10 Tips To Improve

Your* updated Painting * by laura horn Hello & Welcome!

I have a feeling that you love painting and you are itching to learn more!

I know that when I started, I had so many questions. Things like …

What brushes and paints should I use? How do you deal with paper that buckles? What is the difference between student and artist grade supplies? When will I know if my painting is finished? How do you varnish a mixed media piece?

As I explored and found the answers to these questions, I saw BIG improvements in my art but it took a long time. I realised that it would be helpful for others to have all this information in one handy guide and so here it is!

There are tips for gathering inspiration, choosing supplies, setting up your creative space, working in layers, exploring mixed media and finishing your work. Where possible I have included affiliate links so that you can find items that I mention easily.

My hope is that this guide will help you to enjoy the experience of painting while also improving the results that you get.

Are you ready to get started? Let’s dig in!

Laura

WWW. L A U R A H O R N A R T . C O M | P A G E 1 10 Tips to Improve Your Painting

1: SURROUND YOURSELF WITH INSPIRATION

When it comes to making art, the possibilities are endless. While it’s wonderful to have options, it can also be pretty overwhelming! That’s why gathering inspiration and noticing what YOU love and don’t love is such an important part of the creative process. Mood boards are brilliant for this as they provide a dedicated space for you to collect your ideas. You can use a pin board, piece of cardboard or add things into a sketchbook. A few things you might want to include are sketches, painting studies, colour swatches, magazine images, photographs, dried flowers, fabric, postcards, song lyrics, poetry and notes. As part of this process, you might also find it helpful to fill out my Finding Your Unique Artistic Style Workbook. Remember, the key with inspiration is to have it accessible. So whether you are using a mood board or a sketchbook, be sure to have it close by. That way, when you go to paint - all you need to do is look around to find a spark.

WWW. L A U R A H O R N A R T . C O M | P A G E 2 2: FIND YOUR FAVORITE BRUSHES

2. Find Your Favourite Brushes There’s nothing quite like your favourite brush. Every artist has their own personal preferences so it’s worth trying out different shapes, sizes, materials and price points to find out what works best for you. Your brush choice will also depend on how you use and care for your brushes. If you are rough on your brushes and leave them soaking in water for long periods of time you may prefer to use cheaper brushes from dollar or hardware stores.

Keep in mind that higher quality brushes tend to shed less, hold their shape better and last longer. I find that Princeton Artist Brushes strike a good balance between quality and affordability. I use mostly round and flat brushes so I focus my budget on these rather than having every shape and size. For watercolour and ink, I use Princeton Neptune Brushes. These hold plenty of water and lay down paint smoothly. The round brushes also have a good tip for finer details. For acrylic paint, I use Princeton Catalyst Polytip Brushes. These brushes have long handles and stiff bristles – perfect for pushing heavier bodied paint around. A Princeton Catalyst Wedge and Blade are also great for scraping, smearing and adding textural details into your work.

WWW. L A U R A H O R N A R T . C O M | P A G E 3 Sometimes your favourite painting tool isn’t a brush at all! It could be your fingers, a twig or something from around the house. At the moment I am enjoying adding scratchy lines into my paintings using a dried rose. I came up with this idea when I saw a rose pinned to my mood board. See how one thing leads to another!

3: YOUR SUBSTRATE MATTERS

The substrate/surface you choose has a big impact on the outcome of your work. This is especially the case for watercolour paper but it also applies to canvases and panels. Watercolour paper comes in professional and student grades. Professional watercolour paper is made from 100% cotton whereas student-grade papers tend to be made from cellulose (wood pulp). 100% cotton paper is much stronger and stays wet longer. This makes it easier to get good results with techniques such as wet in wet, glazing and masking. I’ve also found that colours retain their vibrancy and the paper doesn’t buckle or warp as much. While it is more expensive, the results you get do make it worthwhile, especially for paintings that you want to present and sell. The two brands that I use are L’Aquarelle Canson Héritage and Arches. I prefer cold press paper as it has a bit of texture in it rather than the hot press which is smooth. The high cost of 100% cotton paper can be a barrier though, especially when you are starting out. It’s hard to immerse yourself in the learning when you are worried about wasting paper. For this reason, it’s a good idea to keep an eye out for discounts and to try out a few student-grade papers and sketchbooks. At the moment I have sketchbooks by Moleskine and . Also, don’t be afraid to work on surfaces that you find around the home or get from a craft or hardware store. Some of my biggest discoveries have happened when I have been working on a big sheet of cardboard or craft paper. Many non-traditional painting surfaces can be prepared to handle mixed media using products such as gesso or absorbent ground. While I do most of my work on paper, I also use pre-gessoed canvases, wooden panels and aquaboards. Always check the label for these to see what materials your chosen substrate is suitable for and whether any preparation is required before you begin painting. For cheaper canvases,

