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 Speedball. 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 Royal Talens Van Gogh and Kuretake 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.