wanted to spend today, but it was for a good cause right?
Her deep blue eyes drifted from his face (which, she noted, wasn't bad to look at), to the basket that swung by his side. It was filled with smallish tubes, and a couple paint brushes. "Watercolor or acrylic?" she asked, pointing at his basket.
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Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 11:17 pm
"It would seem, by the obvious lack of people, that the arts are dying out. Though other things do point to the opposite. Perhaps it's simply this store." He stated, not once did he seem anything less than prim and proper. It was simply how he spoke to people he didn't consider close, and there were few such people.
"I did take a class on photography, I found it difficult at best." Everything had come out blurry, while that was nice at times he'd wanted sharper pictures. "Not something I intend to pick up again, ever. It is a medium I respect however, I think my time attempting it brought about quite the respect for those capable of creating such works of art." Unlike certain other things, modern and abstract art.
"Watercolor, I find the softness one can gain with watercolor to make it my preferred medium. I have not touched another type of paint, I don't find them to blend with my personal style." Not that he didn't appreciate paintings done in oil or acrylic. He did, he just didn't find it to his taste when it came to his paintings.
"Which do you prefer, color or black and white?"
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Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 11:55 pm
Castille blinked a couple times, though her smile remained genuine. What was this kid talking like that for? Was he some kind of artsy snob?
"Well here's to us keeping the arts alive!" She said, toasting an imaginary glass. She couldn't imagine her life without art.Then there would be only...math. Bleh.
"Photography is a bit difficult, depending on what kind of equipment your working with. I took a photography class last year and then just kinda looked up what I didn't know online. The rest like lighting and stuff is all practice." She shrugged. "I bet the camera you were working with had an auto and manual focus and no one bothered to show ya where the button is." She laughed a little inside, then hastily said. "Not trying to offend you or anything! It's an honest mistake a lot of people make with digital cameras."
Her eyes widened up at him "Watercolor huh? That's impressive. I find it hard to make good pictures with watercolor, because the colors blend sometimes blend together in strange ways." Her thumb went to her mouth, a habit she hated and often tried to stop. She bit down on the nail thoughtfully and then continued on speaking. The girl loved to talk, and someone had asked her the right questions to just keep going.
"I think both have their merit. Black and white offers more drama than color pictures, but color offers more movement in a sense. Like there is more going on. I personally like black and white pictures with one thing in color. That was her current project actually. "Like right now I'm doing a set with a black and white shot, and only the red umbrella is in color. I really like how it's turning out." She nodded and smiled up at him. He wasn't much taller than her, but he had a good two inches on her.
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Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2011 11:21 am
He wasn't an art snob, he was simply a snob in general. Alexandre knew he was a snob, but it was just how he was, it wasn't about to change.
"Indeed, the arts must be kept alive." If the arts were to ever die, something important would be lost. He was one who enjoyed the arts and put his painting classes before his actual academic classes. Not to say he failed his other classes, any of them, but the art classes did come first none the less.
"I can't tell you what kind. All I remember was adjusting something on the lens, or around it. There was also something you had to have between two areas, you could see it through the lens." Shaking his head, a slight gesture. "I'm hardly offended, I simply am not a photographer."
Listening the red head speak he found himself interested in her words. "I agree, but if you know what your doing and don't use too much water the issue of bleeding isn't as bad. I prefer them for the softness they give, and you can layer the color to make it darker." Rather then having to work to lighten the color, you worked to darken it. So you didn't risk making something too dark.
"I agree with the merits of both, though I also find black and white to be more classical." Which was in part why he favored black and white himself, at least to look at. It was the reason he'd tried to learn himself.
"I think black and white pictures of old buildings, particularly on dreary days, are appealing. There is a certain je ne sais quoi to those pictures." Something he couldn't put words to, but it was there. Maybe it was that those buildings looked older? He wasn't sure, and he'd looked at enough pictures to try and figure this out.
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Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2011 9:04 pm
"I think you are referring to the focal point." She said, offering him the words for what he was describing. "And it sounds like you had a manual because you had to move the lens itself instead of holding the shutter down halfway and letting it focus." She nodded thoughtfully, putting her weight on her left leg while she stuck the other off to the side.
"I prefer to take pictures of moving things." She said. there wasn't anything wrong with still life pictures, but to her they were...bland. There wasn't any movement, of life to them. "And through that I prefer animals to humans. They are much easier to photograph."
She shifted her weight to her right leg, saying "You know, I don't think I caught your name."
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Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2011 2:00 pm
"I believe that was it. I was unable to get it correct." It had seemed no matter what he'd done it was never right in the area it needed to be in. "Every photograph was blurry, at best." Some were fuzzy. He'd disliked the class, due to his own inability to do what he'd set out to do. Not to mention he couldn't seem to get the camera to work for him.
"I like the stills, of buildings and a clip from the most mundane of things." A person sitting at a sidewalk cafe, with her dog at her feet. Maybe she was sipping coffee, maybe it was set on the table in front of her. Those were the sorts of things he liked, aside from older styled buildings. There was something so classic about such things, it was undeniable to him.
"I could say the same thing for you." Here he offered his hand. "Alexandre Evans."
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Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 9:55 am
She placed her hand in Alexandre's. "My name is Castille Brenna." She said, smiling warmly. "It's nice to meet you!"
She looked down at his basket again, and hen said "Hey, if you've found all you want to get and don't mind hanging out with an almost stranger, we can go get coffee or something." It wasn't totally unheard of for Castille to hang out with people she didn't know. She liked talking, and if that person was willing to sit and listen to her, then perfect! What was strange was the fact that she did the asking. Normally she would wait until they said anything about hanging out before she agreed. But this kid was into art like she was!
"I just have to get this." She said, holding up the sketchbook. "Then I planned on just wandering about for a little while so I didn't waste a trip up here. But if you have somewhere to be I totally understand."
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Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 10:08 pm
Nodding his head to her words, he wasn't quite sure what to make of her yet. He respected her, for the form of art she'd taken up. She seemed very bright and excited, something he normally disliked. But he wasn't sure in this case, due to the respect for her art form and dedication and knowledge.
The words coffee pulled him from his internal musings. "Espresso, I dislike coffee." A simple comment. He would be going with her for a drink. "I am done, I need to pay simply." And he would, he just had to find someone to ring him up.
He would have gone right home, to work on his canvas, but the offer of espresso; even if he was paying, was something he wouldn't pass up. " Let us both find someone then, who can ring us up, and we can be on our way." He spoke, already thinking of his favorite cafe and a nice hot drink. Oh yes, this was a good idea, a nice invitation on her part. "What do you drink, tea, coffee, or espresso?" Or none of the above, but she got some other sort of drink.
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