WWW. L A U R A H O R N A R T . C O M | P A G E 4 I like to add an extra coat of gesso to improve the surface and reduce the amount of expensive paint required to build up the painting. Note, watercolour paint does not adhere well to gesso so you will need a watercolour-specific canvas if working in watercolour.

4. CHOOSE HIGHER QUALITY PAINTS IN LESS COLOURS

It’s tempting to want all the colours but you will be amazed at what you can do with a smaller range of paints.

WWW. L A U R A H O R N A R T . C O M | P A G E 5 When you start a painting, try choosing only 3- 5 colours. By mixing those colours together you will be able to make more colours. This will bring harmony into your work as well as building your colour knowledge. And if you use less colours it means you can splurge on higher quality paints. Artist grade paints have a much higher pigment load. This means that you need less paint to get the colours and coverage that you are looking for. The consistency of the paint is also more refined and easier to mix and move around your substrate. While I use several acrylic brands, I particularly like Derivan Matisse, Golden Paints and Liquitex. For watercolour, I can’t go past Daniel Smith. They are on the pricey side but the vibrancy and the granulating effects are amazing! Plus they last for ages. I often work straight from tubes and in this video you can see my favourite colours. If you are looking for more affordable watercolour options – I’ve had good results with Van Gogh and Gamsai Tambi.

WWW. L A U R A H O R N A R T . C O M | P A G E 6 Don’t forget that you can combine different types of paint together. That’s the beauty of mixed media! I often use acrylic ink in combination with my watercolours. The two brands of ink that I use are Daler Rowney FW and Royal Talens Amsterdam. A few of my favourite colours are White, Payne’s Grey, Dark Green, Process Magenta and Burnt Sienna.

5. PREPARE YOUR CREATIVE SPACE

Taking a few moments at the beginning of a session to organise your materials, and get everything ready is time well spent. It means that when you start painting, you can fully immerse yourself in it. Before you start; put drop cloths down if needed, pop on an apron or old shirt, fill a few containers with water, grab some rags and paper towel, lay out your supplies and have a paint palette ready to mix your colours on. I also like to put on a playlist, light a candle and take a moment to get myself into a positive headspace for creating. Having a few water containers will help to keep your colours vibrant and it means you won’t have to change your water so often. When I am working in acrylic I quite often grab a new brush rather than rinsing between colours. This also helps to keep paintings fresh. There are many different types of mixing palettes available. I use disposable palette paper or a porcelain palette but you can also use a baking tray, ceramic dish or piece of glass.

If you are working on watercolour paper, part of your preparation might involve taping the edges of your paper to a board. This can reduce buckling plus it leaves a beautiful crisp white border around your work. When using masking tape, make sure it is one that isn’t too sticky or it will tear the page. Art shops sell tape specifically for this purpose. Sometimes I also use washi tape.

WWW. L A U R A H O R N A R T . C O M | P A G E 7 6. WORK ON SEVERAL PIECES AND USE LAYERS

One way to bring more depth to your work is to work with layers. This means painting an area, allowing it to dry and then coming back over the top of that area with more paint or other mixed media supplies. Your approach with this will differ depending on what medium you are using. With watercolour, you will often hear the phrase ‘paint from light to dark’. This is because most watercolours are transparent and it is difficult to paint a light colour over a dark colour. With acrylic paint you can work either way. You can start with light colours and add dark or vice versa. One thing to keep in mind is that if your paint is opaque it will cover up the layer beneath, whereas if your paint is transparent it will allow some of that layer to shine through. When you work in layers, naturally there is quite a bit of drying time. For this reason it’s useful to work on several pieces as while one is drying you can continue to paint. Working on multiple pieces also helps you to stay loose and gives you space to try out various ideas.

