Ask HN: How can I learn how to paint?

Hiya, Just wondering if anyone has any advice/anecdotes about learning how to paint?

I saw a thread a while ago about working with stained glass that got a lot of interest, and thought maybe the folk here might know a thing or two about this as well.

I have really gotten into looking at the works of impressionists ( https://artsandculture.google.com/entity/m03xj1 ) like Monet and Edward Hopper's early work, and would love to try my hand at it. If anything it would be to get more of an appreciation for the art, and as an emotional outlet after writing code every day.

I am pretty independent and would like to do as much as I can myself before going to a course and wasting someones time trying to understand things I could learn on my own, and have a better foundation for learning.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Paint more!

https://excellentjourney.net/2015/03/04/art-fear-the-ceramic...

In order to paint, you must first learn how to draw. There is a ton of misinformation on the internet and in literature, especially the famous book - "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain Workbook" [1]. This is a completely wrong way to learn how to draw. It gets you to point where your results may look pleasing but your foundation is going to be weak and it will fall apart.

Let me explain.

In order to draw convincingly, you must first internalize the object in 3 dimensions. You have to learn how to "think" in 3D - more specifically, given an object, you must be able to draw it from any angle, with or without foreshortening, and with any arrangement of illumination and with any camera focal length. Start with simple shapes - they're boring but that is a __must__. Then, start stacking primitives such as cones, cubes, cylinders, etc. Draw 20 different views of the same setup of primitives. Do this everyday for 6 months and you will pickup how to think in "3D" so to speak.

If you follow [1], you won't be able to do this. You will be able to copy a photograph or illustration by recognizing shapes but that only goes so far. If someone asks you to draw the same thing from a slightly different camera angle, you're lost.

Learning how to paint then adds another layer about color harmony, texture and stroke style. But fundamental drawing skills are __critical__ in order to paint well. All bets are off if you're trying to do abstract art or non-representational art.

You can take Jeffrey Watt's classes or a full course [2] or follow a few channels such as Sycra [3] on Youtube.

[1] https://smile.amazon.com/Drawing-Right-Side-Brain-Workbook/d... [2] http://jeffreyrwatts.com/ [3] https://www.youtube.com/user/Sycra

This entire post sounds like a "hot take". There is indeed a ton of misinformation around and there is no reason to believe your post isn't exactly that, especially when you make undefended claims like "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain is a completely wrong way to learn".

I'm also puzzled that you explicitly put down dotrsotb but then go on to recommend Sycra, who recommends that book frequently...

I can't paint, but I do enjoy it, so my advice may not be of any help.

It is not so much about learning how to apply paint to canvas, it is much more about learning how to see, how to take what is in front of you, and strip it of concept, that's not a door, it's not even a square, theres something lighter there, something darker there, maybe there's a gradient going in that direction. Deconstruct until it becomes raw visual.

Then buy some paints (I suggest acrylics, they smell nicer and are more forgiving, and come on! 100 years lifetime is quite enough for our paintings!)

Buy some canvas, the cheap stuff. Buy some brushes, any set will do, but you should have large and small ones. You don't need a palette, a piece of cardboard is just fine.

Have fun! The process of applying paint to canvas is interesting in and of itself, so do that for a while before trying to make anything that looks like something.

I'm a somewhat frugal person, so my emphasis on using cheap stuff may not be relevant to others, but for me, it lowers the barrier of entry, because I'm not "wasting" good materials, it makes me able to start a painting with less of an idea, which means more often than I would otherwise. The blank canvas is perfect, nothing has gone wrong with it yet, it is not tainted by idea.. Smearing paint onto it is destruction for a while, I will be destroying the canvas, and wasting paint until it is done, and at that point, it will have no more potential, whatever it is, it is, and it will always be less than its potential, someone better could have done much better with those materials, so they were wasted, and that is why I need to use cheap stuff, to feel less guilty about wasting them. Because I waste them purely for my own pleasure.

Here are my pictures: http://chromophiliat.dk