My Passion for Paintings- Ch 5 " (A Journey towards the Final Destination by Masood Sadiq)

5| My Passion for Paintings

It was really hard to believe that I read the whole storybook of Urdu subject overnight, but I did it. It was Fifth grade when I got free books from the government- primary school administration - about a half-century ago. There were different short stories in the Urdu textbook with many colourful pictures. All of them were drawings and beautiful paintings. When I opened the book its pictures attracted me a lot. It was too good to be true. I turned all the pages one by one and found different beautiful pictures within the passages of short stories. Many a picture was really stunning and marvellous. It was my keen interest in short stories.

I started drawing the parrots, their red beaks and green colours gave me utmost satisfaction and fascination. Later it was a favourite subject of mine in school. My class fellows asked me to draw their drawings in their books. It gave me a golden chance to practice more and more. 

Our teacher asked us about reading the first short story, and I was very enthusiastic to be asked me first. A few raised their hands. The teacher asked us many tricky questions from the first story. When I was asked a question, I requested him to ask any question from the second story. The teacher asked me another question and so on. My teacher was very surprised that  I was answering many a question from the different stories one by one. The teacher asked me why I had read the whole book. I told him that when saw any picture in the story, my curiosity was aroused and I started reading the story.

I remembered those pictures and answered rightly those questions which were directly related to the pictures. It was my love for colours and landscapes and my teacher thought of my good learning. Later I elaborated my point of view to the teacher that I didn't remember the exact context and themes and names of the characters mentioned in the stories. However, my interest in seeing the pictures was more than to read the stories.

My teacher appreciated and encouraged me a lot and still, I am enjoying his cherished blessings. I was the best reader in my class. My teacher always asked me to read the text. I would fervently obey his instructions.

It was really hard to believe that I read the whole storybook of Urdu subject overnight, but I did it. It was Fifth grade when I got free books from the government- primary school administration - about a half-century ago. There were different short stories in the Urdu textbook with many colourful pictures. All of them were drawings and beautiful paintings. When I opened the book its pictures attracted me a lot. It was too good to be true. I turned all the pages one by one and found different beautiful pictures within the passages of short stories. Many a picture was really stunning and marvellous. It was my keen interest in short stories.

English was not compulsory in the first grade in those days. We started reading English subjects from the fifth grade. We learnt how to pronounce letters and write capital and small alphabet in that class, and some use of 'It' and 'there'. We learnt the moral stories and some letters in the beginning. "Once there was a thirsty crow. He flew there in search of water, but he found nothing. I learnt all the stories by heart. In grade tenth I got prize money (one rupee) from the teacher, still, I have it now.

Our teacher asked us about reading the first short story, and I was very enthusiastic to be asked me first. A few raised their hands. The teacher asked us many tricky questions from the first story. When I was asked a question, I requested him to ask any question from the second story. The teacher asked me another question and so on. My teacher was very surprised that  I was answering many a question from the different stories one by one. The teacher asked me why I had read the whole book. I told him that when saw any picture in the story, my curiosity was aroused and I started reading the story.

I started drawing the parrots, their red beaks and green colours gave me utmost satisfaction and fascination. Later it was a favourite subject of mine in school. My class fellows asked me to draw their drawings in their books. It gave me a golden chance to practice more and more. All the teachers and class fellows appreciated and encouraged me a lot. There was another source of inspiration and that was my Uncle who had a lot of books and magazines in his personal collection. I used to sit for hours and hours there and watched the colourful pictures painted in The Reader's Digests. It was my first interaction with an English magazine. Secondly, there got oil paint and a variety of colours. He used to paint abstract paintings. There I met a very excellent artist namely Abdul Qudoos who encouraged me a lot. He was a very good artist and was much inspired by him. His paints hit me to pick up the brush and spread colours on the canvas. In the beginning, I didn't have many sources and could not afford all that was necessary for the canvas. so painted on the board and some piece of cloth after having some coats of white distemper. I didn't know much about canvas and oil etc. 

Learn through Reading Ch4 My Love of Birds

There was another sarcastic sentence that always made me active and enthusiastic in painting. It was spoken by my first cousin who have a great impact on my lifetime career. "It's made nice!" he used to say whenever I painted any landscape. I looked forward to hearing something more. But I never got such appreciation from him. However, I used to show hi first, and I got such remarks. He sometimes gave me a piece of advice, which later opened my exploration. After twenty-five years when I visited Anarkali Lahore. Lahore, I was really stunned to see all that I always wished to have for my paintings. I bought two books from Ferozsons publishers and started following the valuable instructions. Later I got Thomas Kinkade's portrait and in COVID 19, there I met three more great artists on YouTube and launched my channel: Masood Art Gallery. At present, I want to paint 🎨 more and more but there are many other responsibilities to carry on. At present، I m trying to keep myself busy on Facebook, Quora, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest,, LinkedIn, YouTube, WhatsApp and Google Blog. Apart from that, I m reaching a Private college, and giving my profession first priority and second priority to my passion.

Teaching is a profession and painting is my passion.

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Learn through Reading Ch 6 "A Stroke of Luck"