Beginner oil paint set https://www.amazon.com/Oil-Painting-Deluxe-Art-Set/dp/B07813...
Bob Ross: https://www.youtube.com/user/BobRossInc
Ask HN: How can I learn how to paint?
61–70 of 166 posts
Re: Ask HN: How can I learn how to paint?
#62I have tried to pick up drawing/painting as an adult, I felt it to be much easier to make progress than trying to learn a foreign language or learn a musical instrument.
Most important thing is learning to see things better, to gauge their shapes and proportions more clearly so that one can represent them on paper. I also felt it is surprisingly easy to emulate from how other people are painting/drawing esp from youtube videos, etc.
John Ruskin wrote that "But I have never yet, in the experiments I have made, met with a person who could not learn to draw at all; and in general there is a satisfactory and available power in every one to learn drawing if he wishes, just as nearly as all persons gave the power of learning French, Latin or arithmetic, in a decent and useful degree, if their lot in life requires them to possess such knowledge."
I heartily recommend John Ruskin, "The Elements of Drawing" to all. A chance reading of that book, lead me to trying my hand at drawing/painting.
Re: Ask HN: How can I learn how to paint?
#63recently found these videos by MoMA[1]. they're more entertaining than instructional but they may be useful to get you familiar with more concepts.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/user/MoMAvideos/search?query=how+to+...
Re: Ask HN: How can I learn how to paint?
#64I've been referred to "How to See Color and Paint It" by a self-taught painter: https://www.amazon.com/How-Color-Paint-Arthur-Stern/dp/16265...
I haven't made the time to get into it myself yet, though.
Re: Ask HN: How can I learn how to paint?
#65I will tell you what I tell my students; To learn to make art you spend time working with the materials. That is it. When the urge arises to judge the quality of your work, it will be tempting to say this is good or this is bad. Take that energy that you might put into assessing the aesthetic and put it back into the materials instead. Persist and grow. Avoid aesthetic judgements, and instead produce work. Inevitably…
Surely there has to be some aesthetic guidance along the way?
Up until my senior year of college, every writing course I took, I would never get any _aesthetic_ feedback on my work. In grade school, my grammar and spelling would get corrected, but otherwise, what I wrote was what I wrote.
It wasn't until I took a sitcom-writing course in college that a teacher gave me feedback that would make my writing better: "this sentence is too long, you don't need to use these words, this character is too inactive, this scene has no point."
If someone had been that direct with me when I was in middle school, I'd have spent a lot less time writing crap.
Re: Ask HN: How can I learn how to paint?
#66In 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 convinc…
My training was more in the “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain” school. My dad, who was trained at the School of Visual Arts in NY, gave me the book as a kid. My drawing teacher in college also focused on representational drawing.
Personally, I still recommend “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain”, because I think it addresses the biggest hurdle: drawing what you actually see, instead of what you “think” you see.
Understanding underlying geometry and primitives is a neat trick, and one that can help with figure drawing. But, it can also make the work feel mechanical and lifeless.
I think there’s a balance somewhere in the middle.
As far as abstract work, I think a solid representational foundation is still important. Picasso, by the age of 13, could paint with incredible realism.
If anyone’s interested, here’s some of my “traditional” work:
http://gregorywieber.com/art/traditional.html
(Contains some artistic nudity)
Re: Ask HN: How can I learn how to paint?
#67I think drawing and painting is a wonderful investment to make in yourself. Others here may disagree, but I highly recommend the classic, “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.”
I’d suggest getting some big paper, some fairly wide felt brushes, and India ink. This will force you to loosen-up and get your body into it. A common mistake is gripping a brush or whatever like it’s a #2 pencil and you’re about to do homework. The aim is to be free, loose, smooth.
Experiment with charcoal. Use materials you don’t feel bad about “wasting”. It takes practice.
Drawing from life is invaluable, so if you can find time to go outside and simply draw what you see, you’ll get steady progress. Try to measure with your hands / brush, to see how accurately you’re depicting the scene in front of you.
It’s a rewarding challenge. Also, remember to breath :)
Good luck!
Re: Ask HN: How can I learn how to paint?
#68My career involves making visual art (drawing painting, 3d art and more) there is a lot of great advice here,
Kingkawn is absolutely right, familiarity with the materials absolutely shortens the gap between desired results and actual results. billfruit mentioned what my favorite teacher always hammered at me "to learn to draw (/paint) you have to learn to see" learning to interpret what's in front of you as 2d forms, textures, lines, also helps in translating what you want to paint to what you will be painting.
there's a lot more here but what I'll add is a very specific resource - https://www.alexhays.com/loomis/ Loomis books got me started in art. they were written 80 years ago and still are some of the most approachable books on how to draw and paint available.
my own favorite traditional art is figure drawing / sculpting and it doesnt completely overlap your desires but for that I recommend a good anatomy book (my favorites are "Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist" by peck, and bridgeman's "constructive anatomy" which are at the photo-real and volumetric breakdown ends of the spectrum)
really the main thing that helps learning art is to reduce your barrier to creating. join a regular life drawing or plein air painting group, start with a home studio you can relax at. something that can be regular and low pressure.
hope this all helps.
Re: Ask HN: How can I learn how to paint?
#69I always wanted to learn how to draw but then when my college provided me with an iPad Pro and Pencil, I didn't have any more excuses. I think Procreate (an amazing Photoshop-like drawing app for iPad) was only $10 at the time of purchase so this setup completely removed all cost for me to get into the hobby.
While I'm still more invested in other forms of art (photography and CG mainly), sketching/drawing allows me to remove my mind from my Engineering coursework for a time and open my perspectives.
Re: Ask HN: How can I learn how to paint?
#70I will tell you what I tell my students; To learn to make art you spend time working with the materials. That is it. When the urge arises to judge the quality of your work, it will be tempting to say this is good or this is bad. Take that energy that you might put into assessing the aesthetic and put it back into the materials instead. Persist and grow. Avoid aesthetic judgements, and instead produce work. Inevitably…
Surely there has to be some aesthetic guidance along the way? Up until my senior year of college, every writing course I took, I would never get any _aesthetic_ feedback on my work. In grade school, my grammar and spelling would get corrected, but otherwise, what I wrote was what I wrote. It wasn't until I took a sitcom-writing course in college that a teacher gave me feedback that would make my writing better: "this…
Learn about value, perspective, colour theory, form and how they apply to art and human perception. Things like that I found were useful for learning art as someone who struggled to draw a stick figure for years.