Astronauts, Colors and Lines | taynew one shot

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New has always preferred to paint alone, where it's just him and the astronaut on his big canvas. But right now he's being forced by his mother to go outside and paint. For him, painting outside is comforting, especially when the weather is nice, but he always becomes aware of eyes watching him paint. Just as his mother insisted, he goes to the park and brings a watercolor set and a watercolor pad.

There aren't many people around, just kids running around and some dogs with their owners taking a peaceful walk. He settles down next to a tree and begins to paint. As he is about to paint a puppy with an astronaut helmet, New hears a voice behind him that makes him look around.

"What a masterpiece"

Behind him was a tanned man wearing track pants and a black shirt. Anyone could tell he was at the park for a jog, but the sketchpad in his left hand said otherwise.

"May I join you?" said the tanned man without waiting for an answer, for he had already seated himself beside New. "I do art too," he said, showing off the sketchpad he was holding. New just smiled at him, feeling a little uneasy that the man next to him might be looking at his painting, but he realized that the man might have been standing behind him for a while before he spoke, so he was basically painting peacefully while someone watched him.

As New finished his painting, he looked to the guy next to him and saw him sketching on his sketchpad. The guy looked so focused on his work that he didn't notice the stares of the others next to him. New watched him, the way his eyes traced the lines of his sketch and the way he wrinkled his nose and stuck out his tongue as he concentrated on his work.

"I'm New, by the way." New says, earning the attention of the other one. The guy smiled, and it seemed like the whole place suddenly became brighter. "I'm Tay. Nice to meet you"

New found out that Tay's art style is realism by sketch. Unlike his, New's astronaut paintings are more on the side of impressionism. Tay doesn't use colors as he's scared of ruining the masterpiece. He settles on shadows to make his work seem real.

They have been sitting in the park for an hour now, talking about art and their goals. New was surprised to find out that Tay only considers art as his hobby, unlike him who considers art as his passion. Tay's works would definitely sell in New's opinion, but the other said that he has no plans to sell any of his works.

"I really like how you play with the colors. Could you please teach me some time?" Tay asks.

"Art is not free" New replies with a smile, still focused on painting another piece. He placed the pad down for a while and faced the other one.

"I know. I'm willing to pay."

"Pay me with a sketch instead. Deal?" New raised an eyebrow, waiting for the other to answer.

"Deal."

***

The days between their first meeting and the meeting for Tay's watercolor class were interesting. The exchange of numbers for 'business purposes only' as Tay assured turned into constant good-morning and good-night texts that neither of them found annoying, and of course they never failed to talk about art as well as their personal lives.

Weeks later, they met in the same park to teach Tay how to use the colors. This time they settled at a public table instead of on the grass so painting would be easier. They decided to use watercolors instead of oils and acrylics because New said it was easier to handle watercolors.

"I assume you already know the color wheel like which colors to use when you need to mix and find the perfect shade." New laid out his watercolors for Tay to use and sets of paintbrushes to choose from. Tay continuously nodded at whatever New was saying.