How to Get Started with Paint!

Whether you're a beginner that's overwhelmed by the thought of painting or an artist trying out a different medium, let's get you started with paint !

Paint Mediums

'Paint' is a term that consists of many variations. The paints mostly discussed are four : Acrylic, Gouache, Oil and Watercolor. I've discussed these mediums individually in other blogs, so if you haven't got any paint yet it's best to understand the paint medium before getting it. We won't be discussing paint mediums much but the various techniques or exercises one can use to get more familiar with their medium. Each exercise will be suitable for certain mediums and not for certain mediums. 

Painting Exercises  

To begin with, keep in mind that simply getting paint and brushes is not enough to make great paintings. Practice is a vital step to improve your paintings. And when you get started with painting it's always best to do some exercises with your chosen medium before actually painting with it. There is only so much you can understand about a paint medium after reading about it online. To actually understand something you need to interact with it. So unless you pick up your brush and use your paint, you won't get anywhere. It can be overwhelming at first, some of you may want your very first attempts to be  perfect, and believe me I had that phase as well. But it's always a great option to get more familiar with your tools and mediums. So getting on with the list : 

1. Color Chart 

Once you've bought your paints and brushes, the best way to get familiar with them is by making a color chart or a color mixing chart. Now a color mixing chart or a color chart is just an arrangement and organization of colors in a certain way. It helps to get you a know how of all the colors you got, because sometimes there's variation in what color is shown on the tube's packaging and what is inside. Similarly in case you got watercolors or gouache in a pan set, it's best to try them out on paper as sometimes colors appear differently on paper and appear differently when packaged. 

The color variation isn't that visible in acrylics and oils, but it is more observable in watercolors and gouache, especially since gouache is well known to dry to a different shade than what you used initially. It's best to get the colors assorted in a neat chart, with warm colors on one side and cool colors on one. You can also create a color mixing chart, by combining two or more colors to see the result and include your own created shades to the chart. This will help you not only get familiar with your colors but also create an extensive chart with all the colors that you may need during your painting endeavors. It also helps you get familiarized with the color mixing process and gives you experience for future color-mixing. 

This method works with almost every medium and it should be done on paper so either a canvas pad or a watercolor paper are just what you need. 

2. Gradient Chart

The second exercise to get you a bit more customized to your paints is by creating gradients with them. Choose two colors, preferably two warm tones or two cool tones, and mix the two tones together, but don't mix them completely. Draw a rectangle, have one color at the top and one color at the bottom, mix the two at the center of the rectangle, to form a natural transitioning effect. This makes it feel like one color is fading into the other. Gradients are not only a great practice for beginners to understand the blending capabilities of their chosen medium but also serve as a foundation for their future paintings. 

Once again this method works well with almost every medium so you can try it out without hesitation!

3. Brush Strokes Chart

Now we all see super fancy brushes here and there, and we get tempted to buy them. Now personally I would suggest getting few brushes and some really simple ones like a round or flat brush, but I know sometimes the fancy brushes are too appealing. I do suggest that every painter has a different hand and therefore they feel comfortable holding different brushes. So it's not a bad idea to test out your brushstrokes with those brushes. Some cool brushes you could try out are : Liner Brush, Fan Brush, Filbert Brush and Angular Brush. You can make a brush stroke chart, depicting different strokes from different brushes, using different consistencies of paint and from different angles.

By familiarizing yourself with the various brushes out there, you will be one step closer to choosing your comfort brush. It serves as a great practice for beginners and helps them understand both their brushes and the paint as both are used in the exercise.

4. Consistency Chart

Now this chart can be mostly used for water-heavy paints like watercolor and gouache, acrylics can also be included but it depends on how much you dilute it with water. A consistency chart or a Transparency chart is used to determine the thickness and opacity of paints with different dilutions of water. To make this chart, first paint some straight black lines on a page. Then use one color from your medium, either gouache or watercolor, and with applying only enough water to get your brush a bit wet, don't use water and try to pain one small stroke over the black line. The lack of water means the opacity will be at it's peak. With good quality paints and the right color chosen the black line gets completely covered by the paint but appears more visible as you dilute the paint with more water. 

But by applying this technique on every color in your palette, you can understand their opacities and their thickness better and can use them effectively in your painting.

5. Still Life 

For your first painting, I would suggest you make a still life painting in a monochrome color. Why? Because reason no. 1 still life means the object can be anything you're familiar with so it would be easy to paint that. And as for reason no. 2, asking you to make a monochrome painting or a black and white painting is so you can understand the art of shadows, lights and reflections. You don't have to work in black and white, it's also okay to work in other colors but working with shades of one color can be helpful because it really challenges you to understand the proper shadow formations and light reflections. It gives you a more better idea for working with shadows and light, but if you feel you are good at that part, you can make it in any color. 

Still life is also my suggestion as your first painting, because I too started my art journey with still life, despite not working on it anymore. But it was super helpful for me so I would advise you the same. The rest is up to you!

 

Conclusion

The five methods discussed in this article are in short : Color Chart, Gradient Chart, Brush Strokes Chart, Transparency Chart. All these methods are not only great as a starting step for beginners but are items or charts that will help you in the future as you delve deeper into your medium. These are only some basic exercises to help you get started. I will soon be writing an article on Painting Techniques, so look forward to it. 

Thank You for reading!