Home › Forums › Explore Media › Acrylics › Help Painting basics
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February 20, 2018 at 10:07 pm #451711
I’m looking for basic tips, pointers and what not for someone with zero painting experience. Apologies if this was already a thread, I searched but could not find it. Is there a list of basic tips for painting, like a painting 101? I’ve been looking through random websites and have a very short list of basics for paintings. Examples I can think of:
1.Work from the background to the foreground, start with your sky and work your way way towards the front and then to go the fine details for last.
2.Don’t use some random grey or black with white, instead use complimentary colors to make a grey shade…
3.techniques to try like palette knife painting vs brush work…
any other tips, pointers, etc for newbies like myself? Even if it’s just subjects or ideas to research on your own?February 20, 2018 at 10:52 pm #569572Visit willkempartschool.com. Look at all the free videos.
Mr. Kemp is a cheerful guy with a simple approach, just what you need right now.
Stay away from people who have their own paint brand or brushes to sell.
Listen to and watch people who focus on teaching you how to look at the world so you can paint it. If you’ve never done any drawing, you don’t know how.
Listen to and watch people who teach you how to look at shapes.
Avoid the ‘here’s how to paint a bird/flower/landscape/sunset’ videos. If you know how to look at things you can do all that stuff.
There are no rules, but the laws of optics and the way we see things suggest there are easier ways to do things. For example, did you know the sky is lighter near the horizon, all things being equal?
A painting is never really done as long as I can get my hands on it.
February 21, 2018 at 12:09 pm #569567Welcome to the forum and ….
there’s a wealth of information in the Information Kiosk here
There’s a ‘Tips’ thread hereThe points you make in your first post are good :thumbsup:
With acrylics, keep brushes free of paint when not in use – even for a short time – acrylics kill brushes!!
Keep a mister/sprayer handy to keep paint moist – in palette and on canvas unless you need it to dry fast …..
which it does! …. layers dry quickly!In the Information Kiosk there are lots of Classroom threads to help you with a variety of things.
There are also Paint-a-Long threads where people learnt how to do various techniques etc.For any kind of art work, the most important thing is to learn how to LOOK and SEE – observation!
Draw things – anything – and use more time looking at the subject than at the paper – train the eye.:)Also – it should be fun – so set materials up and just enjoy putting paint on brush and brush to paper/canvas – you are about to build a vocabulary of mark-making – experiment, learn, enjoy!:)
Cheers, Maureen
Forum projects: Plant Parade projects in the Florals/Botanicals forum , WDE in the All Media Art Events , Different Strokes in Acrylics forum .February 21, 2018 at 1:00 pm #569569Welcome to WC!
Read and watch videos on here and on the web.
The most important thing is to draw and paint.
The first ones will not be good….they are not supposed to be!
With practice and experience you will get better.
You’ll find you own style and methods, what works for someone else might not be the best for you.
If you post on here and want advice post with C&C welcome.
Always remember each artwork is practice for the next one!
Dianna WC! Guide: Fantasy/Sci-Fi Art
C and C always welcome.
My DeviantArt GalleryFebruary 21, 2018 at 1:24 pm #569568I really suggest Jerry Yarnell on you tube , he has beginner videos and really does a good job or showing & explaining things..
https://www.google.com/search?q=Jerry+Yarnell+beginner+on+youtube&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8No need to buy brushes or products suggested by any artist, but look at what they use and find similar ones online or at art stores..
~Joy~
February 22, 2018 at 11:33 am #569573Welcome to WC…
I would suggest to learn the general concepts first. To do this I found it quite important to learn how to draw rather than how to paint. Most of these knowledge is acquired through practice and experience and applies to all media (Graphite,charcoal,pastels, color pencils,watercolors,acrylics, oils… you name it).
When you study drawing basics you can learn about:
Shapes and figure
perspective
light and shadow
volume and size
textures of different materials
blending
edges and transition
composition
movement
focal points and horizon
subject enhancement
contrast
proportionfor painting additionally you need:
color theory
color mixingYou can apply them by specialization by subject: portraits,still life, landscapes, Wildlife art… etc
and then some specifics depending on the media you use…
Materials: paints,supports, brushes, mediums,varnishes… etc
Techniques: fluid, glazing,impasto, knife, brush, airbrush, watercolor….My point is when you have a solid base (Drawing) you’ll have excellent results painting in any media.
And the good news after all my listing is that you can find each and every one of those in the classroom here.
EnjoyFederico Garcia
My Blog
C&C always welcome
"...when someone gives a critique of your work, fear not. It usually means they like or care more of your work than when they just pat your back." - Tiago
February 24, 2018 at 8:50 pm #5695701.Work from the background to the foreground, start with your sky and work your way way towards the front and then to go the fine details for last.
Eh, you can work any old way. It’s acrylic paint, you can cover things up with it if you want. You will acquire experience and will eventually just exercise judgment about which direction you want to work on things. There is no “right way”.
2.Don’t use some random grey or black with white, instead use complimentary colors to make a grey shade…
I dunno, you could learn a lot by inserting randomness into your painting. But the antidote for random isn’t compelmentary colors, it’s being NON-RANDOM. You might try mixing black and white in some proportion, then adding a color to it. That way, you are not wasting valuable expensive pigments just to make a grey. I figure mixing cobalt blue and cadmium orange together on the canvas and having grey results somewhere, is fine. But I sure as heck am not going to sit around mixing those on a palette, I’d be out $10 a tube in no time!
3.techniques to try like palette knife painting vs brush work…
Yep, try them. Do entire paintings with only a palette knife. Helps if you are painting more abstractly, but that’s not a hard requirement.
any other tips, pointers, etc for newbies like myself? Even if it’s just subjects or ideas to research on your own?
Stefan Kalapishev has lots of great videos that have plenty of good advice for beginners. Of course he’s doing oils ala prima, but I think the rapidity of his technique is highly applicable to acrylics. And he talks a lot about the stress of being an artist, the uncertainties, how to overcome that. Very good stuff for any artist to hear, certainly would help a beginner.
March 8, 2018 at 9:38 pm #569571Thanks for all the advice everyone! 🙂
March 8, 2018 at 11:45 pm #5695741. Working from far to near is a good idea. Value is the most important aspect get the darks and lights right and then worry about color. Also starting on the dark areas give shape to something quickly. White is a very powerful color. Try to work in dark colors without using it.
2. Colors are colors. How you mix them to achieve a color doesn’t really matter much. Premixed greys are good sometimes because you have the value already you just need to add color. Complimentary colors are good if you have a color that is to strong and needs to be toned down. If you just add premixed grey when you need to tone a color it can push the color in the wrong way. As black and white both push colors towards green and purple.
3. I like watching lachri fine art on youtube. She has the best tutorials. Also a live stream once a week. Shes really gabby so it’s like hittinng fast forward on art education. Most informative vids I’ve seen on acrylic.
Check out my work in the acrylics Hall of Fame Camellia WIP
oil and acrylic paintings..
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