Those all telling eyes

Yesterday I went to my first watercolor class. All of the students worked on the same thing, a lightly traced drawing of a marsh scene with two herons. The small original that was our model was in front of the room, and the teacher told us everything to do as if we were children. I heard my mother's disapproving voice saying that freedom of expression and creativity were left out, but it was what it was, and I decided since I knew nothing, I could deal with it. What fun it ended up being. There was an exchange of ideas among the other students, and I learned about water and paper and drying time and had a grand time! Today I tried to watercolor again all by myself and sticking with the heron theme, I used a photo I had taken of a great heron last year when we were in Florida. Today as yesterday I remembered how important the eyes are in a picture, whether they are people's eyes or bird's. You can have done a whole wonderful picture and if the eyes aren't good, the work is no good. Those two little dots are the most important thing on the entire page. Beyond the page, they are most telling part of our bodies. People can try to hide or pretend, but the eyes reveal what is going on inside. Eyes are the window to the soul, we have heard, and they can speak more than language or actions. Mona Lisa was famous for more than her smile. Her two dots also left us wondering. Maybe that is why people prefer to do still life or landscapes!