My Favourite Brushes
I mention my brushes often but I don't always show what they look like. I wrote a section a while ago on how to purchase brushes if you are learning to paint; this is a more in-depth discussion about the specific brushes I recommend for intermediate painters.
There are many shapes and bristle types out there—I found a good online summary here. Contrary to what you might think, you really don't need very many brushes. Once you figure out what sizes you like, you will probably find yourself just using a few brushes over and over again. I'm a fan of synthetic bristles whenever possible, as they are usually cheaper and perform as well or nearly as well as their less animal-friendly counterparts.
Studio Furniture and Easels
If you're getting serious about painting and have room to set up a semi-permanent studio, these are the things I recommend for dealing with small spaces, on a budget. If you paint often and for long periods of time, you'll need to have good posture in your studio to prevent stress injuries. I don't have any training in ergonomics, but I paint every day and I had to make some adjustments to my painting habits to prevent muscle strain. This is what worked for me:
Read the rest of this post...Blending Colors on your Palette
This is a quick demonstration of my color blending method, and how you can use it to mix shades if you're learning how to paint. Beginners have a tendency to overmix their paint and work from a few pre-mixed shades, resulting in flat colors and paint-by-number paintings. This is my technique for making a wide variety of shades very quickly as you work.
To start, put dabs of paint on your palette a few centimeters apart. Try to distribute the paint so that the colors you'll be mixing will be close to each other, but don't overthink it. Some artists use a circular arrangement of paint on the palette, I tend to just make a few groups of colors with some space in between. For the demo, I'm just using two colors, yellow and green.
Flying With Your Paints
One drawback of acrylic paints is the size and weight of the materials you need. Because watercolor paints can be transported dry, in a pan, you can carry a large set of colors for a fraction of the weight of paint that's in tubes. In addition, a block of paper takes up far less space than a stack of canvases, so watercolor has the clear advantage when space is an issue. My husband and I sometimes go on ultralight backpacking trips in the mountains, and on these trips I usually bring watercolors and leave my acrylics at home to save weight in my pack. However, most of the time I travel I prefer to bring my preferred medium, acrylic on canvas. This is my list of essentials for fitting everything in a carry-on suitcase.
Read the rest of this post...My Color Palette
This is a section on my standard color palette so that you can see what I'm talking about when I refer to the colors I'm using.
If you're just buying your first paints, read my section on the essential colors you need to get. It's better to start out with only a few colors, so you'll learn good mixing skills. As you add to your palette, you'll find that you prefer some shades over others. My preferred manufacturer, Golden, currently makes about 100 colors. I use about 20 in my standard palette.
Art Photography by Travis
I'm Kathryn's husband, Travis. My day-job is physics, but I'm also an amateur photographer. Since we got a digital SLR camera last year, I've done all the photography of Kathryn's finished paintings. (Kathryn takes the progress photos for her blog using a simple point-and-click digital camera, but large, high quality images are needed for prints.) There was a request a little while ago for information on how to take photos of paintings, so I'll explain my technique.
If your artwork is small, you can scan it using a flatbed scanner. However, for paintings bigger than 11x14", it's hard to find a scanner large enough, so photography is the best option.
Reading Paint Labels
I talk about transparency a lot on the blog, since it's a great way to do subtle color adjustments and luminous effects in your paintings. Some paints are better suited to transparent effects than others, due to the type of pigment used.
In general, student quality acrylic paints are not very transparent, since there is less pigment and more filler in the paint. This can be a good thing if you're painting over and correcting parts of your painting (a feature of acrylics that beginners love), but it can make it more difficult to do subtle adjustments without repainting.
High quality, professional acrylic paints have a neat packaging feature: the outside of the tube is hand-painted with a stroke of paint from that paint lot, so you can see exactly what you're dealing with. Here are some tubes of paint I bought last summer:
Paint Pigment Series
If you've been shopping for paint, you'll notice that intermediate and professional quality paints are priced by series. Student quality paint contains less pigment and is usually priced uniformly for all colors. The series number is based on the cost of the actual pigment that the paint is made from, with paints in Series 1 or 2 costing a fraction of those in Series 8 or 9.
Acrylic, watercolor and oil paints are made out of the same basic pigments, suspended in different binding media. It surprised me to learn that many paint colors are still made with natural, earth derived pigments. Depending on where the pigments come from and how they are processed, some are more costly than others to produce. There are a few synthetic versions of expensive colors, often called "hues," that are much cheaper but perform differently.
Gloss Medium and Mica Flake
I made a little study painting to illustrate two of my new favorite gel mediums, Heavy Gloss and Gold Mica Flake.
