Where to even start?

Well, I fail completely at anything visually artistic (or musical, for that matter) which is why I put my energy into writing. That said, I think there are some parallels in improving our crafts.

First, I let my gut and my passions dictate the type of writing I do. I've read horror, sci-fi, high fantasy, crime thriller, etc., But contemporary really sticks with me, so I discard the rest and focus on that. Since I have a passion for it, it's easier to have the energy to devote to it. I can branch into other genres later. Perhaps the same will go for you in painting.

Next, I take the works I like the most and figure out what works about them for me. Is it the situations the characters are in? Is it clever word plays the author uses? Is it scene descriptions? What things, when I read them, make me say "oh, wow, I wanna do that?" I focus on those things and discard the rest.

Now, here's the point where classes, critique groups, beta readers, etc come in. Just because I like something and try to imitate it in my own writing doesn't mean I'm doing it well. I might think I've done it, but a different and impartial set of eyes brings me to reality very quickly. I don't know if there is an "AbsolutePaint" or "AbsoluteArt" website anywhere, but I learned more in the first six months here than I learned in years and years of trying to figure it out on my own, and I'm still learning and improving.

And in the midst of this, practice practice practice. Musicians and athletes need to practice; why should writers (or artists) be any different? I showed a girlfriend my POD novella--the first long piece I'd ever written--and she visibly cringed twice in half a page. She's now reading my latest completed work and comments on how much I've improved in only a few years.

If you have the passion, you owe it to yourself to pursue it. Never have to start a sentence with "I should've. . ."

I'm not a professional artist. I do art as a hobby and didn't get a chance to take it in school (though I'm hoping to change that). So this might help you or it might not.

Most media is available in cheaper student quality stuff, so it's really more about what you want to do, not what's easier and cheaper. I started out as a teenager with pencils and coloured pencils. More recently, I've been working with charcoal and chalk pastels. I prefer using acrylics - there's no rule book that says you must start with watercolours. Try whatever appeals to you.

You don't need an art studio or anything special to draw from life. I just pick items on a theme and draw them. I have a painting of toothbrushes. And a pencil drawing of glasses filled with water. They're not going to win any creativity prizes, but it's a way to work on skills and to work on developing a personal style. The main thing is to focus on drawing what's really there, not what you think is there.

Courses aren't all for people with experience. The one I went on last year was mixed ability, so there were people who'd never drawn before and some who were more skilled. I found it useful, as it encouraged me to work on bigger paper, and was a good confidence boost. The teachers will be used to teaching beginners (unlike a lot of people who work as artists, who may not be able to describe how they do what they do).

There's no skill in the world based on pure creative talent. No one is born able to do these things. Needing to practise and making mistakes is normal.

Have fun! I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with, Yorkist.

...mhm. See, I don't know if I'd recommend buying professional grade material if you're just starting out. That's akin to buying the entire Creative Suite before you test out GIMP. Or a Pro Level DSLR before you own a Rebel or an M4/3.

I agree, professional grade materials are much easier to work with and less of a hassle in the long run, but what if you don't like the medium after you've spent $50 on it? I easily spent over $500 on my Drawing II class this summer (it was really mixed media, as we delved into watercolor and oil pastel and ink, and I was probably the cheapest student in the class), and I discovered I'm really not a fan of oil or soft pastel. If I'd gone the professional grade, I would've been out of $50 for something I'd never use again. I did that with my colored pencils and now I'm out of $50 for something I only bought to use in the class when I could've easily cheaped out and not bought the prismacolor, even though they're superior.

I don't know, I'd recommend not spending a ton of money before you jump in. Test the water with cheap stuff, then if you like it, shell out the big bucks. Art is expensive and it's simply not worth racking up bills only to discover the medium annoys you.

As for watercolor vs acrylic? I'd say it depends. I'm a sucky painter. Acrylic is much cheaper, but I find it harder to control and it easily ruins your brushes if you're not careful. And I'm not careful. I'd almost say in the long run, it is more expensive because watercolor paper is less expensive than canvas paper and watercolor brushes don't get ruined as easily.

I would listen to Alessandra. She is the professional. I'm still a student and my focus is more on drafting and electronic art. But I would take into account how much money you're willing to spend, and your confidence in the medium as a whole. I'm really, really desperately broke right now due to my art and while professional grade things are nice, sacrificing quality on some materials, depending on what it is, won't hurt.

I'm not the biggest fan of charcoal because it's really messy and the fixative is a pain, but it is kind of beautiful if you get good at it. My preference lies in ink, graphite, and watercolor.


