Work Text:
And it's all in how you mix the two
And it starts just where the light exists
It's a feeling that you cannot miss
And it burns a hole through everyone that feels it
Harvey's POV
"I don't know about this Leah. I'm a doctor, not an artist." Harvey says nervously as he steps into Leah's cabin on Fall 10.
"Harvey, you aren't creating for an art show. This is for you to process your feelings in a creative way." Leah does her best to assure him. "Think of it as art therapy. It's a real thing you know."
Harvey does know about art therapy. He'd learned about it briefly during his psych rotation as a resident. "I'm just...I'm not really creative or artistic." He frowns, his mustache downturned.
Leah leads him over to her easel. "Just do the best you can and use the creative process to work through what you're feeling." She directs. "Sebastian told me you're still working through some of the shock and pain about learning that Felicity is yours. Put it on the canvas. Feel your feelings through the art. If you have questions on how to use the tools just ask. I'll be right over there working on my own projects." She said, pointing to another easel across the room that has a half-finished canvas on it.
He looks at the easel in front of him. The canvas is 18 inches wide by 12 inches tall. He sits on a tall stool that Leah had put nearby, watching as she walks over to her stereo in the corner of the room, putting on some music. It isn't music he'd normally listen to, she called it 'emo' music, but it isn't very loud and for some reason he can feel himself relating to some of the lyrics.
He looks to the side table with the supplies she's laid out. There were a bunch of different pencils, a large white eraser, a watercolor palette, tubes of another kind of paint, a small pallet, brushes, a cup of water for washing the brushes, a couple rolls of washi tape in various widths, a pad of paper, a ruler, and some stencils in basic shapes.
He calls her over and asks some questions about what each material is for. "Can...can I use both kinds of paint?" He asks nervously.
Leah smiles. "If you want to do mixed media that's fine. This kind of canvas can handle it. Though you'll probably have to really layer on the colors if you want them to be deep enough."
He nods, taking notes in pen on the pad of paper in his messy doctor's handwriting. Then she leaves him for the other side of the room and he turns to a fresh sheet of paper and picks up a pencil. He starts to draw a bit but the lines are very dark. He looks at the stamped 'B' on the pencil and frowns. He sees others labeled as 'H' and 'HB'. He looks back at his notes and sighs. He hadn't asked about the pencils.
He calls Leah back over and asks about the pencils and she calmly explains that the graphite in the 'H' pencils are harder than the 'B' pencils and are lighter on the paper. The 'B' pencils have softer graphite and are darker. 'HB' is a middle ground and is the standard hardness in most #2 pencils.
Harvey picks that pencil up and relaxes a bit. "Thank you...sorry I know I'm asking a lot of questions."
"It's no problem Dr. Harvey. If you don't ask questions, you don't really learn do you?" She smirks. She walks back over to her canvas.
Harvey closes his eyes before trying again to sketch out the idea in his mind. The visual comes to him and he tries to capture it roughly on the paper. He looks through the stencils and finds one in the shape that he wants. He uses the ruler to find the center of the canvas and he tapes it down there.
Then he sets to work creating the rest of his piece.
Leah's POV
After an hour of quiet concentration, she's curious about how Harvey's piece is going. She turns around and watches him. He is meticulously peeling back the crisscrossed strips of washi tape he has on the canvas.
He steps back from it, his hand running over his mustache. He glances down to the supplies and back to the canvas several times. She walks over. "Dr. Harvey?" How's it going?
He frowns. "I don't know...it's not that I dislike it, it's just...I don't know if it's art."
Leah looks at the canvas, her jaw dropping. On a smoky grey background that he had to have used watercolor for, is a series of blue and yellow right triangles in various orientations on all sides of a bright green heart in the very center. The triangles start out as darker blue and deeper shades of yellow that are almost brown then they get lighter, brighter and smaller as they get closer to the center heart.
"I used the tape to get clean lines for the larger triangles but I used the stencils for the smaller ones." He explains nervously.
Leah tilts her head. "Which one of you is the yellow?"
"Felicity's mom." He says quietly. "The blue is me. It's probably not the best color combination, but I know that blue and yellow make green, the color of Felicity's eyes."
Leah smiles. "It's brilliant Harvey. It really is." She means it too. "Not creative my ass." She laughs lightly, elbowing him in the arm.
He chuckles a little. "Well, I guess I have more in me than I thought."
"You do Harvey." She looks up at him. "We'll let it dry and then you can take it home."
He nods. "Okay. Thank you. I...I feel better now."
Leah smiles. "Good. Because that was the point."