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'I was wiped out': Bruised by the world, this Maine writer turned to painting

His new book tells the story of how he got better at it.

PORTLAND, Maine — In 2019, Nicholson Baker was ready for a reset.

The author of more than a dozen works of fiction and nonfiction, several of them bestsellers, he had just finished writing a book that dealt with biological weapons in the 1950s. The subject did not leave him filled with gaiety and joy.

"I was wiped out," he wrote. "I needed a rehabilitation program. A less bleak way of looking at the world."

The answer, for him, would be art. Although his mother had taught art classes and his father had worked as a graphic designer, their talents had not been passed on to him. Baker’s paintings were crude, unimpressive.

So in 2019, while in his early 60s, he set out on a journey of artistic self-improvement, a story he tells in "Finding a Likeness: How I Got Somewhat Better at Art."

Baker, who lives in Veazie, gets up these days before sunrise and spends a couple of hours or so drawing. Although it gives him great satisfaction and he has indeed gotten better, he is modest about his work.

"I’m sure you’ve talked with real artists," he said. "I mean, I’m a hobbyist—and I’m just learning."

Living close to the banks of the Penobscot River inspires him—clouds, storms, trees, flowers, toys in a neighbor’s yard, sunlight dancing on the surface of the river. What most appeals to him, though, is sketching the infinite variety of people’s faces.

"Right now all I want to do," he confided with a touch of humor, "is draw every human being on the planet."

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