Deviantart tutorials are your friend if you don't want to pay for classes. Ideally, you'd want to draw from life. But I'm not an art student. I'm an architecture student. We draft from pictures and use grid transfer and light boxes. I don't consider it cheating. Figure drawing class is definitely a good recommendation. And faces. Draw many, many faces. It will help with realistic shading and textures like you wouldn't believe. You can take that knowledge with you to landscapes and animals.

Learning how to draw a perspective is helpful as well, to help you get a good grasp on proportions and dimension and etc... 1 point then 2 point then if you're really, really ambitious, 3 point.

Though I'm late to this thread, I want to offer what encouragement I can.

First off, congrats on getting past gimpiness and getting the green light for art. Next:

I can't draw for crap -- not if my life depended on it, unless my would-be murderer has very low standards. This is why I do collage and 3D work. But I welcome you to the art club with open arms and this advice: Don't be afraid to suck.

If you're essentially starting from scratch, practically, then I think the best way to find what you'll be good at eventually is to play around freely with a lot of stuff and see what clicks with you.

I'm a bit of a heretic when it comes to tools. I'm fussy about some things and not at all about others. For instance, I never buy good brushes, but I do mix my own gesso and glues. I use acrylics for almost everything but am considering making my own pastels and my own non-toxic fixative. I "airbrush" inks using mister bottles from the drugstore. What drawing I do is done with a #2 pencil. So, as you see, I tend to swing between extremes of caring and not caring. I'd advise you to let your budget and your passion be your guide as to tools.

To start with, I'm old school. I'd go with a pencil, a kneaded eraser, lots of paper towels and water cups, a basic set of brushes for acrylics (when in doubt, ask the art supply store staff), a basic set of red, blue, yellow, black and white acrylic paints, and a stack of watercolor paper. I would then play. I would play with mixing colors. Play with shapes. Play with techniques of using the acrylics.

Speaking of playing, an acquaintance of mine who is a member of my artists association recently put up some tutorials on Youtube. He has a fun demo on a tool for practicing 1-point and 2-point perspective and one on working with color in watercolors (adaptable to other media as well). Enjoy:

1-Point Perspective Video

2-Point Perspective Video

As usual for me, I got more obsessed with his perspective tools than with learning to draw perspective. I'm like my cat who always focuses on the laser pointer in my hand instead of the red dot on the floor.

Color Mixing Video

So, basically, play, practice, don't be afraid to suck, and practice. You'll find your favorite medium, your favorite subjects, your favorite techniques and style, all by practicing and messing about. Have fun!

thebloodfiend said:

...mhm. See, I don't know if I'd recommend buying professional grade material if you're just starting out. That's akin to buying the entire Creative Suite before you test out GIMP. Or a Pro Level DSLR before you own a Rebel or an M4/3.

Click to expand...

Also, the thing with quality is it isn't binary. The first student acrylics I tried were rather watery, the colours weren't too good and they dried sticky (I think they were Reeves ones, though I'm not totally sure). The ones I use now (Daler-Rowney System 3) don't have that issue, and the price is in my budget. They're also stocked locally, so I can buy them one at a time, without having to pay postage. So it's not a choice between diabolically bad and amazing. There's a range between.

It's not that I'm saying don't buy the best if you have the money. But given a choice between finding the best student paint I can or not painting, I'm going to take the student paint. Then add in better quality stuff as I raise the money.

Oh, one thing to keep in mind about watercolors vs. acrylics...watercolors can be reworked after they dry, acrylics can't be manipulated again. Acrylics are fine for layering, and they can be watered down the same as watercolors, but if you find yourself having to draw paint out of something, no go.

I've taken blundered watercolor paintings, filled the tub, and tossed them in for a soak. Most of the paint will leech out of the paper, depending on brand and pigment.

You're getting a lot of good information here, even though some of it is conflicting. None of it is wrong--it just might not be right for you. You'll get to make those decisions.

I work at an art supply store (and I suppose I'm a professional artist, but you already have one of those, so we'll stick to my retail experience that's relevant to this thread!). I think maybe the best thing I can offer is to tell you what I recommend when customers want to buy a gift but don't know what to get. I find this short list is useful for almost anyone, and leaves you a lot of room to grow as you explore your interests.

1)Sketchpad at a size you find manageable. I often say mixed-media paper because then you have the option to use more than just pencils. (My favorite is the Canson XL MixMedia, with a bright blue cover. The pages are perforated so if you like, you can take something out easily.)

2) Aquarellable graphite pencil(s). I have one from Faber Castell (an 8B) and it's amazing. You can sketch with it like a normal pencil, but if you decide you'd like to "finish" your sketch, you can dip a paintbrush in water and it will move the graphite across the page. (It dries solid, though, and cannot be moved again or erased--so if you like and are patient enough, you can do layer over layer on one sketch!)

