Henri Matisse was an important, influential artist of the twentieth century, but he showed no interest in art growing up—he was expected to run the family store or become a lawyer. He earned a law degree, but found the profession boring.
 
When he was 20 he became seriously ill, so his mother gave him a set of paints and he took up painting. That was the beginning of the end of his lawyer work, as he began spending more and more time painting and taking art classes. He soon began studying art in Paris, France.
 
He wanted his works to provide pleasure and peace, and one of his paintings “The Goldfish” does just that. Now grab your paper and paint and create a work of your own.
 
Materials: 12” x 18” heavy white paper, crayons, watercolors and brush, water container, and an unwrapped white crayon.  
 
Process: Decide whether you will fill your paper with a fish bowl, create a setting for it as Matisse did—with a round table on a flower filled patio, or create your own setting.
 
Draw your fishbowl using pencil or crayon, then, using the white crayon, rub inside the bowl area over a rough surface such as a sidewalk—this will create texture in the water after it is painted. Draw fish, castle, pebbles, etc. with a crayon or, if you used a pencil first, cover all pencil lines with crayon. Color fish and other objects with a bright color using heavy crayon strokes; leave some areas uncolored.
 
Use watercolors to paint the rest of picture. It’s fine to paint over the crayon as it will resist the paint. Try mixing the paint colors, such as blue and green, to create the look of water.
 
Sit back in a comfortable chair and enjoy your bright, colorful work of Matisse-style art. And remember, it’s never too late to try a new thing. Who knows? You may discover a talent you never knew you had, just as Matisse did. The world would have missed out on a wonderful artist if he had been unwilling to experiment with a box of paints.