Painting a picture is a great way to express your creativity. If you want to get in touch with your inner Rembrandt or Pollock you will have to learn to develop the right skills and you will have to get all the material suitable to paint the subjects you prefer. Learn how to choose colors and brushes, select the best subject and bring it back to the canvas. For more information go to the first step.
Steps
Part 1 of 4: Choosing Paints and Brushes
Step 1. Try painting a picture with watercolors
It is the most common type of paint, cheap and easy to use, it can be found both in tubes and in small boxes with various shades of color. Watercolors can be light and rustic or vibrant and vivid, depending on the quality of the color. It's a great starting point, beautiful and effective, especially for landscapes and bizarre still lifes.
- In its basic form, watercolor paints are dense and heavy, and become usable only by softening them with water, wetting the brush tip, or mixing them with water on the palette. It is a light and subtle color that is easy to work with even for beginners, although it is sometimes difficult to control.
- Having good quality color available can prevent a lot of discouragement, especially in the beginning. Sennelier's watercolor paints are available both in tubes and on palettes. Their quality is far superior to the banal watercolors used in school. Try the palette, you will avoid having to buy different shades separately and you will have the convenience of having all the colors in the same place. There are other premium brands, Schminke and Windsor & Newton, and they are both available in the best paint shops.
Step 2. Use acrylic paints for their versatility
They dry quickly but are as versatile as oil paints, the most common form of paint for amateurs and professionals alike. Water-based acrylic paints are simple to use and are widely available in paint shops and stationeries specializing in art supplies. They are perfect for capturing the smallest details on canvas and for creating masterpieces of abstract art. They cost less than oil paints, but they are no less professional.
Acrylic paints are often sold in tubes, such as oil paints, and can be mixed on a palette with plain water to lighten the hue or create new colors. They are the best colors for layered paintings, thanks to their quick drying; form base tones to create depth and detail on landscapes, portraits and other images
Step 3. Use oil paints like the experts
Oil paints are the most versatile, professional, and vibrant form of paint available. They are also the most expensive, and take a long time to dry, but they allow you to use all kinds of color mixing and layering techniques, very useful for professional painters. They're not great as a starting point, but it's something you can consider in the future, or experiment with, if you're looking for a challenge.
- Often oil paints are sold in water-soluble bars that can be used in a similar way to watercolors, and normally dry before traditional oil paints in tubes. Buy a variety of primary colors and learn how to mix them to get your favorite shades to cut costs.
- In addition to the colors, you will need to buy solvents to dilute them, unless you want to pour the color directly from the tube in thick and dense lumps as in the de Kooning mixture technique (beautiful, sure, but very expensive).
- Before painting with oil paints, it is necessary to primer the drawing support, that is, spread an acrylic base primer on the canvas or sheet of paper, to prevent them from being damaged by the color. It is necessary to apply the primer on all surfaces that could come into contact with the paint to ensure its integrity (even the palette).
Step 4. Paint with natural colors
Who said you have to buy the colors? It doesn't matter if you draw with blackberries, tea emulsions or ash, they are all great methods depending on the painting you want to create.
Paintings stained with these ingredients can change over time (or rot, depending on how you want to see it). This can give a time element to the paintings, which change over the days and weeks after they are completed. Check your egg paintings often to throw them out before they start to smell, or use acrylic paint as a cover to keep them intact
Step 5. Always use the correct brush
You will need to get the most effective brush according to the type of color you have chosen for your paintings.
To make a watercolor it is best to use a round tip brush. Flat-tip synthetic brushes work best with acrylic paints, while filbert (cat's tail) works best with oil paints. You can buy brushes of different fibers to test the differences if you want
Step 6. Get all the other materials you need before you start painting
If you want to keep your clothes clean and the colors tidy you need to take care of a couple more things before you start painting.
- Choose a canvas appropriate for the type of paint you plan to use. If you want to use acrylic or oil paints you can take a stretched canvas, otherwise you can resort to watercolor paper, which absorbs the color dissolved in water without wrinkling or weakening.
- Keep several glasses on hand for moistening and cleaning brushes and for making watercolors. This way you won't have to worry about cleaning them (save some old glasses).