3) One #6 Round watercolor brush. You should probably start with synthetic because it's cheaper--later if you want to use real animal hair (and are not a vegan! haha) then you can upgrade.

(I personally prefer the way the synthetics hold pigment though--people always like to say "Do it like the old masters!" but um, we've made a lot of technological advancements in art supplies just like with everything else. We don't use leeches to close up wounds, and likewise, we don't cut our oil paint with turpentine. heh Sorry, that was a little off topic.)

4) Two or three very different erasers. Everyone ends up picking favorites, and if you grab three you'll have enough to figure out whether you like them hard or soft, with solvent or with sand, etc. (If it was me, I'd start with a regular pink one like you had in school, a Staedtler Mars white eraser, and a kneaded grey eraser.)

5) one waterproof ink liner, no larger than .05 but probably no smaller than .01 (you'll use this many ways--sketching indelibly, choosing lines you especially like in pencil sketches, and experimenting with shading techniques like hatching, cross-hatching, and stippling)

Honestly, I think you can start there for supplies--that's wet and dry media, it's cheap, and you can start sketching right away. Once you start drawing things, you'll know more about what you'd like to play with next.

Some of my favorite things that you might pick up later are Copic markers (especially for a range of human skintones!), the FW liquid acrylic ink from Daler Rowney (tattoo artists often use this in their flash art that goes on the walls), and the Interference Colors of Fluid Acrylic Paint from Golden.

Draw from real life as much as possible; any photo is distorted by the lens, and therefore you're teaching your eyes the "wrong" things. We all use photos from time to time, but it's safest to use them when you've drawn from real life so often that you can spot where the photo is warped and correct it in your picture If you have pets or cohabiting humans, they make EXCELLENT subjects. Don't worry about methodologies or schools or anything to start with; you don't need that to learn how to be good. <3 And lastly, the tutorials on DeviantArt.com are sometimes great, as someone else pointed out, and you can find a lot of great art tutorials on YouTube. I also took a beginning class for free from Coursera, from Penn State, which was a fun intro to all kinds of media, and there was no requirement that you show your work (or look at the work of your peers) unless you wanted a "grade" for it.

Good luck, and if you like my suggestions you can always pester me for more! I love talking about art.

pencilgremlin at plunderpuss dot net will get to me :3

My high school drafting class taught me a lot about perspective and angles. So might drafting be an option? Just a 101 class?

Hey there a good idea to start drawing is to just pick up a pencil and jump into it. Get a little sketchbook and just try to doodle in it every day. You will be surprised how quickly you will improve.

I read somewhere that to be a master at something you need to put 10,000 hours into it. So Practice, Practice and Practice some more.

Also having a teacher is great to have. A classroom setting is fine but if you can have one on one lessons they are the best. Hope for the best

Yorkist said:

...
Oh, and what are art "schools" or "methodologies" or whatever?

...

Click to expand...

I meant to address this question too but got caught up in the whole tools thing. It's not too newbie-ish, because art jargon can make the scene seem more complex than it really is. Most of it is museum/gallery-speak and not really very deep or arcane. It's probably not something you'll need to be up on to find a good art class or instructor.

"Methodologies" refers first to your techniques and media and the ways you use them. It can also refer to conceptual approaches such as modernism or realism, etc, as they affect your method.

"Schools" are conceptually related groups or trends in art.

For instance, the Hudson River School refers to a multi-generational group of 19th century artists who specialized in landscape paintings of the Hudson River Valley and who developed, by association with each other and study of each other's work, a coherent and unique style of regional American landscape painting.

The Ashcan School refers to a small group of 20th-century artists who reacted against the then-perceived upper-class romanticism of the Hudson River School and other 19th century artists with works that represented working-class urban or rural scenes, were harsher and rougher in style, and delivered a populist political message.

There are broader categories of art that are considered schools in the sense of "schools of thought." They are seldom referred to as "schools", per se, but some times are in some contexts. For example, surrealism and abstractionism may be thought of as schools within modernism.

As you can see, neither schools nor methodologies are likely to come into play if you're looking for basic art instruction. You're not likely to find a surrealist life drawing class, but you may very well share a life drawing class with a surrealist or two because even surrealists need to understand anatomy. These topics come up mostly when you study art history and/or get up to university art courses.

FYI, I'm a surrealist.

Minimalism is popular right now... if you've been following along so far... Most current Apple ads, etc are minimalist.

Where are your thistles? Why haven't you started yet!? D: