Lesson: How To Become An Excellent Painter

You can't expect to throw some paint on a piece of paper and expect it to turn out well, but painting a good picture doesn't have to be an impossible task, either. Becoming an excellent painter is the fruit of years of labor and practice, experimentation and failure.

 

Becoming a good painter is much simpler and only relies on a few broad principles that can be learned (though not perfected) quickly.

The secret is to get them down until they're second nature to you, and then begin to work on other issues, while always staying in the bounds that they define. 

Simplify ...

In a way, this is the only rule. Don't copy nature, redefine it in your own brushstrokes.

That means bringing in only that which is essential to telling your story, and nothing else. This is a moment, a glimpse, that you have chosen to take the time to express the reason why should be clear, and that means no extra brushstrokes, no unnecessary colors, no unneeded lines.

No matter what style you choose to work in, whether impressionistic or realistic, you must simplify.

See Tone as Shapes of Light and Dark ...

To help you to simplify, practice this exercise. Draw the outline of a form, and choose one color to define the shadow pattern.

You will see that in this way, you can define all of the necessary elements without getting bogged down in unnecessary details. Every form is defined by light an dark, and those contrasts make shapes. See the shapes instead of seeing the individual plains, and you will be ahead of the game. 

Don't Pick ...

It's best to lay it down and let it be. Tempting though it is to go back in and "just fix this one last thing," that practice often leads to fl at, "picked at" work that looks uncertain and hesitant.

This is especially true in watercolor, where adding water and rubbing out whites so easily leads to unwanted blooms and bleeds that break up a smooth wash. 

Begin painting with as large a fl at brush as you can, and gradually downgrade to smaller flats as you move into more detailed areas.

Save the rounds for the very last details that you absolutely have to have. Vary the Color.

Almost nothing you see is one color, even if it seems to be. More importantly, even if it is one fl at color, it would be better painted as two. Begin with a wash of local color and then splash in an accent here and there.

Whenever you can, develop your colors by mixing them on the paper instead of applying them premixed. Your paintings will be more vivid and exciting.

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Warm Regards

Chris Elmore
Drawing Made Easy