WWW. L A U R A H O R N A R T . C O M | P A G E 8 7. EXPERIMENT WITH MIXED MEDIA & MEDIUMS

Discovering a new supply combination is one of the joys of being a mixed media artist. You never quite know what is going to happen when you combine different things together. In my work I particularly enjoy combining paint with pens and . I don’t tend to buy big sets of these supplies. I prefer to buy a small set or just pick a few in colours that appeal to me and add new ones to my collection slowly over time. A few of my favourites are:

Posca Paint Pens For fine line work on mixed media you can’t beat paint pens. I’ve tried many brands and always seem to come back to Posca. I use a variety of different sizes from 0.7 mm to 2.5mm. If you are using these over the top of paint, make sure the painting is completely dry and not just touch dry. This will help you to get bolder lines.

Pigma Micron Pens If I am doodling in my sketchbook or working on paper that is reasonably smooth – these are my favourite pens. They come in various sizes from thin to thick and the ink is permanent and archival.

Caran d’Ache Neocolor II These water-soluble wax oil pastels combine so well with other supplies. Unlike other types of pastels you don’t need to worry about chalkiness or stickiness. Use them on their own for defined marks or add water and blend the area for a softer look. I often begin my paintings with a few Neocolor II scribbles!

Derwent Inktense Pencils Incredibly versatile, you can use these pencils dry or add water to them to get beautiful transparent ink-like effects. The colours are punchy and

WWW. L A U R A H O R N A R T . C O M | P A G E 9 permanent once dry making them great for mixed media layering. Being a pencil, they are also well suited to more detailed work.

Sennelier Oil Pastels Creamy, vibrant and just a bit sticky! Because of this I only use them for small details in the final layer of a painting. Keep in mind that oil never fully hardens but you can apply a fixative to help prevent smudging. More on fixatives later!

Crayola Water Soluble Oil Pastels (Portfolio Series) These are fun as they have the creaminess of an oil pastel but because they are water soluble they aren’t as sticky as other oil pastels. They are very affordable and excellent for mixed media warm-ups.

Shiva Oil Paintstiks These oil sticks dry in about 2 days so they are a brilliant way to experiment with oil paint. I use these over the top of acrylic to add marks and areas of rich creamy colour to my work. Keep in mind that once you add oil into your

WWW. L A U R A H O R N A R T . C O M | P A G E 10 painting it’s not advisable to add acrylic over the top. While the oil sticks are dry to the touch within a few days, you do need to wait 6 months before applying a final varnish.

Stabio Watersoluble All Pencil This pencil is magic! It is designed to work on a wide variety of surfaces making it perfect for mixed media. When you press down firmly it makes vivid marks plus you can add water to soften and blend the area.

Another great way to make your work and process more interesting is to experiment with different mediums. A medium can change the quality of your paint and bring about exciting new possibilities. You can make paint thicker or thinner, change the texture, extend the drying time and impact the transparency. A few of my favourites include glazing fluid, modeling paste, fiber paste and granulation medium. The last mixed media category I want to mention is collage. Thin papers like rice paper, tissue paper or sewing pattern paper add texture without too much bulk. Lately I have also been enjoying adding hand stitching to my mixed media pieces using embroidery thread.

WWW. L A U R A H O R N A R T . C O M | P A G E 11 8. BOOST THE CONTRAST

If you look at a painting and it feels like it needs something, there’s a good chance it needs more contrast! Here are a few examples of how to boost the contrast in your paintings.

• If your painting is very dark, add some lighter details. Similarly, if your painting is very light, add darker details.

• Use complementary colours. E.g. if your painting is mostly blue, add a pop of orange. Green and Red are also complementary colours. As are yellow and purple.

• Change the directional energy of your painting. E.g. if you have mostly horizontal strokes, add in a vertical shape or element.

• Consider how busy or quiet your painting is. If it feels chaotic, try removing some of the noise and increasing the quantity of negative space. On the flip side, if your painting feels too quiet add more marks or do something bold!

• Take a look at the textures in your painting and consider adding some dimension using things like fiber paste and granulation medium. You can also add great texture by adding collage elements.

WWW. L A U R A H O R N A R T . C O M | P A G E 12 9. FINISH MORE PAINTINGS

There are so many things I want to say about finishing! Firstly, I want to encourage you to finish MORE paintings. Not perfection, just completion! Remember, every painting can’t be a masterpiece. Some paintings are finished simply because they have served their purpose and taught you something new about making art. Other paintings are finished because they feel finished, like there is nothing left to do! If you are not sure whether your painting is finished, here are a few questions to ask yourself:

• Is there enough contrast and variation in the painting (refer to Tip 8)?

