finish line
for this leg of the race."
"You good at painting?" Liam asked, glancing
down at me. I could have sworn there was a hint of an amused
sparkle in those dark eyes.
I rolled up my sleeves, grinning. "Dude, I
frost cupcakes on a regular basis. I am ace at painting. Just watch
me."
"Don't get cocky," he told me, but there was
a teasing note in his voice.
I simply grinned and headed for the roped off
area. There were three other contestants there, and as I watched,
Steffi from the purple team handed her page to the judge, who laid
it down on the table, scrutinized it with a magnifying glass, and
then shook his head. "No."
Okay, so this wouldn't be easy. I headed to
the table set up for me and peered down at the materials, taking a
quick assessment of things. Paints in small pots were neatly lined
up on the far end of the table, along with multiple brushes. A long
piece of thick, weird paper had been laid out on the table, and as
I leaned over it, I saw that a drawing had already been done on the
paper. It was crazy ornate, too, with a jillion lines and swirls
moving back and forth, all in black and white. Obviously our job
was to color it to match the Book of Kells. I studied it for a
moment, and then looked around for the book.
Off in the distance, there was a roped off
section. I watched as Summer got in line again, headed straight to
the glass-case covered book, stared at it for a long while, her
lips moving, and then raced back to her table to return to her
page. So this was coloring and memorization. There had to be a
smart way to do this. I stared down at the paper a moment longer.
It reminded me of paint by numbers. All right then, I'd treat it
like that. I raced to get in line to view the book, and when the
contestant in front of me was done, I moved up to the podium.
And stared. The book was gorgeous.
Illuminated by a soft light, the book was opened to a page of one
of the Apostles, his head crowned by a golden glow. He held up a
hand and cupped an object in it, and his robes were a heavy blue. I
studied the colors for a moment, then decided to tackle it one
color at a time. I'd start with gold. Crown, I told myself, then
looked for other bits of gold. Sandals, sparkles in the sky, and
the border. Repeating this to myself, I ran back to my page and
dipped a paint brush, then blobbed the appropriate pieces.
Each object in the picture had been broken
into several different sections - no doubt to try and throw us off,
so I dabbed a bit of the appropriate paint color in each section,
then set my brush down and returned to the painting. I'd do blue
next, and then work my way through all the colors, so I'd know I
was right. It'd take some time in advance, but it'd pay off when I
only had to do it once. Even now, I watched another person - Myrna
- call over the judge, only to be told 'no' right away. This
challenge was about accuracy.
So I returned to the book and looked for
blue. Then red. Then green. Then black. Then the smaller, less
numerous colors. I took my time, carefully dotting each color on my
page. Sometimes I had to return once or twice to the book, unsure
of the block I was looking at, so I just skipped that and checked
it the next time I went. By the time I had most of my picture
blocked out, the three teams that had started at the challenge were
still there, and the last two had arrived.
I wasn't flustered, though. I had this. I
leaned over my table and began to carefully paint in the boxes I
had marked, taking my time with each one. I had careful, steady
hands, thanks to my practice icing and decorating delicate cupcakes
and wedding cakes. I was fast, and I was steady, and I was totally
rocking this challenge. When my back began to cramp up from
leaning, I got up and headed to the book again, filling in the last
few blanks.
At last, my picture was done. I carefully
lifted it from the frame, holding it so it wouldn’t smear, and shot
a triumphant look at Liam. He stood with the other
for this leg of the race."
"You good at painting?" Liam asked, glancing
down at me. I could have sworn there was a hint of an amused
sparkle in those dark eyes.
I rolled up my sleeves, grinning. "Dude, I
frost cupcakes on a regular basis. I am ace at painting. Just watch
me."
"Don't get cocky," he told me, but there was
a teasing note in his voice.
I simply grinned and headed for the roped off
area. There were three other contestants there, and as I watched,
Steffi from the purple team handed her page to the judge, who laid
it down on the table, scrutinized it with a magnifying glass, and
then shook his head. "No."
Okay, so this wouldn't be easy. I headed to
the table set up for me and peered down at the materials, taking a
quick assessment of things. Paints in small pots were neatly lined
up on the far end of the table, along with multiple brushes. A long
piece of thick, weird paper had been laid out on the table, and as
I leaned over it, I saw that a drawing had already been done on the
paper. It was crazy ornate, too, with a jillion lines and swirls
moving back and forth, all in black and white. Obviously our job
was to color it to match the Book of Kells. I studied it for a
moment, and then looked around for the book.
Off in the distance, there was a roped off
section. I watched as Summer got in line again, headed straight to
the glass-case covered book, stared at it for a long while, her
lips moving, and then raced back to her table to return to her
page. So this was coloring and memorization. There had to be a
smart way to do this. I stared down at the paper a moment longer.
It reminded me of paint by numbers. All right then, I'd treat it
like that. I raced to get in line to view the book, and when the
contestant in front of me was done, I moved up to the podium.
And stared. The book was gorgeous.
Illuminated by a soft light, the book was opened to a page of one
of the Apostles, his head crowned by a golden glow. He held up a
hand and cupped an object in it, and his robes were a heavy blue. I
studied the colors for a moment, then decided to tackle it one
color at a time. I'd start with gold. Crown, I told myself, then
looked for other bits of gold. Sandals, sparkles in the sky, and
the border. Repeating this to myself, I ran back to my page and
dipped a paint brush, then blobbed the appropriate pieces.
Each object in the picture had been broken
into several different sections - no doubt to try and throw us off,
so I dabbed a bit of the appropriate paint color in each section,
then set my brush down and returned to the painting. I'd do blue
next, and then work my way through all the colors, so I'd know I
was right. It'd take some time in advance, but it'd pay off when I
only had to do it once. Even now, I watched another person - Myrna
- call over the judge, only to be told 'no' right away. This
challenge was about accuracy.
So I returned to the book and looked for
blue. Then red. Then green. Then black. Then the smaller, less
numerous colors. I took my time, carefully dotting each color on my
page. Sometimes I had to return once or twice to the book, unsure
of the block I was looking at, so I just skipped that and checked
it the next time I went. By the time I had most of my picture
blocked out, the three teams that had started at the challenge were
still there, and the last two had arrived.
I wasn't flustered, though. I had this. I
leaned over my table and began to carefully paint in the boxes I
had marked, taking my time with each one. I had careful, steady
hands, thanks to my practice icing and decorating delicate cupcakes
and wedding cakes. I was fast, and I was steady, and I was totally
rocking this challenge. When my back began to cramp up from
leaning, I got up and headed to the book again, filling in the last
few blanks.
At last, my picture was done. I carefully
lifted it from the frame, holding it so it wouldn’t smear, and shot
a triumphant look at Liam. He stood with the other
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