Children can draw and paint before they are able to speak and anybody can still draw and paint even if they have lost many other abilities. We can express ourselves through art naturally. It is just so that when kids grow up they frequently get engaged in devices and digital devices, as well as they believe there is no more time for art.
Brain fitness
The comparative research in brain fitness and memory boosting activities clearly showed that doing manual observational drawing and painting 2 times a week for a few hours grew the most new brain neurons and wired the brain in the way that it was much more active than with any other activities. Drawing and painting were compared with reading, writing poetry or fiction, researching internet and writing down discovered things, doing mind games and crosswords.
Outstanding visual memory and decision making
My personal experience is that observational drawing develops extremely good visual memory, not simply good and flexible memory, but outstanding memory which does not worsen over time and with age. Drawing and painting boost attention and focusing ability to a high degree, and most importantly, one becomes master decision maker because that is what drawing and painting is. Every single brushstroke and line is based on numerous decisions. At least, it should be. The memory improvement occurs when we absorb the subject visually, and our brain sends a signal to the hand with brush or pencil . That is also active brain exercising.
Style, decisions and originality
Curiosity and necessity are frequently the main driving forces of discoveries. Creativity is the base for any solution we find along the way. Since anything we create must originate in our personal perception and be based on our own decisions, one cannot ever learn drawing or painting by watching somebody else do it. As they paint or draw they make decisions which we are unaware of.
Be curious explorer
I have noticed the following. Most people who are about to attend art classes have new art supplies: new paint tubes, new sets of paints, new brushes and new paper and canvas. Everything is unopened and not used. The first time they open their paint tubes is in the classroom, therefore, nobody knows what their paints and brushes are like. It seems surprising to me. How do you know now what that particular paint or brush will do? We should start with exploring what we have.
Quality or lack of it
We have numerous art supply manufacturing brands nowadays. Some are fine, but some sell such bad quality paints, brushes or paper that it is hardly possible to use them. Just like with many other products, art supplies often will be: “you get what you pay for”. That is why you should always test everything.
Curious as a kid
Look at kids what they do with a new box of paints, pencils, markers or crayons! They open it as soon as they can and start using immediately. Kids are curious and they are creative naturally. What is stopping adults? It is hard to say, but they should try being as curious and as creative with their new art supplies.
Testing art supplies
I am strictly advising: test every color, test every brush, test every paper and canvas. Do it before the class. Open every tube and paint some areas with every paint color in your set. At first, we do this using each color separately. For watercolor, we add more water, then less water to see what range of tones each particular color gives. For acrylic, use a small bit of water and wash the brush with warm water and soap afterwards.
Testing two colors
Next step is to test two colors together, for instance, every other color with blue, then every other color with yellow, then every other color with red. Larger sets will have many blue colors, many red colors and at least 3 to 4 yellow colors. That gives you numerous shades and transitional colors. That will also allow seeing what exactly you have. Be curious, be creative and that will allow you to start out easier.
Creating your own color swatches
It is not important to use any color charts or wheels, but it is important to know what the colors you have are and how they behave when mixed. Create color swatches from all tubes you have. Add to mixed color swatches. That way you know what you have, what it looks like and whether it is worth using it.
Testing watercolor paper
It is very useful to test the watercolor paper, as well. We will have different results with different paper. Some papers buckle a lot and some won’t allow applying more than 2 washes. You need to know what your paper does when using water on it. Brushes are also not the same. If you test your brush and it absolutely does not perform, it is quite clear that you’d need a different brush. We only use 2 brushes for either watercolor or acrylic at the beginning.
Some of 2018 watercolors
Being curious and being creative will make art happen
Being curious and being creative is always helpful when doing art. It is so much better to discover your own favorite colors and color mixes than to just blindly follow some rules, charts or somebody else’s favorites. Be the creator of your own style. I am personally against rules in art. We need at least some areas in our life which are free of strict regulations and rules. Art can be that area if you give your imagination space.
It is New Year. Maybe you have lots of new art supplies. Don’t wait to explore them. Always be curious and be creative, try them now. Thanks for reading!
We do not need a lot of acrylic painting supplies to start painting, so, keep the list short and get things you do not have yet as you go.
Brushes
1 flat brush, soft, synthetic for either watercolor or acrylic painting, ¾ inch wide; or about the same size Filbert brush (it is flat with rounded corners). 1 small soft watercolor or acrylic brush, size 4-6 round, fan brush for oil painting (rough bristles). If fan brush with rough bristles is not available, get simple wall/window painting brush, 1-1.5 inch wide. We will cut it out with scissors, so that it can do more. I will show how. We can use Filbert brushes (slightly rounded edges) in small to medium sizes also.
Canvas
We use 16 x 20” canvas for regular classes and 16 x 12″ canvas for 1 day workshops. If you believe you are rather slow with brushing paint, the smallest size is 12 x 16 in. However, painting larger is easier. You will need to paint your canvas in medium dark grey or brown color before you come to class. The edges of canvas need to be covered with one layer of paint as well. That helps creating better art much faster.
Acrylic paints
The best acrylic paints for beginners are AMSTERDAM students’ grade or Liquitex Basics students’ grade paints. Artist’s Loft (Michael’s brand) will work, as well, but it doesn’t mix well with paints of other brands (curdles).
The best is to get a professional grade Titanium white and two yellow colors: one lemon yellow and the other cadmium medium yellow or similar warm yellow. White and yellow are very weak colors in any students’ grade paints. I’d not advise to get a paint set, but rather separate tubes because we use white and yellow much more than other colors. You do not need any green color..
