Trust Me // George Weasley

Chapter 23: The L-Word

Her face was already covered in paint and she had only just begun. Fred had put old newspapers all over the floor of their apartment, though George had assured her that if she would get paint anywhere they could clean it up with a flick of their wand. Anna thought that painting the base with your hands was better, and more fun, than with a brush, so she once more dipped her hand into the redwood coloured paint.
This week she had spent making sketches and buying materials in between work and this weekend she would try and finish three paintings out of the seven she had to make. She had three more weeks until the gallery would start her exhibition, so there wasn't a lot of time, but she was sure she would be able to finish in time. At least, George was.
Yesterday he had helped move a bunch of supplies over to the twin their flat so she could paint there the whole weekend. She had asked if Mrs Weasley would sit for one of the collage paintings and Angelina was going to be on one too. Mrs Weasley had gotten all flustered when George asked her, but not long later she had given in and said yes.
George was going to be the subject of one too, but he didn't know just yet. He just thought that this weekend she was going to paint Angelina and Mrs Weasley.
The sofas, coffee table and desk were all pushed to the side and on the newspapers, there were bottles of paint as well as a few mixing palettes. One canvas stood on an easel while two others were on the floor, already covered in paint and drying before she could continue.
It was Saturday, so the shop was open and Fred and George were busy working. Angelina was sitting at the kitchen table, flipping through some of the magazines Anna had brought to use. Music was playing loudly and occasionally she would stop, shout along with the lyrics, and then continue.
When Anna was painting she was entirely in her own world. You could talk to her for hours and she wouldn't hear a thing. She always got so sucked into it that hours could pass and she wouldn't realise until her stomach growled or she had to rush to the bathroom. The singing or talking she did while painting was completely unconscious. When she was painting she was fully in the zone. That was her time to relax, to shine, to be.
Angelina's canvas had a dark green base colour for the colour of the Quidditch team she recently joined; the Holyhead Harpies. Of course, Anna couldn't include any other Quidditch or magical references, but they all knew what the green and golden tones in the painting stood for and that was enough.
See, Anna attached meaning to her artworks, but in the end, everyone perceived it differently. Everyone fills in the gaps in works themselves and produces an individual meaning because interpretations and opinions are personal.
Mrs Weasley's canvas had the redwood base colour because she thought it fit well with the colours Mrs Weasley wore and with her skin tone. Also, many of the pictures Anna had chosen fit with that colour palette, so it all tied together.
George's canvas had a dark purple, aubergine base-colour. She was excited to make his, though she really hoped he was going to like it. She hoped everyone was going to like their painting, she was going to try her best.
By the time the base for Mrs Weasley's canvas was done, the paint on Angelina's canvas had dried and she could start preparing the background. She switched the canvases on the easel and then walked over to the kitchen table, grabbing the pile with texts and cut-out pictures with Angelina's name on it, she had already sorted that out yesterday.
She had a big bottle of glue and she knew exactly where to put what, though changes often happened along the process. She put the pile next to the bottle of glue on a chair George had told her she could use as a table and then peered over to Angelina.
"Can you quickly come over so I can sketch an outline? That way I can keep in mind which part to leave open," she asked kindly. Angelina nodded and immediately jumped up. She was almost as excited as Anna was for this.
"So how should I pose? Like the models in the magazines?" she asked, putting one hand on her hip and the other behind her head and pouting her lips. Anna chuckled a little and shook her hand, picking up her pencil. She thought for a moment and then grabbed one of the chairs out from the kitchen table.
"Can you sit here? Just face this way," she positioned the chair so it was not directly facing Anna but so that it was facing the window. "Okay and just act natural, I'm not going to fully sketch you yet so you don't have to do anything with your face, I just need a proper outline."
"Wait, you want to paint my side-profile?" Angelina questioned, seeming a little startled.
"If that's okay with you! In my head I am painting your side profile," Anna said and smiled. "But if you're not comfortable with that you can tell me."
"No, I just," Angelina sighed. "I've just never been confident about my side profile." Anna frowned. She thought that Angelina was one of the most beautiful people ever.
"Angelina, you're absolutely gorgeous. I would kill for a side-profile like yours! Trust me, it's going to look beautiful because you are beautiful. You're already doing like half my job." Angelina nodded, granted her a smile, and then stayed still while Anna drew an outline.
"Are you going to put everything on there already?" Angelina asked. Anna bit biting down on her bottom lip as she sketched.
"No, no, just some of the big pieces. Some pieces will overlap part of the portrait so I can't yet, but most of them yes," she said and then put the pencil down. "Thank you. I'm done for now." Angelina nodded and walked back over to the kitchen table as Anna started on the collage.