5 Useful Tips for Novice Painters
Whether you are taking up a new hobby or you want to work on your talent, painting is a great choice because it will encourage creativity. Whatever your job is, be sure that this hobby will boost your productivity and put you in a better mood.
If you went to the store and were devastated when you saw how many choices there are, know that you are not alone. There are many kinds of brushes, painting surfaces, and other painting materials, and to make the choice even more difficult, there are lots of different brands.
Read on to find out what materials you need to start the recommended beginners’ acrylic technique, and how you should start — so you don’t wind up staring at a blank canvas for hours.
1. Start with acrylic painting
The acrylic is suggested for novice painters because it is easier to paint with — it’s water-based, dries fast, and it’s durable. When painting, if you don’t like something, then you can just paint over it. Also, it can be used on any surface — just make sure there is no oil or wax on it. Since it dries fast, acrylic paint offers many advantages, but this also means that you need to use a paint mister and water.
While painting, the paint will slowly dry out on your palette. To prevent this, you need to have a paint mister to moist the paint with. Moreover, while painting, it will slowly dry on the canvas and you won’t be able to work with it anymore. So, spray some water on the canvas or any other surface you are using so that you can finish your painting as you wanted. This will also enable you to achieve different effects.
Get the most out of acrylic by practicing layering, as this enables you to paint over previous layers.
2. Basics tips for painting tools
You won’t immediately become one with your brush, and you need time to learn how to maneuver it around, but if you practice consistently, it will happen faster than you think. The biggest problem for all novice painters is that they don’t know which brush to choose and how many of them they will need. So, let’s go through some basics first.
There are 8 types of brushes you will need at the beginning: round, flat, detail round, pointed round, bright, fan, angular flat, and filbert.
Each brush has a different use, so you should get familiar with all of them. For example, a round brush is good for sketching and detail work, while detail round will enable you to work on short strokes. The pointed round is perfect for lines, retouching and spotting.
Because paint can dry on the brush, you will need to keep your brush wet. When changing colors, make sure you clean the brush in some water.
3. Start with thick paper, then switch to canvas
Another advantage of starting with acrylic is the variety of paint surfaces available to you. Because it doesn’t have oil, acrylic won’t ruin any surface, so you can use wood, boards, glass, canvas, and thick paper.
When trying out painting for the first time, it is better to start with thick paper and experiment with brushes. Try them all to see what kind of shapes you can make, and practice by painting different shapes. After some time, you’ll get used to holding the brushes, so you won’t have to think about how you hold them and they won’t slip from your hand. When you become one with your brushes, you can start working on your first painting on canvas.
Before you start expressing your creativity through art, learn to paint different inanimate objects, which you will easily achieve by watching tutorials. There are many easy canvas painting ideas online, and they’ll certainly teach you some basic techniques and help you practice. From learning how to paint a galaxy to painting flowers, many of them are just well-practiced techniques. However, later on you will start painting your own way and leave a signature in each one of your paintings.
4. Maintenance tips for tools
Brushes are your main tools, and you need to clean them properly before you can use them again. If your brushes are new and expensive, you don’t want to waste your money and constantly buy new ones. Forgetting to clean a brush after acrylic painting means buying a new brush.
When changing a color while painting, you just need to clean your brush with water. However, when you are finished painting, clean it with soap and water. There are many brush cleaners used for a thorough clean, so choose one that suits your budget. As you are a beginner, don’t waste money on expensive brands. Instead, opt for cheaper brands that offer decent quality at affordable prices.
Don’t ever put the brush tip down, as you will deform the brush and end up having to trash it. Also, cleaning and maintenance of brushes depends on the technique you are using.
5. Your environment should inspire creativity
The room you are painting in should invoke your creativity and inspire you to achieve your vision. Novices usually think that talented painters start painting and things just come to their minds. However, it’s not like that. They also need to think about the composition of the painting, the techniques and colors they are going to use, and they need to practice creating different elements of the painting.
Only when they have a clear image in their heads can they go with the flow. There is a lot more preparation and careful planning involved in painting than people realize.
When painting indoors, factors affecting your productivity and creativity can be a lack of light in the room, the temperature being too high or too low, there can be many items scattered throughout the room, noisy gadgets, and so on. So, get rid of everything that distracts you, pick the room you feel good in, and evoke your creativity.
As a novice painter, you’ll start with acrylic and learn how to use the brush to bring your ideas to life. Don’t expect to paint your masterpiece immediately. You’ll start with different shapes and watch different tutorials, which will help you paint some objects. Later on, when you learn what you can do with each brush, you will be able to paint a picture that will reflect your imagination and the world inside your head.
Featured photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/melissa_xx/ via flickr.com
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