I wish summer stayed with us longer
Summer days are running away so fast that it is pretty clear: this summer is pretty much gone. It is certainly the best time to grab our paint box, some paper, pencil or brush and go outside. The weather isn’t too friendly in Ontario this year. I cannot recall so many heat waves and so many days without a drop of rain while I have been living in Canada. My mornings are spent at a clinic, afternoons – trying to get back in shape, but painting helps staying well.
What to start with?
When people ask me what they should start painting or drawing with, my answer is very simple: draw and paint anything around you. There is nothing better than drawing from real subjects and real places. Once you get used to it, you will notice how everything is more vibrant and more realistic when we paint from life.
Use real reference materials whenever possible
Lots of instructions start with: take a picture. I would love to say, however, do not take any pictures, but set up a still life or do a reference sketch. If it is a large work and you are afraid you’d forget the scene, you might also take a reference picture. The problem is that most people want to copy their reference photo instead of just using it. I might sound like an old vinyl, but it’s so silly to copy the photo and then pretend you painted it from scratch.
Chickadee in summer shade, watercolor, 12 x 16 inches or 30.5 x 41 cm
That’s why we have eyes and brain; we are supposed to use them as intensively as possible.
If you can draw, you can draw anything
The next thing which matters is this: once you learn drawing, you are able to draw anything. This happens because you have perfected your visual perception, developed eye-hand coordination and your hand starts perceiving impulses from your brain. Drawing happens as if on its own, and all we have to do is relax and observe.
The backyard, 12 x 16 inches or 30.5 x 41 cm
Create your personal color palette
Is it important to stick with colors which somebody else is using? Not at all. It is much better to explore and develop your personal color combinations. I also find that paints of different brands act very differently. My favorite watercolor paints are St. Petersburg artist grade paints. I haven’t seen any other paints which have such transparency and allow mixing up all sorts of colors easy. It is almost impossible to get a dull painting with these paints. The secret is the natural and pure pigments they use as opposed to many paint manufacturers which cheat and replace pigments with fillers and binders. That means chemicals which do not enhance color or its purity.
Important art supplies
I usually use just one large round size 12-14 brush and one size 6 round brush for any up to 20 x 24 in watercolor painting. Along with paints and brushes, an extremely important part for watercolor painting is paper. When I am asking my students, why they are using this really thin and bad paper, they’d normally answer: they are just learning and it’s not worth to spend money on a good thick paper. This is a wrong assumption. Every paper acts differently. The thinner and lighter papers do not even absorb paint. It floats on the surface and creates ugly marks. It is also quite easy to lift paint, but not that easy to add more. My favorite paper is Arches. However, paint keeps traveling through layers of paper even quite a while after paint application. I am using other heavy, cold press papers also.
My lovely old fence post, watercolor 12 x 16 inches or 30.5 x 41 cm
Use good art supplies for practice
If you practice on a bad paper, you won’t know how much easier it is to paint on a good paper. Watercolor paper is definitely the most important part of all supplies for watercolor painting. I haven’t done much recently because I am trying to recover. It’s already a month after surgery, but it seems like I will need more time.
The current Life school blog post tells a story about the ugly side of success and how this can destroy lives: The ugly side of success
Support is always much appreciated
I would appreciate a purchase of any of my original paintings. After such a long period of being out of work, any support would mean a lot. I can certainly offer very good deals on originals; but prints and other products on Fine Art America site are inexpensive anyway. Since people rarely read these posts, this might go unnoticed, but anyway, I hope I can get something sold. Big thank you goes to 3 ladies, who bought 5 watercolor paintings!
My art prints and artistic products on Fine Art America: