Secretly Mine-Chapter 165: The First Lesson

After getting changed, I walked out of the guest room and immediately bumped into Lucas in the hallway.

"Oh, sorry!" I said, quickly taking a step back.

Lucas also took a step back and smiled at me, "No problem. I came to see if you were ready."

"I’m ready!" I nodded.

Lucas extended his arm, motioning for me to walk ahead of him. I made my way back to the painting room and walked inside, waiting for further instructions.

"So, before we get started, tell me a little bit about your history when it comes to painting? What mediums have you used, and what sort of subjects have you painted?" he asked, transforming into a serious mentor. frёewebηovel.cѳm

I could tell that he was serious about teaching me. Even the aura around him changed slightly as he asked me his questions.

Straightening my back, I looked at him. "I’ve painted for a few years. I almost exclusively used acrylic paint, and all of my works were either landscapes or still lifes.

Lucas nodded, taking in the information. "Good. Acrylics are the best when starting off and are great overall. I mainly use oil paints, so today we’ll get you familiarized with those. My specialty, as you may already know, is landscape paintings, but today we’ll start simple."

He walked over to the center of the room and placed a beautiful red apple on the stand. Next, he walked over, brought two easels, and placed them side-by-side.

"We’ll start with a small canvas and work our way up once you become better acquainted with oil paints. One of their differences, compared to acrylics, is that they take a lot longer to dry," he explained as he placed two small canvases on the easels.

I listened to his words closely as I walked over and took a seat on the small stool that Lucas placed in front of the easel. He pushed a small cart that was filled with various paints, brushes, oils, rags, and other supplies."

"No water?" I asked, looking at the cart.

Lucas smiled and shook his head, "No, because oil paints are oil-based, they won’t work with water like acrylic paints do. Instead, we’ll use other oils to thin the paint out."

He lifted a small glass jar. Inside was a clear liquid that had a very slight yellow tint.

"This is linseed oil. This is one of the most common oils that oil painters use. It has a strong scent, but it works very well."

I nodded. It wasn’t my first time smelling the scent; I just never knew what it was. It was earthy and slightly nutty, but it wasn’t anything too unpleasant.

Lucas pulled his stool over to my side, sitting close enough to me where I could feel his breath on the back of my neck. He wrapped his arms around me to reach the canvas, leaving only enough distance between us to slide a sheet of paper between us.

I felt my body tense up slightly.

The next moment, I felt his breath tickle me further as he spoke. "Hold your brush like this. Not too tight, and let your wrist relax."

His hand wrapped around mine to gently adjust my grip around the brush. I could feel the warmth of his hand on mine as we both moved the paintbrush across the canvas.

"Good, just like that," he said softly.

Still sitting behind me, he pulled his canvas closer to my side. "Now watch this."

He dipped his brush into the red paint and dragged a smooth stroke across his canvas. "Start with the basic shape. Don’t think of it as an apple. Think of it as light and shadow. Edges and color."

I nodded.

That looks simple enough.

Following his movements, I lifted my brush and dipped it into the red paint, trying my best to imitate his stroke. After I finished, I glanced back over at his canvas, realizing how much better his came out looking.

"Oh, it’s not as easy as it looks," I said quietly, feeling a little embarrassed.

Lucas let out a soft chuckle behind me, "No worries, you’ll get the hang of it soon."

I watched him lean in once more and make another stroke on his canvas. Although it was just two simple strokes, I could already make out the foundation of the apple.

I guess this is what it means to have talent!

He didn’t say anything but paused to wait for me to do my next stroke. I could feel his gaze from behind. Our close proximity made me slightly nervous.

My hand shook slightly as I pressed the paintbrush against the canvas, causing me to make a mistake.

"Oh no! I didn’t mean to do that..." I said sheepishly.

"Everything is okay. No worries at all," he placed his hand on top of mine and made another brush stroke on top of the place where I messed up. "Oil paints are all about layering. This is just the underpainting layer, we’re not trying to be perfect here, just trying to block out shadows and lights."

His simple brush stroke quickly fixed my error, making it even better than it was before.

"Don’t worry about the lines. Think of this as just sketching in paint."

I nodded, understanding what he was trying to say. He released my hand from his grasp, allowing me to continue painting on my own. This time, my brush strokes were better, but I still hesitated each time I touched the canvas.

"You have a good touch. Don’t second-guess yourself so much," he said, noticing my hesitance.

"I’m used to acrylics. They don’t give you a lot of time to fix mistakes..." I said quietly.

Lucas leaned in slightly, his chest leaning against my hair.

"That’s what I like about oil. It forgives you. You mess up, you scrape it off, and try again. Nothing’s ever final."

His gentle voice echoed in my head. I turned my head to look at him sideways. Something felt like he wasn’t just talking about paint anymore...

We painted in silence for a while. Lucas didn’t interrupt me even when I made mistakes, allowing me some time to fix them myself.

"Leslie, you’re very talented," he said suddenly, causing me to turn and look at him with flushed cheeks.

His tone was so genuine that it caught me off guard. There was no calculation in his eyes. Just warmth, steady, quiet warmth.

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