I wrote this post as a prelude to a series of posts in the near future set out to help beginner painters, wannabe artists, and anybody else interested learn how to paint. I will include every “how to” paint resource I can get my hands on, so even if don’t take away any of my advice at the very least you should find somewhere else that can help. I know I’m not the best painter but I will share with you everything I know about painting from A to Z, and if that’s not enough you can use the links I’ll provide. The purpose is to help you, I’m not trying to sell anything. My advice is absolutely free. So take it or leave it!
First let’s look at why people paint. Why should you get started? People paint for a variety of different reasons.
- They might do it as a hobby, “Sunday painters” if you will.
- Some do it to let off steam. It is very therapeutic, the process of painting itself and the satisfaction you get from it.
- That leads to people doing it for something they can be proud of. When they feel they’ve accomplished something they can actually put it up on their walls for everybody to see.
- People paint for a couple extra bucks. There are plenty of people that can make a few dollars at fairs or flea markets, or on busy city streets with their artwork. There is a market for this, because not everybody who wants artwork can afford the stuff found at galleries.
- People paint for a living. Painting as a profession will never die. Even with all these technological breakthroughs, people still want good oil paintings hanging in their living room. People still want their portraits painted in genuine paint. Granted it takes a lot of skill to be able to reach this level.
- Some do it hoping to achieve greatness, with aspirations to be like the masters and to emulate them. A true artist rarely comes along in history. Could it be you?
Whatever the reason for painting, I highly recommend it. Most people come up to me and say they can’t paint, nor ever will be able to, and I think this is just hogwash. Some people just don’t feel like ever trying, and I understand this is not everyone’s cup of tea. To each his own.
You never know until you try. Most creative ventures are never begun because of an underlying fear. I’m guilty of this one myself and it’s what keeps me from pumping out canvas after canvas. I don’t want to fail, I don’t want to waste my time if it turns out bad, and I’d rather not find out the hard way that I’m not as good as I think in my head. But it’s this type of thinking that prevents some of the greatest artwork ever from being created. I may be no Leonardo, but I know I can do my best, and I know sitting around worrying about it accomplishes zilch. So I get around my fear.
The good thing about the would be amateur is the wealth of information available. With the internet, there are infinite resources at your fingertips, especially for the “How to Paint” tutorials. Each book or article is written by a different artist with different views and styles, no two are exactly alike.
What I intend to accomplish here is to provide a step by step tutorial on how I paint, and how you can too. Like I said I’m no expert, but maybe we could learn together. Each post will be a different chapter, which will include topics such as “Materials,” “Composition and Subject Matter,” “Techniques,” and plenty more. I intend to show plenty of pictures as we go, and maybe even a couple videos.
All of us have different backgrounds and maybe some of you have gone to art classes and art school and whatnot. I myself went to one drawing class when I was 11. It was comparable to my ninth grade art class, and didn’t really teach much (or rather I didn’t learn much). So most of my learning has been by doing and developing as I went. There is no better advice than to actually do it. Painting is not learned by reading a book alone.
Although there have a good deal of decent art books that I’ve read rich with information. The best art book I’ve read by far is Rudolph Arnheim’s “Art and Visual Perception.” It’s not light reading and I didn’t finish it in a day, but the point is to absorb the info on the pages, not just to race through it. This is the kind of book that I’ve gone back numerous times to reread passages, and I always end up learning something new every time. “Art and Visual Perception” is a great book that’s half psychology, half art book about how people see things, look at things, and understand them, and how this relates to art. I’m sure Arnheim could sum it up better, so you can take it from him. I wouldn’t recommend it to just anybody, but it is a must read for any serious painter.
There’s also a number of good television shows about painting that you can always find on public television in the afternoon. I think we all know and love Bob Ross. When I was first starting out painting years ago my parents bought one of the Bob Ross painting kits. It was great, it came with everything you need: palette, brushes, about 10 tubes of paint, painting knives, a book and a VHS, even a small canvas I think. You can’t develop creativity from tutorials like this, having to copy exactly what you see, but it’s great practice. I still use Bob Ross techniques for painting pine trees and reflections in water.
So all kinds of methods can be used to learn how to paint. I recommend hitting up the arts and crafts shop and buying one of those starter paint kits. If you’re brand new at it, I would start with acrylics, being easier to use, and you can wash the brushes in water instead of turpentine. Or you could get some oil paints, they’re generally a litle more expensive. You can get some small canvas boards for cheap, just for practice mainly, or you could get the larger stretched canvases. I use Fredrix medium tooth, red label canvases.
But whatever you do, just do it. Fail at first, it only teaches you. But have fun with it, and have with this tutorial. Stay tuned for upcoming posts, on “How to Paint.”
Until then…
See also How to Paint: Materials, How To Paint: Composition, How To Paint: Color, How To Paint: Techniques Learning Art and Mimicking the Masters
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