Friday, January 18, 2013
Picking a subject
So, once you have all your materials, how do you know if the subject you have chosen to paint is a good one for a beginner? Maybe there isn't a right or wrong answer to this, but I definitely recommend nature scenes with many colors. Skies at dawn or sunset are particularly good because they contain many colors blended together, and blending is very important to practice in oil painting. Having many different shades in your subject will also give you the chance to practice mixing paint colors to develop the right shade. Personally, when I started oil painting, I did nearly every painting from a book I have called "Landmarks of the World," which gave me scenes of travel mixed with nature. It's a perfect way to start for someone who loves traveling, too.
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I love your recommendations. My boyfriend's dad and grandfather take oil painting lessons at a community center once a week--and that's exactly how they started. Somebody helps them with mixing the colors perfectly so they match the picture, then they just go to town in attempt to recreate the image from the book. We have one of his dad's hanging in the bedroom. It's amazing. I wish I knew how to upload images on comments so I could show you. I'm still anxiously waiting to see your paintings Kelsey!
ReplyDeleteStarting with Landmarks of the World is such a beautiful forerunner to your later love of 3-D travel and painting. I love when life wraps like that.
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