Tag: First Painting

How to get Started with Painting

I got a lot of requests from friends who want to learn painting and do not know the a, b, c of painting, for help. I’m going to help you get started.

First you need a surface to paint on. Canvas is the easiest to start with. Now the basic kinds of canvas you need to know about to get started are

  1. A canvas Board and
  2. A stretched canvas

for beginners. I recommend starting with a canvas board. Buy a small size canvas board to begin with, maybe a size 10×12 inches.

A canvas board is canvas stuck on a hardboard base.

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Canvas Board

A Stretched canvas is canvas stretched over a frame and stapled at the back or side of the frame.

3D_Schildersdoek
Stretched Canvas

 

Next you need paints. I recommend buying a set of 12 Camel Students Acrylics 20ml tubes and the same in Oil.(this is for Indians, others can buy any basic set of student grade paints available)

w_3_0009365_camel-students-oil-colours-set-20ml-x-12-shades

You will also need a paint palette and a palette knife for mixing paints.

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You will need brushes so I recommend buying a set of round and a set of flat brushes. A set usually includes sizes 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12. Make sure you buy taklon bristle brushes. You will need rags or a soft cotton cloth to wipe paint off your brushes before you wash them. You could also use kitchen paper towels.

Some turpentine to wash the brushes is the next thing on the list if you’re working with oil paint. I also used kerosene in place of turpentine only because I had some at home. Don’t forget to wash the brushes with soap after turpentine.  Water is enough to wash the paintbrushes if you’re working with acrylic paints and then a little soap too.

One last thing, don’t bring your worries to your canvas. Bring a lot of patience and just have fun.

TIP: Don’t eat while you’re painting especially when you’re working with oil paints.

So, there you are all ready to get started.

If you have any queries or any other topic you would like to know, please mention it in the comments below. Don’t forget to subscribe, you’ll find the subscribe button on the sidebar and the social media links below.

Until next time….

How I made my first painting.

Now that you know why I made my first painting, Let me tell you how I made it. The morning after I bought my first canvas, I waited until I finished my chores. Then I got to wonder, what shall I paint?

Hmm, that’s one big question. Well, I decided to Google painting pictures. Boy was I overwhelmed! Since I didn’t like to draw, I decided to go for something abstract; an abstract tree. I had enough sense to know that I cannot do it all at once since it is oil paint that I was working with. So I got started with the background. Blending colors on canvas was fun, and it came to me naturally. Wait, how did I know how to do that? I guess something good came out of watching my mom paint (besides the beautiful curtains). But then came the tricky part, making the tree. My husband Pascal came back home that afternoon and asked, ‘Are you done?’ Not even close, I said. I’ll draw the tree tomorrow.

Pascal is constant encouragement. He loved the background and said leave it like that. It is beautiful.

Come on, I know better than to believe that.

I wanted the tree to be perfect. But how? I took a thick sheet of paper the next day and drew an awesome looking tree.  Then I took a blade and cut it out like a stencil. Yeah, that was a lot of work.  And I was all prepared to transfer it onto the background when I touched the canvas and realized that it wasn’t dry. I smudged the background a bit, oops!  I then found out (thanks to Google again), that it takes four days to a week to dry. I waited and then once it was dry I made the tree. Believe me when I say stenciling oil paint isn’t an easy task. I finally ended up drawing the tree free hand. Getting rid of the oil from the brushes was a whole other task. I actually thought I had to wipe it off with a rag. Hmm, can you imagine that I dint know about a magic potion named ‘Turpentine’. Oh, the many number of paint brushes I’ve destroyed.

Voila! My very first painting.

tree

Do let me know what you think in the comments below.

And yes, I still get to see the painting whenever I want to. I gifted it to my parents.

More about my experiences in the next blog post.