The Park (open)

[McKenna Kelly]

The month of March signaled that the snow was going away and the winds were coming before spring settled in. When Spring came, McKenna was going to paint Maia's garden. It was one of her favorite places to go. All of the color in the garden was simply delightful and she had been meaning to paint it for awhile now. The painting would be a gift to Maia and Chase and it also be one of her favorites in her portfolio that she was going to submit to the Gallery that opened not to long ago. She had already submitted a few works but her portfolio was going to be the best.

Flowers hadn't bloomed just yet and the temperature hadn't risen a whole lot but it was still a good time to draw and paint people. McKenna walked toward a park, one that she usually visited to clear a few thoughts or draw the ducks that liked to swim in the small pond nearby.

A few people were walking around as she settled on a wooden bench, under a huge oak tree. In the summer time, being under the big oak tree was the place to be because of the shade it provided. Now, in March there wasn't a soul under the tree, except McKenna. Her light brown jacket was unbuttoned as she reached for a pencil inside a hidden pocket where she would kept her wand. On her lap was a brand new sketch pad she picked up on her way there.

Folding back the cover, McKenna's eyes fell on a father and daughter huddled together as they looked out toward the pond and watched the birds fly by. The lead of her yellow wooden pencil touched the white paper as she started to draw the outline of them huddled together.

[Jace Martin]

Jace had been walking around a small park, in a good mood. He had been ordered out of the house by his father, which he had followed immediately. Jace hadn't had a tantrum in a while, and he had forgot what the anger had felt like. In fact, he was acting a lot like he had at Hogwarts, sensitive and charming. He had picked up an overturned fruit stand for a nice, old woman. That had made him feel warm and glowy inside, not to mention the apple he had received for the deed.

He had managed to grab a small canvas and his nuetral tones before apparating the park. Jace's art had suffered emensely in the winter, when all he could see was snow and the inside of his room. It had given him a bad twist, and he had thrown three or four tantrums in one week. But the colours had retruned, and Jace was free to be good.

After setting up an easel towards a tree, not having noticed a brunette girl sitting in the window of where he portrayed the picture. After a few strokes of burnt sienna paint, his eyes finally registered the movement. After a few more seconds, he realized she was drawing.

Jace had never painted someone drawing before. He concentrated on her for a few moments. He had to present her with the painting after, Jace thought excitedly. Maybe she would like it.

[McKenna Kelly]

The young girl had red ribbon in her soft brown hair that held her pigtails. As McKenna really looked down at her drawing, the details were starting to take shape. The ribbons were visible now, as well as the small crinkles in the back of the man's dark brown jacket. Her pencil was still touching the white paper as she continued to draw the two before they could really move away. Once she finished drawing them, then she wouldn't have to worry if they were still standing there or not. The background wouldn't be that hard to do.

McKenna was very detailed orientated when it came to her work. The rest of the world faded away except for her drawing and the subject or subjects.

After she finished drawing the father and daughter, McKenna added a little to their detail then started to draw the surrounding area. That wasn't that hard. A few trees, the pond, and the grass were the only things she had to add.

Looking at her finish product, she smiled at it and then reached in her bag and pulled out her colored pencils to fully capture the scene. As the colored pencils touched the white paper, the paper wasn't just white and grayish anymore. Color slowly decorated the picture as she carefully colored in each object.

[Jace Martin]

As the abstract background was finished, Jace's grip on the brush tightened as he started to concentrate more vividly on his subject's face. She had the lightest grey eyes, a color that Jace didn't have in his paint set. He didn't get angry, this wasn't anything that was directly routed to his emotions. But he certainly didn't want to give an incomplete painting. He managed to breathe deeply as he put the finishing touch on her face, which was a small shine on the lips.

His eyes moved down to her hands, and was surprised to see a small set of watercolours in her hands. There might have been a grey in it, and Jace rushed a bit sloppily through her torso and apendages.

Jace walked very quickly over to the woman, and stood a few feet away from her, as to not invade her art space. Jace wasn't quite sure how other people felt, but he couldn't stand when people hovered around him.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" he asked in his very soft voice.

[McKenna Kelly]

The black colored pencil was used to draw the birds in the baby blue sky. McKenna was completely wrapped up in her drawing that she never heard anyone walk up. She always had to finish her drawings in one sitting because it would bother her if they ever went unfinished. McKenna didn't mind if she had to go through the entire night just to finish the drawing. Her sleep schedule was messed up anyway.

The boy's voice was what brought her away from her coloring for a moment. McKenna looked up with the pencil still in hand. "Yes?"

[Jace Martin]

"I noticed you drawing," Jace said queitly, his eyes on the ground in front of him. He wasn't quite sure how she would feel about him interupting her sketching. "And I was wondering if you had a light grey."