Here's the whole painting:
Thrifty Makeovers for Old Brushes
As you'll discover if you shop for brushes, there are a lot to choose from, and everyone has different preferences. It will take some trial and error to find out which ones work for you. If you have a good art supply store in your neighborhood and can afford to buy lots of brushes and experiment, great. However, if you're not in this position, these are some of my ideas for getting more mileage out of your brushes, and making specialty brushes out of old worn-out ones.
These modifications are probably not going to work as well as the real thing, but they should give you an idea of whether or not it's worth purchasing another brush. Please don't go and take your scissors to your nice new brushes. These are ideas for brushes you're ready to throw out anyways...
Planning Composition in Photoshop
This is a project I've been working on for quite a while and recently completed. The painting is for a set of Christmas cards, featuring the family dog, Duke, a yellow Lab.
Read the rest of this post...Acrylic Painting Outdoors
I've taken my easel on the road this weekend to enjoy some of the great weather in Yosemite. Here's a picture of my outdoor studio setup:
Phosphorescent Paint Color Test
After my day/night landscape painting from yesterday, I decided to try a range of colors of the new phosphorescent pigments. The pure powder pigment mixes with clear gel medium to form a semi-clear paint that can be applied on top of an existing painting for a neat glow effect at night.
One of my concerns with using phosphorescent paint is the bright neon colors. I like the idea of being able to put a secret nighttime scene into a painting, but I don't want my paintings to be garish or too unnatural looking. Second, since the pigments are not totally transparent, I wanted to see how the paint would look against dark surfaces, and if it would be very noticeable during the day.
Intermediate Must-Have Supplies
Most artists tend to acquire supplies as they go, starting with a few brushes and tubes of paint and working their way up as their time and budget permit. This is how I started, and I wrote a section for total beginners on what to get first when you can't get everything at once.
This is a list of extras which are not necessary for beginners, but are things I use every day as a professional artist and couldn't live without. I would recommend getting these things once you start buying professional quality paint.
Four Beginner Painter Mistakes
And I've made them all...
1) Staying in one place while you paint
You'll be surprised how much the viewer's distance from the painting will affect how it looks. What looks blocky and uneven at a working distance may look fine from a few meters away. Think about how far away your painting will be viewed, and check it periodically from that distance. Same goes for lighting: if your painting won't normally have a bright light shining on it, make sure you check it under the light conditions it will be displayed. I often take my half-finished paintings off the easel and hang them on the wall, then sit on the couch and have a snack while I make a mental list of what to correct.
What to Paint?
Most beginners strive to make their paintings look as "real" as possible. From my own mistakes, I know it's hard to know which subjects will be easy and which will be hard until you have a lot of experience. For your first few paintings, you'll want to choose something that will challenge you, but be easy enough to give you a good experience and a finished product you are encouraged by.
A lot of art teachers recommend starting with a familiar scene, like the view from your window, or a self-portrait. While these are things you'll have access to, I actually don't recommend this tactic. The more familiar you are with the way something should look, the more critical you'll be of your painting of it. For the first few paintings, you'll be busy enough getting used to the materials. Just have fun. When you're ready to choose a project, consider this advice:
When Your Painting Isn't Going Well
I find that with nearly every one of my paintings there is a point, usually near the beginning, where it just looks terrible and I want to throw it in the garbage and start over. I think this is a hurdle that a lot of new artists never get over, so I want to discuss what to do when you're at this point, and how to get through it.
By far the biggest part of knowing when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em is experience, of course. I had to struggle through a lot of paintings to know that this, or this:
Caring for your Supplies
Now that you've bought your paint and brushes, you'll want to make them last. Brushes in particular will last much longer if you care for them well. As a beginner, I had no idea how to look after my brushes and I wrecked a few of them out of inexperience. Here's what I recommend, based on my own trial and error:
Paint
Your paints don't need very much care. Just make sure you cap them tightly without cross-threading so they don't dry out. If you get serious about painting, I strongly recommend getting a tube wringer to avoid wasting paint, but it's not necessary at the beginning. If you're using professional quality paints, it will pay for itself pretty quickly. Also, it's great for toothpaste tubes!
Studio Extras
If you're setting up on a budget, you should be allocating your limited funds to the supplies that will make the most difference: your paints and brushes. You should also get masking tape (hardware store type is fine), a painting surface and a few inexpensive extras.
If you have room left over for more, all the better. If not, this is my advice on things you don't need right away:
You don't need an easel You'll feel more like an artiste with an easel, but for paintings smaller than about 11 x 14, a regular desk or table works fine. For watercolor, you'll be working on a horizontal surface anyways, and an easel will make things harder. For acrylic, you can work horizontal or vertical, but many beginners find it easier to try flat first.
