I’ve looked at some other tutorials. Tried a few. Failed miserably.
The typical tutorial that I have seen, lays out what pigments to use. Then names a few brushes. The colors are put on a palette. A finished painting is shown. The artist starts in and creates a scene, telling you what to do on each step. Then at the end, your painting should look like their painting, I guess. Or a few show a technique. I like those better as I want to paint MY painting, not theirs.
But even then, their hand is not my hand. Their mind is not my mind. The way they create a perfect even wash of sky, for instance, does not come out that way with my hand. I don’t know why.
I think we are all different and that is why we are artists. We want to create. We want to do something different.
I want to show people how I do things – as I have been asked so often – but I will not tell you what to do. I will not tell you what pigment of blue you should use, or what brush. I can show you the pigment that I have used or the brush that I like but those are my choices and do not have to be yours.
I’ve learned a lot and I want to pass on some of what I have learned, not to copy, but to use.
I guess I think of it like a writing class; if you want to learn to write, does the teacher ever tell you to read such-and-such a story, then copy it out? No. The teacher might give you style examples or show you how a particular technique works or suggest a good example of a drama or a comedy. However, those are meant to be stepping off points, not paragraphs to simply copy.
You read to learn how to use words and tone. You read to see styles and techniques. Then you write your own story. Your way. With your words.
Every time you try a technique, a wash, a color, a stroke, it becomes a “word” in your vocabulary of painting. I love when I am painting along and I know how I want something to look and then just the right “word” comes to me. This is not magic. This is learning the skills, the styles, the colors so that when you need them, they are there for you.
I want to help you build your vocabulary of words and technique so that you can write your own story.