Jace looked up at the very last second, peering at her sketch pad. It was marvelous, she had the colours meshing perfectly, and the ribbon in the girl's hair stood out against the natural coloours of the scene in front of her. Jace couldn't help but give a very soft smile before looking her directly in the eyes.

"Perhaps one very close to your own eye colour?"

[McKenna Kelly]

McKenna blushed lightly. She wasn't used to being in anyone's attention. Being in the background pretending that no one saw her was what she usually went for.

"A light grey?" She looked at him curiously. She still hadn't really figured out the reason behind the request. "Erm, I think I do." His last question made her realize that he was an artist himself and she was always happy to lend a helping hand. McKenna trusted that he would bring it back to her. Looking in her set she finally found the color he was looking for. "I believe this is what you're looking for." She smiled as she handed it to the boy.

[Jace Martin]

Jace had noticed the blush, and debated whether or not to add it to the painting. It would have been a nice hue against the greens amd browns of the scene surrounding her. He would see when he walked back.

Jace held the pencil up, contrasting it to her eye colour. "This is very close, thank you." He gave another small smile, and cradled the pencil between his fingers. "What ever you do, don't move a lot, it's almost done." Jace had seen that he had missed a few colours in her hair, and wanted to add them before he was finished.

[McKenna Kelly]

Don't move a lot? McKenna never moved that much, she was fairly decent at sitting still when she was drawing. It's almost done. The blush in her cheeks deepened. So he was an artist. Not only that, but he was also drawing her. Never had she been in any pictures or paintings. McKenna had always been the one behind the artwork.

She only nodded and returned to her drawing, adding a little more color to make more realistic. While she was coloring it in, she couldn't help but wonder why she was being drawn. Chase had been lucky and had gotten a couple pictures with her in it but that was it. McKenna had never been one that really liked to be the focus of things.

[Jace Martin]

Jace nodded with her with a big, innocent smile on his face. He walked back to his easel quickly, wanting to finish it as soon as possible. He filled in her eyes, smudging a bit of white along the upper right of the ring to add in some brightness. He used his fingers to smear a light toned pink into the cheeks.

He stood back and bit his knuckles as he studied the pictures more intensely. Jace thought it had been alright before, but now he realized he had gotten some of the details wrong. Her lips were a bit lighter than that, but there wasn't much of a way he could fix that. And her cheekbones could have had a bit more of a shade in them. Jace shook his head, and took out his wand to dry the painting.

Jace left the drawing on his easel for the second time to run over to the girl again. He tripped once, but paid no attention to the dirt on his jeans. "What's your name?" he asked her, out of breathe.

[McKenna Kelly]

Curious, McKenna looked toward the direction he walked off in. Her eyes fell upon the boy's easel. A light smile spread across her face. It was always nice to meet people who took art seriously. The pink in her cheeks brightened her gray eyes. He seemed so serious and McKenna did her best not to move too much. She didn't want to disappoint him.

Finishing the final touches on her sketch, she didn't see him fall. She had stopped coloring in the color of the man's coat by the time the boy asked her name. Looking back to him, she observed the dirt, but made no comment. "McKenna, McKenna Kelly."

[Jace Martin]

"McKenna, alright," Jace said brightly, and started to walk back to his post. With her pencil in his hand, he wrote in very clear calligraphy on the back of the canvas, 'McKenna Kelly- 1973'. He never signed his name in the right corner, his father had taught him not to. To his father, anonymous art was that of the most mystery. And Jace listened to his father almost religiously, without much complaint.

Jace tucked the painting under his arm as he folded the easel back up, putting it in the pocket of his robe after a small reducing spell. He decided to take his time on the stroll back, comparing the real girl to his painting. He had gotten a few details right, but as an artist he was expecting criticism.

He held it out to her, back first, looking at the ground again nervously. "Can you tell me what you think, McKenna Kelly?"

[McKenna Kelly]

Her curiosity was getting the best of her as she finished the drawing of the little girl and her father. McKenna always dated and signed her work, even if it was just in a sketch notebook.

Once Jace had returned, she noticed the calligraphy on the back. A smile appeared on her face as well as a blush. "Your calligraphy is amazing," she commented as she took the painting from him and looked on the back. Turning the painting over, McKenna was amazed.

"Oh my," she said softly. She was extremely touched, even if she didn't like to be in front. "This, this is very beautiful." McKenna carefully ran her hand down the side of the canvas. "The colors, they run together very well. The shapes are great, as well as the bending. Everything just fits." She looked up to the boy with the same smile on her face and her eyes had a bit of a shine to them. "You are a very gifted artist. What's your name?"