Short list of acrylic paint colors:
You will need 6 basic colors to get started:
White: Titanium white, required more than other colors
Black: Lamp black, Mars black
Red: 1 warm red (more orange red) and 1 cold red (more purple)
Cadmium medium red, Primary magenta, Crimson pyrrole, Carmine red, Crimson lake, Carmine lake, Naphthol red medium or similar, whatever red the brand you want to use has.
Hansa or Lemon yellow (cold yellow) and Cadmium yellow medium, Brilliant yellow, Azo yellow medium (warm yellow)., 2 yellow shades are important for color mixing. If you have just one, please, choose medium yellow (warmer).
Blue: Brilliant blue, Prussian blue and/or Cobalt blue, having at least 1 blue is very important
Artist grade paints have more pigment and less fillers and binders. If you would like to use artist’s grade paints, I would advise Liquitex heavy body, Graham (satisfactory quality, not that great tubes) or Golden (also tough to open tubes).
Additional acrylic paint colors:
You can get them gradually when you know what you need more.
Ocher: yellow ocher or golden ocher
Red-brown: Burnt sienna
Warm dark brown: Burnt umber
Blue: Ultramarine blue, Cerulean blue
Dark grey: Payne’s grey
Additional supplies: white plastic disposable plates (it is important plate is white). Do not use mixing papers or tiny palettes which are not suitable for mixing wet paint. I will not accept them for art classes. Mixing paper does not work with many acrylic paint applications, especially fan brush and sponge.
At least 10 sheets of paper towel per class. It is very important you use paper towel, it is not possible to paint without cleaning your brush frequently.
We use pre-painted canvas so that painting is much easier.
Additional supplies for easing the painting process
Plastic knife
Seaweed sponge or silk sponge
Slow-drying medium and blending medium, as well as modeling paste are useful, but we use them only for certain projects and get by with water. I have my own blending medium which I create from 3 components, I will show how.
It is better to have fewer acrylic painting supplies and better quality supplies. It is recommended to get paints at the art store. Artisan liquid paints from the Dollarama absolutely do not work.
You can expect a lot of learning; a lot of practicing and you will definitely find out something which you did not know before if you would like to paint with me. I take a lot of pride in boosting one’s creativity as opposed to mechanical copying and using paint without any knowledge. Along with nature watercolor and acrylic painting, fall art classes will be an ongoing journey into creativity, and hopefully result in some students mastering watercolor.
Nature art: a wonderful opportunity
Our eyes best notice what is around us if we focus, pay attention and observe. Fall colors are intense and make any composition look impressive. We have created numerous fall watercolors before, and they always came out nice. Acrylic definitely is a very suitable medium for depicting fall scenes, especially with grey and blue colors of sky.
Democratic nature of art
This season, fall art classes are designed to better suit teens 13+ years, and the evening group is for any age adults and youth. Art is very democratic: one works on their own canvas or paper, and nobody cares whether you have experience or not. Art classes are for learning. If you have never painted before, allow this skill some time to develop.
Online versus live art classes
When you are sitting on one side of screen, nobody can check or see how exactly you are applying the advice or tip. In a live art class, the instructor can see right away whether the paint is too wet, too dry, student uses too little of paint or there is way too much of it. The instructor can see right away who understood the technique and who is struggling with it.
Inese’s Art Studio has new location
Inese’s Art Studio has moved to Ajax at the beginning of August. It is a beautiful place with indoor and outdoor painting opportunities. Its location is perfect since it is quite central, but offers fantastic nature all around. I hope you will sign up and enjoy our fall art classes.
Schedule, registration and more info about art classes: Sign up here
It’s probably a good reason for many to participate in World Watercolor Month and share the joy of creating art and using watercolor. Isn’t that great that it has become a tradition already? I read that it started only in 2016, and I believe many people are extra excited about that. I cannot post every day, but I am certainly happy to contribute at least some images and posts.
Manual abilities still matter
While we are swiftly becoming a digital and virtual society which uses devices and apps for everything, there are some things we should not delegate to devices. It’s in our favor to maintain ability to write and draw manually. Manual drawing and painting are extremely rewarding activities which not only make one happy and less stressed , but result in enjoyable art.
My current subjects: summer and nature
Nothing is better than nature, outdoors, gardens, flowers, growing vegetables in the summer. Nature is always genuine and honest. There is no pretense or flirting; that is the most real beauty we can have. I can draw and paint anything, but I have to admit that nature is the richest resource for any goal, any intention, anything in art. Therefore, while teaching and creating art I am teaching people to also love, appreciate and take care of this wonderful resource. Everything is connected. We can only harvest what we have planted.
The dreamy purple of summer pansies
Please, have a look and get inspired by my most recent watercolor project: The dreamy purple of summer pansies. I have posted 3 steps, but the first step is actually to transfer the drawing or draw with very light lines on watercolor paper. I used Saunders-Waterford watercolor paper, but medium to heavy Arches would serve better. The size is quite serious in order to capture flow of lines and shifts of color better.
The dreamy purple of pansies, step 1, painting in first layers on flowers and leaves, identifying the subject and composition
The dreamy purple of pansies, step 2, painting around the flowers and adding more layers on blossoms
The dreamy purple of pansies, step 3, adding more layers on flowers and defining more the background
The dreamy purple of pansies, step 3, adding more layers on flowers and defining more the background
Join us, create with watercolor
I know how excellent it is when one can use watercolor or pen and watercolor: it can easily become an obsession. If you were always attracted to watercolor, but are not completely sure what and how to paint, you are very welcome to join our watercolor summer painting sessions. Summer is the time to go out and paint nature. Enjoy the summer, get brushes and paint sets, and let us paint!
