So You Want To Learn To Paint
That's Great! Painting can be therapeutic, relaxing and just fun.
There is a lot of information on the subject on the internet including on YouTube but I'm going to add to all that info and give you my two cents worth.
If you take the advice of many who say to buy the best paints and brushes you will be broke in no time. If you start off painting on pre-stretched canvas you will be broke in no time. I used to spend over $120 a month on supplies and now it's down to maybe around twenty bucks if that.
Start off on paper. There are a lot of good paper pads made specifically for oil/acrylics and watercolors. There are 25-30 sheets in a pad of 11"x14" or 11"x15" (water color) and the pads are around 10-14 bucks at Walmart. You can always go up a notch later and purchase 3 packs of canvas boards if you find that painting is your thing for about the same cost. Personally, I like to paint on hardboard panels. I can make my own custom panels from a 2'x4' hardboard panel I can buy at Menard's.
It doesn't make sense to buy expensive brushes especially at first if your just starting out. You can always get better ones later. Start off with a kit and then add to it as needed. You may want to get a no. 8 filbert, some angled brushes, flat and a script. I use an 1.5" flat brush on all of my paintings as it can be very versatile. Don't forget a palette knife, a metal blade one instead of the plastic.
Paints can be very costly. That's why I use AppleBarrel acrylic flat paints which I get at my local Walmart for a mere fifty cents for a two ounce bottle, which will last me a month. Plaid says their paints are all high quality pigmented paints. I started off using acrylics and then got into oils. I've been back on acrylics now for a while as the expense of painting in oils was killing me not to mention the toxicity of brush cleaners. I already have terminal cancer and don't need to add additional problems and suffering to it.
After you get your first masterpiece completed, you will want to seal it. Not only will a sealer help protect your painting, but it will also help preserve it along with bringing out the clarity. Acrylics dry flat and look dull once dry, a sealer will bring out those colors and make your painting more vibrant.
There are plenty of sealers on the market, all toxic with strong odors, some which can linger on for days. I've tried them all and find them dangerous to use indoors. Oddly enough my preference for a sealer is Verathane Ultimate Poly-Urethane. I wrote about it on another blog along with other sealers and paper: https://thatainttoothpaste.blogspot.com/2018/. It was suggested to me by a Rep at Rustoleum also an artist. It's brush on altho a spray is also available and low odor, low enough to use indoors. It comes in a water or oil base and in matte, semi-gloss and gloss finishes. There is an outdoor and indoor sealer. You will want to use the indoor water base sealer if using acrylics or water colors. There is no lingering odor once dry. I don't like using sprays because the spray creates a toxic mist which can be inhaled.
Use a table to paint on until you are ready for an easel. Paper plates with a coating or foam plates make inexpensive paint palettes, empty plastic coffee containers are great to wash brushes in.
There you have it, my two cents worth. Good luck and have fun!
Here's a video with some of my paintings which are set to music I created as a musician.
There is a lot of information on the subject on the internet including on YouTube but I'm going to add to all that info and give you my two cents worth.
If you take the advice of many who say to buy the best paints and brushes you will be broke in no time. If you start off painting on pre-stretched canvas you will be broke in no time. I used to spend over $120 a month on supplies and now it's down to maybe around twenty bucks if that.
Start off on paper. There are a lot of good paper pads made specifically for oil/acrylics and watercolors. There are 25-30 sheets in a pad of 11"x14" or 11"x15" (water color) and the pads are around 10-14 bucks at Walmart. You can always go up a notch later and purchase 3 packs of canvas boards if you find that painting is your thing for about the same cost. Personally, I like to paint on hardboard panels. I can make my own custom panels from a 2'x4' hardboard panel I can buy at Menard's.
It doesn't make sense to buy expensive brushes especially at first if your just starting out. You can always get better ones later. Start off with a kit and then add to it as needed. You may want to get a no. 8 filbert, some angled brushes, flat and a script. I use an 1.5" flat brush on all of my paintings as it can be very versatile. Don't forget a palette knife, a metal blade one instead of the plastic.
Paints can be very costly. That's why I use AppleBarrel acrylic flat paints which I get at my local Walmart for a mere fifty cents for a two ounce bottle, which will last me a month. Plaid says their paints are all high quality pigmented paints. I started off using acrylics and then got into oils. I've been back on acrylics now for a while as the expense of painting in oils was killing me not to mention the toxicity of brush cleaners. I already have terminal cancer and don't need to add additional problems and suffering to it.
After you get your first masterpiece completed, you will want to seal it. Not only will a sealer help protect your painting, but it will also help preserve it along with bringing out the clarity. Acrylics dry flat and look dull once dry, a sealer will bring out those colors and make your painting more vibrant.
There are plenty of sealers on the market, all toxic with strong odors, some which can linger on for days. I've tried them all and find them dangerous to use indoors. Oddly enough my preference for a sealer is Verathane Ultimate Poly-Urethane. I wrote about it on another blog along with other sealers and paper: https://thatainttoothpaste.blogspot.com/2018/. It was suggested to me by a Rep at Rustoleum also an artist. It's brush on altho a spray is also available and low odor, low enough to use indoors. It comes in a water or oil base and in matte, semi-gloss and gloss finishes. There is an outdoor and indoor sealer. You will want to use the indoor water base sealer if using acrylics or water colors. There is no lingering odor once dry. I don't like using sprays because the spray creates a toxic mist which can be inhaled.
Use a table to paint on until you are ready for an easel. Paper plates with a coating or foam plates make inexpensive paint palettes, empty plastic coffee containers are great to wash brushes in.
There you have it, my two cents worth. Good luck and have fun!
Here's a video with some of my paintings which are set to music I created as a musician.
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