• Would the painting be improved with a stronger focal point?

• Have you fine-tuned the colour palette? Weaving 1-3 colours through a painting can help bring harmony to the piece.

• Would the painting feel more unified if you repeated some of the marks that you have already used? Repetition is a very powerful element in art.

• Do your eyes move easily around the painting or do they get stuck on an area that doesn’t feel quite right? One thing I will say is that your paintings will improve if you keep at it and paint more pieces. It’s as simple as that. So, don’t worry if you feel like you are painting rubbish, the important thing is that you are painting! Every painting teaches us new things and over time it is only natural that we improve.

WWW. L A U R A H O R N A R T . C O M | P A G E 13 10. PRESENT YOUR WORK

It’s one thing to finish a painting and another thing to present it in its best light. Taking the time to varnish and frame your paintings can elevate your work to a whole new level. So with that said, let’s talk about some of the things you can do to take your work up a notch.

Fixative If you are using supplies like pastels and charcoal you will find that they smudge easily. To help with this, you can apply a product called a workable fixative to your work. Fixative will seal your supplies in place while allow- ing you to keep working and layering over the top if you desire. A popular brand used my many artists is Krylon Workable Fixatif. There are also fixa- tives for specific supplies such as soft pastels and oil pastels.

Buckling When you add water to paper, the area with the water expands while the dry areas stay the same and don’t expand. This causes the paper to buckle. In other words, you end up with a wonky piece of paper. Using 100% cotton paper will reduce this but not eliminate it. You can pre-stretch your paper but I have never had the patience for this. Instead, I flatten my paintings afterwards by spraying the back of the painting evenly with water (note, you can also use a wet sponge), popping a few heavy books on top and leaving it to dry overnight. When you wake up the next day, you’ll be amazed at the how flat your painting is.

Edges

If you are working on a stretched canvas or wooden panel, you will notice that the edges of your paintings often end up pretty messy with drips and marks on them. You can leave them as they are but I prefer to paint them in one colour. I paint my edges using a 1 inch flat brush or a foam brush. I generally use white or else I pick a colour from within the painting.

WWW. L A U R A H O R N A R T . C O M | P A G E 14 Sometimes I wrap the colours that I am using in a painting around the edg- es as I work so that it looks like the painting continues around the sides and then I don’t have to paint the edges later. Win! Win!

Varnish When you have finished a mixed media painting, as an added layer of pro- tection you can finish with a varnish such as Golden MSA Archival Spray Varnish or Krylon UV Resistant Clear Coating. I prefer spray var- nish for mixed media work as there is less chance of your materials smudging. Note, if I am only using watercolour, I often don’t use fixa- tive or varnish, I just frame behind glass. For larger acrylic-based paintings I also like to use a brush on varnish such as Golden MSA Varnish or Matisse Final Varnish. This addition- al step can give the paintings a more polished feel. Most varnish- es come in matte, satin or gloss. I prefer a satin varnish as it gives a sheen without being too shiny. Of course, it all comes down to per- sonal preference!

Framing You’ll be amazed at how beautiful your work looks when it is framed up and hung with interior design in mind. Professional framing will take it up another level but you can achieve great results using off- the-shelf frames. Adding a higher quality mat to more affordable frame is a great way to give it a lift. One of the advantages of creating artwork on stretched canvas or wooden panels is that you can hang it directly on the wall without needing a frame. Whichever approach you take, I encourage you to get your work up on the wall where it can be seen and enjoyed!

WWW. L A U R A H O R N A R T . C O M | P A G E 15 Thank You! Well that’s it – my top 10 Tips for Improving Your Painting!

Remember, this guide is exactly that – a guide! The best way to learn is to get stuck in and paint!

There are no rules when it comes to mixed media art.

So have fun and learn as you create! There truly is no better way.

Laura

WWW. L A U R A H O R N A R T . C O M | P A G E 16 Hey there, I’m Laura

An abstract artist from Adelaide, that had a dream and kept chasing it. My first exhibition was even called Dream Chaser! Noticing a theme?

I followed my passion and created a beautiful, messy creative life around it.

Tapping into my creativity gave me clarity and confidence and it can do this for you too.

Nothing lifts me up more than seeing other artists step into their creativity and really come alive. Through my online classes, retreats and podcasts, I help artists to do just that!

Find out more at laurahornart.com!

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