I Will Make You Proud

Writers: Ames, Eimi
Date Posted: 29th March 2013

Characters: Elmaldi, Vestian
Description: Vestian gives a private lesson Elmaldi
Location: Harper Hall
Date: month 13, day 9 of Turn 6

Vestian

Master Vestian sighed as he laid out the line of different colors on the
table. His old mentor, Master Grayvor, had asked him a favor, and it
was hard to refuse the old man, especially when he was so close to
retirement. But there were certainly other things the Master artist
could be doing with his day besides explaining the basic theories of
color to some apprentice. He was sure his pupil would have things they
would rather be doing as well. But, he had agreed to do it. Might as
well get it over with.

Not knowing exactly _who_ she was meeting, Elmaldi arrived at the room
with her collection of art supplies in hand. She knew Grayvor had
wanted her to work more on her color and paint, but this medium was
not as comfortable for her. Would she disappoint Grayvor by not
performing the way he'd hoped during this special tutoring session?
Taking a deep breath to prepare herself, Elmaldi pushed open the door
and entered the room.

Her eyes quickly scanned the space, falling on the man standing by the
table. Her eyes opened nearly as wide as saucers. Vestian? She was
going to be working with none other than Master Vestian? She had to
swallow a few times before she could manage to make herself speak.

"Good afternoon Master Vestian," Elmaldi greeted him, standing a bit
nervously near the door.

He looked up at the sound of his name, a little surprised that the
student's voice was that of a female, and even more surprised that it
was someone familiar. Hadn't he met her before? "Good afternoon,
apprentice. I seem to remember we met at the exhibition, did we not?"

"Yes, we did," Elmaldi replied, moving into the room closer. "Your
work at the exhibition was amazing." She wasn't sure what to say. She
found herself nervous and uncertain. It had been this way when she'd
first arrived and first started working with Grayvor.

"Master Grayvor asked me to meet you here," she stated, then felt
rather stupid for stating the obvious. If she hadn't felt so foolish
she would have groaned aloud at her own comment.

"Yes, he did." Vestian smiled, indicating the seat next to him. He was
happy to see the girl again. She had shown a genuine interest in his
work, which pleased him immensely. Their conversations had turned what
could have been a tedious afternoon into quite an enjoyable one. He
wondered if she was as studious in the classroom as she had been in the
gallery. "What was your name again?"

Elmaldi quickly did as he bid her, sliding into the seat beside him.

"I'm Elamldi, sir," she replied. Glancing at the table, she noted all
the colors laid out before them. **Oh dear, color hasn't been my
strong area,** she thought, worried she was going to embarrass herself
_and_ Master Grayvor in the process. "I do appreciate you taking the
time to meet with me like this."

"Not at all," he said, glad that she seemed to be so polite and
grateful. A willing student was far easier to teach! "Master Grayvor
seems to think that your sketching had progressed to the point where you
can move into painting. Are you on a different schedule from your
classmates for some reason?" It had surprised him that this student had
been singled out for special lessons when generally they were all taught
together.

"Well, I did most of my early training at the Hold I grew up in. The
harper there did an excellent job, but I didn't get full training in
all areas. Some things we worked on more than others. When I arrived
here, Master Grayvor felt that my skills were at differing levels from
many of my fellow apprentices, so he worked with me. I do still attend
some of the regular apprentice classes," she added quickly to the end
of her little speech. She didn't want him to think poorly of her
skills or that she couldn't keep up with her peers.

"Ah, I see." That made sense. She certainly seemed to know a lot about
art for a new senior apprentice. Her harper had obviously taught her a
few things. "Master Grayvor must see some potential in you to single
you out so." At least he assumed his former teacher would not be
wasting his time just to help the young woman just catch up. "How much
experience do you have with painting?"

Elmaldi tried hard not to wrinkle her face at his question. Her
shoulders, however, drooped just slightly. "I'm afraid I'm not very
good at it," came her words in a soft reply, "but Master Grayvor has
been pushing me to improve in that area."

"All right, well, let's start with the basics," he said, handing her a
brush. Vestian had found a small canvass that had been rejected because
of a small tear at the top of it. Before she came, he painted in black
two triangles, one inside the other to form the boundaries she would be
working in. "This is a color triangle," he explained. "We are going to
use it to practice blending our three primary colors into secondary
colors. Do you know what the three primary colors are?"

"Blue, yellow, and red," she replied quickly. She wasn't sure exactly
what she was supposed to do with the triangle. Elmaldi turned her eyes
to look at Vestian and felt as though her breath caught. He _was_ very
handsome for an older man. Trying to shake those thoughts and focus on
her task, she waited for further directions.

"Very good," he smiled. Actually, it was basic knowledge that just
about anyone would know, but he liked how eagerly she answered. "And
the secondary?"

She paused a moment, then replied, "Orange, purple and green, I
believe." Elmaldi was proud of herself that she could at least answer
these simple questions in front of the Master she admired. She didn't
want to think about how she would feel when she got to one she didn't
know the answer to.

"Perfect." Vestian pointed to the canvass once more. "So what we're
going to do it paint one point yellow, and another point blue. And then
we are going to work on slowly blending those two colors together so you
can see just how easy it is to create green in different shades. Then
we'll paint the third corner red. We'll blend the blue and red into
purple. And finally, with the red and yellow, we'll make different
shades of orange. When it's finished, you'll be able to see exactly how
the colors blend together into making shades that can blend seamlessly
one to the next, like in a rainbow." He turned the canvass over so she
could see that he had already painted one on the back side as an
example.

She had tried to follow his words, but found herself slightly
confused. When he showed her the example, however, Elmaldi completely
understood and could see the goal laid out for her.

"I've never been very good with color and most of my attempts have had
very drastic lines in them, looking unreal and stilted, nothing like
the art you create," she told him. "Where shall I start?"

Vestian laid an understanding hand on her shoulder. She obviously
needed more confidence in her abilities, despite the fact that Master
Grayvor had singled her out especially. "You can start by forgetting
what you've done before. Each blank canvass is a new start. Besides,
this time you'll be doing it with _me_."

She nodded at his words, unable to ignore the hand on her shoulder.
The hand of a true artist. The hand of a man that she had admired
since the time she could see the mural on the wall.

"I will make you proud," Elmaldi told him, knowing she meant every word.

Last updated on the April 19th 2013

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I Will Make You Proud