Chapter 3 : What is Romanticism?

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Days passed, and in the Fine Arts building, Oddey was in her class paying attention to her Professor, Madame Vestia, a name she told her students to call her. A woman in her mid-fifties, with a black bob hairstyle, brown skin, and heavy make-up, wearing an oversized white blouse with a black shawl around her neck, palazzo pants, and boots. "What's the first thing you have in your mind when you think of romanticism?" she asked her students as she stood in front of the class.

"Love," answered one student.

"Look at this painting right here of The Oath of Love by Hans Zatzka, now tell me, what makes it a romantic art?" Madame Vestia asked in her raspy, low voice.

"The couple having a moment painted in it."

"Yes, anything else?" Madame Vestia wanted more than what that one student said, but the room got silent, looking rather clueless, and then she showed another painting. "This one, a painting of the Lady of Shallot, is not even a couple in it, but it is considered romantic. Why?"

"Because of its ethereal aesthetic from using soft, bright lighting and feminine colors," Oddey explained.

"Bingo. Mainly, when we think of romance, the first thing we think of is the love of two people, but it is an art movement expanding the emotions of the artists and the viewers with scenes of beauty, anger, adoration, horror, and suspense, too. Isn't that what love is in real life?" the professor joked with them as they laughed a bit at it.

"That's so true," giggled another student.

"Alright, joking aside. Today we learned that love is a wonderful feeling that these paintings perfectly represent, so I want you to come up with an artwork of romanticism, a painting, or a hand sketch, and present it to the class on Tuesday, I repeat, Tuesday. Nothing complicated, just make what you can. Now, before class finishes in less than twenty minutes, you can use this time to just come up with what you want to work on."

Madame Vestia sat at her desk doing some paperwork while her students were on their laptops or tablets to find some inspiration of some sort. Oddey couldn't think of anything as she went through her laptop to get an idea for her work, which could be stressful to anyone who was in the design and creative field.

Once the day ended, Oddey was sitting by the bench in the university's garden with a pink plain paper on her lap and a pencil in her right hand, she had her earphones that were connecting to her phone with her favorite song playing 'Born For You" By David Pomeranz. People were passing by, minding their own business, and Oddey watched them with a blank stare, yet her mind was full of questions as to why she couldn't think of something to draw.

All of a sudden, she saw a bridge in the distance that connected the two buildings, which made her thoughts just drift somewhere, and she remembered the stranger who saved her life. Oddey couldn't help but have that face in her head, especially his eyes, since that was the first thing she saw.

She began sketching in her journal in memory, his jawline, his hair, and lastly, his eyes, then after that, she put some details into it.

Whenever Oddey was doing her sketch, it made her laser-focused, which made her artwork beautiful when it was done. She was shading to add some shadows to his face to give a more dramatic effect.

"HEY!" Rita startled her. Oddey quickly folded the paper where she had drawn the guy with the pretty eyes out of panic.

"Whoa," Oddey reacted.

"A little payback for scaring me."

"Okay, I guess that's fair. Anyway, wanna get some coffee before going back to the dorm?"

"Yes on the coffee, but I'm not going to the dorm yet, I have to meet my groupmates in the study hall after to start working on this presentation, so I'm gonna need caffeine to wake my soul."

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