Palette and Masking
You should be spending most of your money on the paint, brushes and the canvas or paper, in that order. However, these are a few inexpensive extras I've discovered that will save you a lot of time. I also recommend you read my post on tempting artist's supplies that you don't need.
Masking Tape
If you've been reading this blog for long, you'll know I love masking tape. It's great for watercolor or acrylic. People always say "I can't even draw a straight line" - well, neither can I, and it doesn't matter - if you have masking tape you will never have to draw or paint a straight line again.
Cheap solution for beginners: You can buy the fancy art-store kinds, but in my opinion, the regular hardware-store type is fine for most applications. If using masking tape on paper, make sure you read my post on masking tape for tips before you start.
Canvases and Paper
As a beginner, it's difficult to decide how much to spend on your painting surface. On the one hand, your painting is only as durable as what it's painted on, and it makes sense to spend a little more money on ensuring your time and effort aren't wasted on poor quality paper. On the other hand, you might feel more free to experiment if you're not worried about wasting expensive paper or canvas. It's up to you.
I do feel that it's most important to invest in good paints and brushes, so most of your money should go towards these. At the beginning, buy small quantities of student quality canvas or paper, and as you improve, work your way up to better quality.
Choosing Brushes
Brushes are tricky to shop for; most of the time, you get what you pay for, but some types are better than others. You'll get a better feel for what you like once you have some experience. From my own mistakes, I would say err on the side of getting fewer brushes, in the best quality you can afford. Plan on spending $5-10 for each brush. This is a particular area where you'll be tempted by the large, cheap, 12-piece bristle set for beginners, but don't buy it. These brushes are not usually very good, you won't use all those sizes and you'll be much happier spending the same amount on two or three carefully selected good brushes. Nothing can frustrate you faster than bad brushes.
In general, brushes for heavy texture paints like acrylic and oil are stiffer than watercolor brushes. You can choose from a range of natural and synthetic fibers. There is a good summary of brush materials here.
I personally recommend the synthetic, or "Taklon" type, for watercolor or acrylic. I would recommend getting:
1) A large flat (or angled) brush
2) A medium round brush
3) A small round brush for details
I have owned the brush in the centre since I was six years old, and have mostly kept it out of sentimental value. However, if you're using your brushes often, you'll need to replace them often. You can extend the life of your brushes by caring for them carefully.
Buying Paint
New painters visiting large art stores are usually tempted by the pre-packaged beginner sets, which contain a nicely arranged selection of paints, brushes, and some extras like a pallette or brush cup. My advice is don't go for the sets, they are usually very low quality and you will end up replacing them soon anyways. For the same amount of money you can buy a few good-quality colors in single tubes and two or three versatile brushes. These are my recommendations for how to get the most out of your money.
Student Quality vs. Artist's Quality
For both watercolor and acrylic, you'll notice a vast difference in price between the "student quality" and "professional quality" aka "artist's quality" paints. Since they come in exactly the same colors (and usually the same brand), you are probably scratching your head and wondering why you should waste your money on the expensive stuff. I didn't know the difference for years and originally just bought whatever was cheapest. The difference between the two grades of paint is that they contain the same base pigment, but in different concentrations. Professional quality paint is much more concentrated. The student quality paint contains more filler, hence the cheaper price.
My advice here is for your first experience with painting, buy small quantities of the student quality paints and experiment with them. If you're still into painting when the tubes run out, buy the professional stuff on your next trip. There actually is a very big difference in quality, but you won't see a big difference in your results until you have more experience.
Masking Tape
This post is about the wonders of masking tape. Discovering masking tape was a big step for me, yet I find it's not often mentioned in art instruction books. I use masking tape on almost every painting I do. Here's what I've found:
Masking tape is great for horizon lines.
My old method was to paint the sky, then paint the land or water area, and touch up the edges of each until I got a roughly straight line. The problem was, I can't paint a straight line! And even if I could, it would take way too long, and result in a muddy, indistinct horizon from all that painting over.
Choosing a Medium
Anyone who has gone shopping for art supplies will know that there are a wide range of choices and a lot of intimidating artsy technical terms. As a young artist with no art training, I didn't know which supplies would give me the most for my hard-earned babysitting money, what I did and didn't need, and what I should buy first if I couldn't afford to get everything at once.
People often ask me what to get if they are learning to paint on a budget, or simply don't want to commit too much money to a new hobby at the beginning. This is the advice I usually give, based on my own trial and error experience. I hope it will be useful if you are starting out.
Choosing a Medium: Watercolor vs. Acrylic
There are several different kinds of paints, and each will produce a different look. I have experience with the two most popular, watercolor and acrylic, so I will discuss only these two.