- Get a palette or tray to mix the colors. The best surfaces for mixing colors, diluting them and checking their consistency are those made of white plastic, such as trays covered with enamel paint. These surfaces provide a nice clean background against which you can test color accuracy, and are very inexpensive. A glass dish can often be used as an alternative.
Part 2 of 4: Getting started
Step 1. Prepare the workspace
Put on some old clothing and get out all the tools to get started. Any project that involves painting creates a bit of clutter, so it's important to be prepared for any eventuality to avoid impossible-to-remove paint stains on carpet or other surfaces. The ideal area is bright, to be more inspiring.
- An easel is usually used for painting, but it is not necessary. Choose a hard surface, like a clipboard to hold all the sheets of watercolor paper together, or lay the canvas on a newspaper covered desk.
- Spread old sheets or newspapers on the floor and any other surface that could come into contact with the paint. You won't have to worry about dripping paint if you coat everything right. So you can focus exclusively on the work.
Step 2. Make a pencil sketch
It is not a mandatory step, you can use the brush right away if you prefer, but it is useful to sketch the main shapes of the subject in order to use them as a guide. Let's take an example: if you want to paint a flower pot, you don't need to focus on the pollen, just give the petals a sketchy shape on the paper, before you start adding color.
- Use the contour lines to sketch the basic shape and gesture lines to get a sense of the spatial relationship between the elements in the painting. Each object will be composed of many small shapes, like small paintings close together. Try to focus on the relationship between the elements.
- Locate the light source hitting your subject, try to figure out what kind of shadow it might generate and how to capture it with lines and colors.
Step 3. Mix the various colors as you need them
Spend some time mixing your colors on the palette to get the perfect hue to capture your subject. Some painters work hard to get the most accurate shades possible, so that the rendering is “real”, while others like to vary a little in colors. There is no right or wrong in this sense.
- Spread a small portion of color on test paper to see how it looks on a white background, rather than mixing a whole tube of white with one of blue to get the blue. Don't overdo the quantities.
- Mix bright colors with white to soften them, or add a little black to create different shades of color. If you mix one color with the opposite one in the color circle, different tones are created, which allows for infinite possibilities.
- By using different tones of contrast in the painting, you will be able to create a greater sense of dynamism in the color. Use different shades, gradations and tints, carefully reflecting on the color.
Step 4. Practice with brushes
Learn to use, clean and care for them before you start painting. Before diving into your masterpiece you need to learn how to handle brushes to apply the right amount of color, and practice painting smooth, even lines. Don't worry about the subject, sketch by mixing and diluting the color.
Give small strokes with the brush and spread the color in longer but more even strokes. Try to use as little paint on the brush as possible to get the color you are looking for, without saturating the surface. Use different brushes depending on their effects, you can spread the color, draw or use the pointillism technique
Step 5. Paint the background
It is usually best to paint the background first, starting from the back to the front of the painting. This way you will be able to move from more general lines to more specific details, adding more layers to create the details, rather than vice versa. If you start with the petals, you run the risk of losing the balance between the proportions. Experiment and try to figure out which technique is right for you.
Bob Ross, a famous American television painter, was very good at his job. He started by making backgrounds on the fly and let himself be guided only by his imagination. He often used complementary colors in the backgrounds and dry-painted to achieve sunset tints, then began filling the landscape with trees and other natural subjects without planning anything. It's a great way to start practicing on canvas
Part 3 of 4: Painting Pictures
Step 1. Start painting your subject, without worrying about mistakes
Just start gently, using a little color on the brush, to start drawing the first shapes. If you paint according to your imagination, let the color create the shapes and follow them. If you've made the background and already sketched out a subject, you can start overlapping colors and shapes to create a sense of space.
- In the beginning you will have to work hard to make the two-dimensional surface more dynamic and three-dimensional.
- Create perspective by giving the right space to objects. If the objects are all at the same distance and have the same shape, they will appear flat on paper, not dynamic. The elements found in the front of the painting should be larger than those found in the back.
- Some painters use a very particular technique to examine them: they turn them upside down. The mind visualizes a symbolic image of your painting. In your mind you know what an apple is, so you will tend to draw your version, not what is in front of you. Looking at the context from another point of view, you can see the shapes for what they are, rather than symbols.