[Jace Martin]

Jace smile got wider and wider with every comment she made. She looked so sincere that Jace felt like he could trust her every word, and he concentrated on her, and decided to try and take a mental image to do another picture later. Her eyes were shining, and she had an arched eyebrow, he tried to commit to memory.

"I'm Jace," Jace said eagerly, almost like a little child. "I've been practicing since I was eight years old."

Jace tried to peak at her sketch book, but couldn't quite see anything too clearly. He cranced his neck a bit more, but decided to instead just ask. "Can I see what you've done? I promise to be absolutely honest in opinion." He crossed his heart, but ended up smiling anyway.

[McKenna Kelly]

"It's nice to meet you Jace," she said smiling. "Really? Practicing since you were eight? Have you ever thought about putting your work in the new gallery in Hogsmead? I'm trying to work on a portfolio now so I can put a few in there." McKenna was pretty excited about trying to see about some of her artwork into the gallery, yet she was pretty nervous too. The only people that had ever really seen her work was her brother, sister, Maia, and now Jace. Of course, there were a few people that she just drew and then gave them the drawing but to her that was a little different.

She didn't notice Jace attempting to see her sketch book because her attention was still on the painting. His question brought her attention away and she looked up to him. "Erm, well, I suppose it would only be fair." McKenna moved her bag of pencils and motioned for him to take a seat. "You can take a seat," she said offering him her book.

[Jace Martin]

"The gallery?" Jace wondered aloud. "At Hogsmeade? I wasn't sure they had one."

Jace didn't further indulge in her own portfolio, as he had never seen it. Jace wanted to be able to fully critique her work before he mentioned if she could get in our not. He spent hours of his time at his father's mansion, poring over art history. But even with the small glimpses that he had, Jace felt like she could easily get in. Hogsmeade, as he remebered it, was very friendly.

Jace sat right next to her, kneeling down and opening the sketchbook very carefully. Art portoflios were special to each person, and he didn't like when anyone but himself touched his own little folder. Every piece of art in that book was a sketch of one emotion of his or another. Most important was the one of his mother, which was rarely taken out into the light. He wouldn't understand anyone feeling about their own differently.

The sketches in the book were emensely deep. He studied the first with rapture, taking in the pencil strokes and the charcoal smudges with a small smile on his face. It was if he fell in love with art all over again, and he looked up at McKenna with wide eyes.

"I love them," Jace said seriously. "I don't believe I've seen anyone else who seemed to put as much effort into shading as you do, not for a very long time."

[McKenna Kelly]

"It just opened up not to long ago. I figured that before I even really walk into the place, I would get my portfolio together."

Right now, her portfolio was her most prized possession. She had spent majority of her time on her art. Artist such as Claude Monet, Michelangelo, Da Vinci, and Jacques-Louis David, were just a few of her inspirations.

Even though it was just a compliment about her work, McKenna blushed. "Thank you," she said with a smile. "You know, I hope one day I see more of your work."

[Jace Martin]

"I'd like to see it," Jace said, almost daydreaming. There was always been a good time in walking around and critiquing other's art, learning new techniques and finding out what could go hideously wrong. Jace's fascination with everything that he could do artistically had kept his temper in check that it was almost a record.

"You'd want to see my work?" Jace asked, smiling. "I've got a small portfolio." He frowned, thinking about it. All his art in there was almost morbid, with in depth drawings of skulls and his mother's memories, including a reflection picture of the day she was murdered verse the days when his brother used to live with them and they had been happy. The mere thought of his brother caused Jace to clench his fists slightly, but he shook it off, remembering that he was speaking with an actual artist.

"But it's slightly depressing."

[McKenna Kelly]

"Whenever I'm finally finished with it all, you can see it." McKenna smiled lightly. She was glad to see someone else so interested. She just hoped that he continued on with his skill because he had a great potential of becoming one of the best artists of their time.

"Yes, I would love to see your work at some point in time. And there is nothing wrong with slightly depressing work. People like Edvard Munch and Edgar Allan Poe didn't care if their work was slightly depressing, did they?" She knew that Edgar Allen Poe didn't have paintings, only literature. However, he did paint a depressing picture in his works in the sense of horror.

[Jace Martin]

"Promise?" Jace asked, very seriously.

Promises were one of Jace's biggest necessities. No one could break a promise to him without some sort of tantrum on Jace's end. Ever since Declin had refused to come with him, and broken the promise of always staying together, Jace's obsession with keeping people to their word had begun. His father had just fed the fuel of keeping Jace to those beliefs.

"Alright," Jace smiled brightly, turning back into his usual childlike charming self. "You're right, although Edgar Allan Poe also kept his dead wife end his bed for almost two years. I'm not sure I could get that deep into whatever he was thinking." That little fact disturbed Jace aas a child. It was almost a factor that made him want to stop going so dar into his mind to paint. He wasn't sure what would come out of it.