painting can be so therapeutic and rewarding :)
i recommend starting with watercolor or acrylic as theyâll be the most user friendly. each has its own techniques and learning curves [ie working from light to dark with watercolors, acrylic pain drying darker]. familiarize yourself with their properties. youâll need mixed media or watercolor paper pads, nothing crazy like canvas in the beginning, so you donât feel obligated to reserve expensive materials for something âgoodâ.
but, in the vein of not wanting to waste materials, make sure you donât let your fear of messing up prevent you from painting at all. as an artist on a budget, i understand itâs a hard mindset to break. but i do suggest setting aside a little coin for nicer paints and brushes if you can, though. a lot of stores will have cost-friendly things labeled âstudent gradeâ which are decent quality. (things like the chalky artist loft watercolors or 50¢ loose bodied acrylic paints may add to frustration sometimes but they arenât impossible to work with.)
the easiest ways to get yourself actually painting are to set up still lives or paint âen plein airâ (landscapes outside). working from life is an invaluable skill and once youâre comfy with that, it will be easier to paint from photo reference. also, make sure youâve got an understanding of value and contrast outside of color. make color charts so you understand how your paints interact with one another and youâre not in for a mixing surprise mid painting (i.e a color wheel, tints and shades, complimentary colors and how they interact etc). [esp because some âcheaperâ paints will have other pigments mixed in. for example a cheaper red will not make a perfect purple when mixed with blue since it will likely have hints of yellow mixed into the red to boost the brightness.]
overall, have fun <3 baby steps. work tiny and simple in the beginning and the rest will come to you with patience and practice.
Feb 20, 2025
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qualifications: have been painting for my whole young life, sell my paintings, etc etc. im assuming youâre working with acrylics but this could apply to oils as well. sorry for the incoming infodump!
lean to fat rule: this refers to the idea that you want to put down your âleanâ layers (thin, watered down paint) first, and increase the thickness of your paint as you go, using impasto last. âimpastoâ is the application of paint in thick strokes that dry as raised, 3D texture. you wouldnât want to put that first because you would struggle to correct mistakes or add details over it later.
paint in BIG sections. what i mean by this is you want to be working on the entire canvas all at once, not focusing on achieving perfection on one bit while the rest is undeveloped. theoretically you should have all your shapes and the basis of your values blocked in before adding much texture or detail. this helps you measure balance and harmony within the composition as you go.
another important part of this is to use as big of a brush as you practically can when painting large sections of color. i used to use one tiny brush to fill in huge areas of canvas. save your time and sanity by daring to go bigger
paint dark to light. this is a rule that you can break depending on what youâre trying to achieve, but basically this means identifying the absolute darkest parts of your reference picture or thumbnail sketch and blocking those in over your underpainting first. this is the framework that you build the whole painting off of. be careful because this is very important towards establishing proportions, and prevents you from overpowering lighter sections of the painting later.
donât use black straight from the tube if you can help it. pure black, when overused (especially by beginners who use it to starkly outline shapes or use it in huge swaths) can really suck the life out of a painting and make it look chalky and dry. instead, i recommend mixing a custom black one of two ways: purely from colors, (roughly 30% blue, 40% red, 40% green), or adding colors to a premade black (when i do this itâs usually 50% black, 30% blue, 20% red, depending on the undertone of your black paint)
color mixing: this can be tricky if youâre new to painting, pay attention to the undertones of your paints and be intentional about the temperature you want to achieve- if you want a warm green dont mix a cool blue and yellow, for example. it can be impossible to mix a vibrant purple with trad primary colors.
donât be too precious with your palette⌠if youâre working with acrylic that shit dries fast anyway so get messy. you can always squeeze more paint out to restore the purity of your color but a little mixing amongst your palette will make a more harmonious painting anyway.
impressionism is your friend. painting is a trick of the light. a couple well placed brushstrokes vaguely indicating a light source or something will get you farther than hyper detailing something into muddled oblivion
these are the most important for painting probably but the rest (composition, motor skills, proportions, color theoryâŚ) is learned from a general arts background which i assume you have since youâre in HL art, along with a lot of practice over the years that lets you get familiar with the behavior of the paint, your brushes, the surface, etc etc
not sure if you mean IB HL arts? but i absolutely loved that class and have never been prouder of myself than when i had my exhibition and finished the artist study. wishing you luck and happy painting!! try to enjoy the process!!
Feb 8, 2025
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They're relatively cheap compared to oil + canvas. It'll get you used to color theory, developing your own style, nailing fundamentals, etc without going broke(like I did when I started with oil, oy)
Go to a local art store and look for some simple 6-8 color starter kits!
Feb 20, 2025
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bonus points for only painting one thing over and over and over and over and over and over and
Jan 4, 2024
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liking ur rec = saying hi when we go to get our morning papers from the end of our driveways (picture me doing so tony soprano style)
Aug 12, 2024
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started writing this a few hours ago when i first saw this ask, then decided against posting but i've since changed my mind. there really is no justification for it outside of entitlement. even from a selfish lens, there's no long term benefit to its usage. it harms the world and culture in more ways than one.
a.) the water and energy usage that isn't a secret at this point. "no ethical consumption under capitalism" yadda yadda and yeah corporations are extremely culpable in the state of the environment but there really is no need for chatgpt and the planet is already too delicate at the moment.
b.) the exploitation of workers in the global south. this program is not just a computer figuring it all out, there are in fact humans behind it. it reminds me of the acceptance of fast fashion and how people have the tendency to divorce the idea of the garment worker from the garment they wear when all clothing is handmade in some way, shape or form. you need hands to man a sewing machine, you need human eyes to moderate content. also, content moderation can be a thankless job with psychological repercussions.
c.) the erosion of social skills, humanity and media literacy...this one is very personal. like, you have a cushy email job but can't write an email? you need a computer and a worker in kenya to get paid a dollar an hour to figure out a daily routine for you? i've seen the program churn out blatantly incorrect information. fine tuning a prompt or chat or whatever to give you the exact (possibly incorrect) answer you need isn't really that much less work than sharpening your research skills by cracking open a dictionary or using boolean search keys in google. again, the main issue with this kind of stuff is the entitlement to convenience, with no thought towards the repercussions within and outside of us. we are losing major recipes (critical thinking and media literacy) here, people!
i probably did an iffy job are coherently articulating my thoughts here but i am in fact, human. and thatâs the beauty of it all.
Oct 1, 2024
i donât work w oils often, mainly tempera, collage, and digital but this is the one i'm still most proud of as of late bc itâs way bigger (18x24) than i'm used to working <3
Oct 14, 2024