Venturing into the art of painting is a great way to spend your time, relieve stress, relax, and discover new things about yourself: new talents, skills, capabilities, preferences, and many more. However, most aspiring artists are intimidated when it comes to learning how to paint because there are so many things that you need to learn in order to learn how to paint as well as how to be good in the field. So, do you think that we can fit all the things that you need to know before you start painting? Well, there are so many things to learn so we cannot 100% guarantee but this article will provide useful information, tips, and the fundamental things that you need to know about beginner painting for adults. So, without further ado, let’s get started!
Painting is a wide field, so it is perfectly normal if you are confused and clueless on where to start. After all, everyone needs to start doing small steps to lead them into the destination they’re heading. The question now is where to begin and most importantly, how do you start? What are the important things you need to know about beginner painting for adults? That’s what we’ll try to discuss today in this short blog.
The first thing that you need to know is that painting requires dedication, commitment, time, practice, and perseverance. These factors will help you in becoming a good artist with good painting outcomes. Thus, these will also help you avoid common mistakes artists do when painting.
With all those factors mentioned, perhaps the most important one is practice. Painting requires practice in order to achieve perfection or the desired outcome that you want. Then, practice comes with patience because painting is trial and error. The creative process of painting isn’t perfect, there will be plenty of mistakes that you will encounter so you need to be patient in solving those errors. After all, once your painting is finished and you persevered throughout the process, your hardwork will eventually pay off.
Beginner Painting for Adults: Basic Things that You Need to Know
The Materials
Of course, painting wouldn’t be painting without the art supplies that you’ll use in creating your works of arts. As beginners, it’s okay if you don’t opt for professional-quality supplies for now because you’re just practicing. It would be more practical this way so that it’s cost-effective. However, keep in mind that it wouldn’t produce a professional-looking quality because cheaper materials can compromise the outcome of your artworks. Nonetheless, it doesn't mean that you should splurge your money just to buy the materials you need as here are some brands that are decent enough to give you good quality art materials that won’t break your budget. Knowing and getting familiar with the materials you’ll use will help you use it to its maximum potential in order to get better results.
PAINTING MEDIUM
Another thing that you need to consider is the medium that you want to use while practicing. Medium should be treated like your best friend so you need to know they “work,” their advantages and disadvantages, etc. You need to remember that you should use the one that suits your preference the most so that you won’t have a hard time adjusting to it. We also recommend that you use the recommended basic mediums that are good for practice.
Different mediums in painting:
- Acrylic Paint (recommended for beginners. They’re easy to use, affordable, quick drying, versatile, and there are substances that can be added such as retarders, modelling paste, water, etc. that can replicate other mediums).
- Oil Paint
- Watercolor
- Gouache
- Oil pastels
THE BRUSHES
Brushes come in all shapes and sizes and painting wouldn’t be complete without the brushes because it’s like a magic wand that performs a lot of tricks. You may be overwhelmed with the amount of different brushes that you can use, but learning the eight basic painting brushes is very important when it comes to beginner painting for adults because it teaches you how to do painting properly and how to use the brushes in accordance with their purpose. Moreover, there are affordable brush kits (usually comes with 10 brushes inside) that you can purchase just so you wouldn’t have a hard time picking what brush to choose. You can simply add more to your collection as you improve your painting skills.
Different basic paint brushes:
- Detailed brush
- Round brush
- Filbert brush
- Angled brush
- Flat brush
- Fan brush
- Bright brush
- Pointed round brush
THE SURFACE
The next material is your working surface. Where do you plan to apply the pigments? Is it on a canvas, a piece of paper (watercolor paper, artist’s paper), a notebook, wood or glass? It’s all up to you as long as you’re comfortable working on that surface, but remember that you need to study how the pigments will stick to the surface, how long the pigments will last, etc.
Elements of Art
These are considered to be fundamental as they are the stylistic features, building blocks, and foundation that can help the artist communicate his/her creativity and imagination in visuals to the viewer. The elements of art are very important to learn in beginner painting for adults because you cannot create a painting without utilizing them in the first place.
The seven elements of art:
- Line- a point moving in space.
- Color- an element composed of hue, value, and intensity.
- Shape- a two-dimensional figure composed of outline, height, width, and external boundary.
- Space- composed of positive and negative areas.
- Form- a three-dimensional element that has volume, height, width, and depth.
- Texture- the surface quality of an artwork; it may be implied, actual, invented, or abstract.
- Space- an element of art composed of positive and negative spaces that gives depth to the painting.
Principles of Design
These are the framework or foundation that guides an artist in order to create a beautiful, effective, and balanced painting that is aesthetically-pleasing to the eyes. These are also used as a means or outline to organize and arrange the elements of art.
The eight principles of design:
- Rhythm- a principle that indicates movement and visual tempo of the repeated elements or patterns in a painting.
- Balance- the stability of elements that are either symmetrical, asymmetrical, or radial.
- Emphasis- a way of giving focal point to a particular element.
- Proportion- it indicates the relationship of one element to other elements as a whole painting or individually.
- Gradation- a way of putting subtle changes in the different elements.
- Harmony- a principle that combines the elements together in a way that is visually appealing to the eyes.
- Variety- the use of multiple and contrasting elements in a painting.
- Movement- the feeling of flow and action in a painting.
Final Insights
We hope that this discussion about the basic things that you need to learn about beginner painting for adults gives you a boost of inspiration, motivation, and creativity when starting this venture. Good luck and have fun painting!
If you wish to learn more about painting, we have more informative articles that you can read on the MiiCreative website by clicking here.