Step 2. Add some chiaroscuro
Identify the light source and shadows to begin adding depth to the design. Start by applying light colors and gradually create darker tones instead of doing the opposite. It is much easier to darken a color than to lighten it. Don't overdo it, mix small amounts of paint as you paint, adding color slowly and judiciously.
Step 3. Use the brush to give texture to the image
Vary the amount of color on the brush and the type of stroke to achieve different textures. To achieve a fur-like effect you can use quick, small taps, while smoother, longer strokes can flatten the images. If you use a little paint, you will be able to "age" the subject, while if you use a lot of it you risk thickening the lines and creating density.
Don't worry if you mess it up by putting too much color on one part of the painting. Accept these little "happy mistakes" and integrate them into your painting. Don't waste too much time covering them, leave them alone and check them back at the last minute to see if they fit into the composition. Keep moving forward
Step 4. Work on one thing at a time
It is always best to focus on one part of the painting at a time and complete it before moving on, but it is not a fixed rule, feel free to do as you please. Some painters move across the page, painting several areas at a time, depending on the shapes and subjects. It all depends on you.
It is also often important to step back and look at the image in its entirety. Pay attention to how your emotions affect the overall composition and the painting itself
Step 5. Make the painting move
You must force the viewer's eyes to look at the painting, even if it is a pile of books or a bowl of oranges. Every element, from the composition to the use of color, must be varied and consistent, but these are things that are learned with time and practice.
If you think your image is flat, you can try studying color theory to get a more detailed idea of the use of color
Step 6. Be persevering
Art is serious business! Don't be discouraged at first. Now that you have all the material and the space is ready, you can experiment by painting different subjects, continuing to improve your skills. Try to vary between painting techniques, or paint the same subjects with different techniques. Keep churning out masterpieces.
Part 4 of 4: Choosing the Subject
Step 1. Paint a landscape
It is one of the most classic and loved subjects, great for testing your skills and for appreciating nature. Landscapes have perspectives and depth, find a corner of nature and capture it on the canvas. They are the reason for living of some painters.
- You don't have to live at the foot of a mountain or in the middle of the desert to paint a beautiful landscape. Go to the garden and look for a good corner of the tool shed or a nearby field to find an interesting perspective to make your landscape.
- Landscapes became very famous thanks to the rise of Transcendentalism and Naturalism in the 1800s, although painting the exterior is an idea that has been going on since the Minoan civilization. Nowadays human intervention is found in landscapes, roads, posters, even cars.
Step 2. Paint a portrait
Look for an animal or human subject, light it well and place it in front of a white background to study its shapes. You can use the pencil to bring all the details, otherwise you can practice a more impressionist approach and try to capture the essence of the subject, without making a perfect representation.
- The most important thing about portraits is the details, some of the most famous Renaissance artists had to learn to engrave and work gold to learn how to work on details. But remember that there is no wrong way to paint.
- Study the art of live drawing to learn how to capture human forms with the right proportions and give them a sense of movement. Consider working on photos to avoid having to sit still for several hours a day. Or do it the old fashioned way, ask him to sit down and offer him a glass of wine with some classical music to make him feel relaxed.
- Self-portraits are also very common, they can be a good ground to explore. Take a mirror and paint what you see. Look for your inner Rembrandt.
Step 3. Paint still lifes
Take different objects and put them on a table to study and paint them. You can choose what you prefer: flowers, fruits and vegetables, toys. Do you. Create an aesthetically pleasing composition on the table, with enough light to allow objects to cast shadows and create depth, then get to work.
Classical still lifes have a number of symbolic themes and traditions; a certain arrangement of cutlery can represent complex metaphors, called vanitas, Latin for "vanity". Particular compositions of flowers and food often represent the fleeting and ephemeral nature of life, mortality, while the more abundant forms represent health. In some cultures, crops are represented to celebrate work and agriculture
Step 4. Paint in a musical way
Break the rules. Paint abstract-expressionist paintings. Put some jazz in the mp3 player and paint what you hear, mixing colors on the fly. It graphically represents sounds and captures other types of abstractions in the form of color.
