When you first begin painting, it can be difficult to know where to begin and what steps to take. Should you start painting right away? The steps below will assist you in sorting through confusion and making your painting process much easier and more organised.
How do I start painting for the first time?
Canvas
You can paint on almost any surface, but in this case, we’re talking about a canvas/canvas board. It is critical that you either buy primed canvases or prepare them yourself with gesso. Check out my gesso post for more information.
Reference photos
Having an image on my laptop or printed in front of me is extremely useful. To know what I’m going for or even have an idea. Reference photos will help you not only with composition, but also with the colours you’ll need for the painting. It takes the majority of the guesswork out of those areas.
Underpainting
This technique enables me to begin painting rather than staring at a blank canvas. I have an entire post dedicated to explaining what an underpainting is and its benefits, which you can read here.
Colour mixing
Now that the canvas is ready to be painted on, I take my reference photo and try to recreate the colours I see in the photos with my paints on a palette; this is great for learning about colour theory in general. This method, once again, keeps things efficient and organised. I keep a small water spray on hand to keep the paints wet.
Blocking in
This is a great tip I learned because it can be overwhelming at times, especially when you’re just starting out, and we think we need to see details as soon as we start painting. The foundation is laid by blocking in.
This method is used when you begin painting large areas with general colours that you will later use when painting. You begin by creating shapes that will serve as the foundation for your painting.
Later on, you will begin to add layers and details to this foundation in order to create artwork.
As you continue to learn your own approach, some of these phases may no longer be applicable. You may realize that you do not want an underpainting, or that you prefer to paint abstractly and do not need a reference photo. In any case, these stages help to organise and ease the process.
