Artistic Advice - for the novice or the expert

I’ve seen a lot as a part-time paint instructor and assistant. And I’ve learned a lot having minored in art at TCU. So I will now proceed to share with you little kernels of my artistic wisdom. Prepare yourself.

1) Over-thinking ruins everything

If you’re sitting in front of (or hovering over) your canvas, direly afraid of messing up; you will mess up. Art is instinctual and emotional (unless you are working in a geometric, grid-like or mathematical way). And therefore you must think first with your heart and then with your head (if at all).

The less of a crap you give – the better your painting will be. You shouldn’t take things too seriously – even if you mess up. There has been many a time where my screw-ups turned into the best part of my painting.

As a painting and art instructor I’ve noticed that it’s when people “lose themselves” in the painting and stop worrying about it so much that they create something great.

2) Acrylic vs. Oil

If you’re looking for a paint that won’t stain everything, you’re out of luck! But that’s not the point!

If you’re just starting out, start with acrylic paint. If you want to venture into oils, I would highly recommend taking a class.

Oil takes longer to dry, giving you the ability to come back and re-work any recent (within a couple of days) area of your painting. The reason I suggest taking a class is because there’s a lot to learn with oils like – what is turpentine? Is scumbling a real word? You mean chiaroscuro isn’t a type of burrito? Is linseed oil the stuff on my Lay’s potato chips? Can you eat egg tempera? (No you can’t. It’s tempura that’s edible)

There are just a lot of techniques and things that can enhance your painting that you should learn before diving into oils.  This site has a good reference of terms for oil painting: http://willkempartschool.com/glossary-for-oil-painting-terms-the-essential-guide-for-beginners/

3) Don’t take it personally

Everyone feels equipped to judge art – whether they are qualified or not. Learn how to take criticism (constructive or otherwise). Your paintings are not precious gems – they are living things that can always change. If you treat it like a delicate rose, you’ll never explore and experiment and find out what really works.

Once in college they had us work for TWO WEEKS on a painting just to flip it upside-down and PAINT OVER IT. The point: don’t be afraid to do crazy things, it might turn out crazy good.

4) Don’t compare

Don’t compare yourself to masters or get so discouraged that you want to quit. There will always be someone better than you and there will always be someone worse than you.

(No seriously, this is a painting)

4.5) There is always an ugly phase

When painting a picture, there is almost ALWAYS an ugly phase that your painting will go through. Have faith that you will get through it and keep the end result vision in your head as motivation.

5) It’s expensive

Art ain’t cheap. My college painting class cost me $500. You can keep costs down by buying lower-grade products, but remember that you get what you pay for.

It’s pretty simple to shop for products. Brushes are usually “labeled” for acrylic or oil – as is paint. And the more expensive the item, the more likely it is that it’s a higher quality (or is just a recognizable name-brand (like Bob Ross)). Don’t buy the most expensive products right out of the gate, and don’t expect too much from your first paintings.  

6) This shit doesn’t wash out of clothes (or carpets, or furniture, or your cat) so be careful- put down a tarp, wear ugly overalls, and expect to end up with paint on your face at some point.

7) Study up

No one got great at what they do by being in a bubble. Go read some books, check out blogs and websites and take a couple of classes (preferably at Pinot’s Palette J). The more you know about art history, qualities of the paint, the nuances of color, techniques, facts, different types of art, and see what’s in museums – the better your art will be. Knowledge is power people!