The pandemic has been hard on many of us. My typical hobbies of playing outdoor sports have completely disappeared. On the bright side, I’ve been able to spend a lot more time at home with my husband now that we’re both working from home—which is nearly all day, every day! We both work a lot and find ourselves working nearly every day of the week. Coming up with new hobbies that included the two of us were one of my main goals during the pandemic.
My husband is very creative and is also a great artist. I, on the other hand, am not a great artist, but I like to challenge my husband! We started a “painting game” where I would give my husband an idea for a painting, then he must deliver. The game eventually evolved to where I would start a painting, then my husband must complete it. I highly recommend this type of game if you want to start an activity with your partner or roommate!
The game first started out during my birthday this last year. My husband said he would paint whatever I want for my birthday. I asked him to paint a portrait of my dog wearing a tuxedo.
Here is a photo of my dog:
He first created a photo-shop rendition of what he wanted to paint. The photo-shop painting included a grid so he could focus on painting individual blocks at a time:
He then created the final product:
I was so impressed! I then took the liberty to create my own photo-shop rendition of my sister’s dog in a sweater vest with glasses:
And, like nothing, he delivered (with a few tweaks here and there)!
For our next game, I wanted to paint as well. I started off the painting game with a desert landscape and a strange creature/object at the forefront. I was curious to see how he would interpret or change the object:
Here is my husband’s active process of painting over my presented work:
The final product: he wanted to instill the same mystery of a looming, large obelisk-like object peering through the clouds.
I then tried pushing my painting skills by incorporating more details and whimsy and started a new painting:
My husband isn’t finished yet, but this is how he’s changed my painting so far:
Our “painting game” has been a lot of fun so far through this pandemic. It’s been great to see how my spouse creates and adds to my initial ideas. It’s also been fun to see how our game has evolved over time. We’ll soon have a fun collection of pandemic paintings at the end of these crazy times!