Always had a bend towards painting, but unfortunately could
not pursue it professionally.
I started on it recently about 2 years back in 2013, doing a
painting on and off. But kept musing on it regularly and visiting exhibitions,
websites and books by the dozen.
Here are some of my learnings ...
Found that having a painting structured in your mind helps
one a lot, to execute it quickly, but this is only one strategy. Another thing
is to have lots of photographs of the subject, so that you have all the various
details, different lighting and compositions, in case you do use a photo.
Another very important learning is that if you want a good
output, use the best input, paper, paints and brushes, invest in this order.
- Paper - For paper use Arches, Fabriano or Saunders all above 120 gsm and use surface as
per subject to be done. Fine surface for fine detailing and rough for
landscape-abstract kind of stuff.
- Paints – Winsor & Newton is the safest
bet, but Camlin Kokuyo Artist quality is good enough too. For brushes use sable
if possible, round tip 4 different sizes and one medium flat one for starting
things.
- Colors : Having good quality Yellow Ochre, Indian yellow or
Burnt Sienna is of utmost importance regardless of whatever subject you choose
to do. Other colors sit well on it.
Transparency helps to make the paintings glow! It would be good to make a color
chart on the paper you would be painting to help you choose and mix paints.
- Brush: A short brush will give more control than a longer
and thicker one. Invest in 3 good brushes of different sizes.
- And the most important asset to have is time and
inspiration. Keep inspiring yourself daily by looking around you and soak in
the beauty. It could be bottles on the shelf, flowers, buildings or faces …
While facing the blank paper if you feel daunted just put a
wash of ochre or sienna and it will get you going. Drawing is of utmost
important. Half the job is done if the silhouette is correct. But you need not
get bored with the penciling simply trace out and get going with the paints … No
I don’t trace, I do free hand drawing and sometimes directly paint specially
landscape.
Having starting trouble? Get a pad of good paper and a color
box of pastels, water color pencils or cakes. These are easy to manage and does
not require space. Have a phone with a good camera, when I upgraded from 3 inch
screen to 5 inch screen, my sense of perspective increased and I could do lot
of planning of the composition on the phone while waiting at the doctor,
watching over kids, waiting in queues.
And of course "PRACTICE", nothing can take its place, the
masters we admire do at least 4-5 rounds before the final masterpiece comes out
by way of sketches, thumbnails, layouts etc.
I will give reference to different articles on the internet
which helped in learning this art in my journey!!
Cheers, Enjoy!
