When I was in high school and college, I was much more into art and painting than I am these days. During summer at age 19, 20, 21, I’d take art classes at the institute and dive into paint mediums like gouache. I like using the tube of black, which all of my art professors extolled the following advice: “Painters don’t often use black straight up. You should try mixing colors to achieve a dark effect without actually draining your tube of black.”

I kept draining the tube of black. I don’t even know why. I suppose at the time, I liked really dark works and can vividly remember recreating this brilliant graphic of Siouxie Sioux to promote the Banshees BBC performance. I have no idea where that painting is today, but I probably threw it out in a dumpster after college.

Those memories recalled, I’ve been staying at my mum’s house for a few days at the start of my spring break from work. The room has since been redone, but some of my things are still in drawers. As I went through old items from younger times this morning, I stumbled upon a drawer filled with art supplies–vine charcoal, hot press paper, a pencil pouch, and you guessed it, a completely mint case of gouache paints and my paintbrushes.

I can’t decide if I should get back into painting–and use a little less black. What do you think?