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Can anyone give me some advice please
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Message
Posted
I am totally new to all this and would very much appreciate any helpful ideas to help me get into the wonderful world of Art. I have recently turned the age of 65, retired and would dearly love to be able to draw and paint etc, but throughout my life I have been totally useless at both drawing and painting. I remember my very first proper art lesson at school where we were all given a whelk seashell and was told to sketch that and no surprises I spent all that 90 minute lesson using my rubber pencil eraser and gave up.
Is there and aids that could help me? I would dearly love to be able to draw and paint landscapes and thought about taking a landscape photograph by using a digital camera or Ipad to upload into a paint program and try to manipulate the image to posterize or fade the image right back then print the image onto A3 then tace the image onto canvas and try to then hopefully then paint the image onto canvas.
I live miles from anywhere and cannot realistically afford afford art lessons. Can anybody advise on a program that will nigh on totally wash out a picture to only leave the barest of outlines. I realise that being incompetent at art I would would perhaps be better off doing painting by numbers, but then I would not have the same satisfaction.
Any ideas I would most graciously receive. And thank you for reading my first ever post.
Posted
You set us a stern task, young sir! Without seeing how you hold a pencil, how you approach a drawing, how much care you take, it's difficult to advise you, but there are resources online, on YouTube, there are books on drawing, dvds, my own little e-book on oil painting (but it doesn't sound as if you're quite ready for the expense of oils yet, since some drawing ability is very important whatever medium you use).
I'll have a think, and try to guide you towards the best resources I know of. In the meantime - get yourself a sketchbook, a range of pencils from hard to soft (around H or HB to 8B or 9B) and if you're a complete beginner, try using an inexpensive hog-hair brush with gouache or even poster paint: you can draw with brushes as well as pencils - you might even find it liberates your hand and arm, rather than having to struggle to make marks with a pencil.
Go easy on the eraser - it can make you obsess about getting an image 'right', and when you're starting it doesn't really matter if you get it right or not: just learn to play all over again, as you did 60 years ago. And we shall not ask you to paint a whelk shell - unless you really want to.
Posted
Welcome, Alan. I am sure you will receive plenty of advice and wisdom from other PoL members. From my own perspective, like you, I decided to start my art journey just a few years before retirement, although I had done some drawing when I was young.
Drawing and painting can be learned, as I'm reliably informed, and my experience so far is that you have to be prepared for a lot of dedication and practice. I agree that art lessons can be expensive, but having taken the odd course I found that the tutoring/mentoring pushes you and helps to overcome some barriers that could otherwise hamper progress. Lessons can invariably shortcut information that would take ages to assimilate on your own. It depends on where you want to take your hobby.
The Artist and Leisure Painter are good sources of information, inspiration and encouragement as you may already be aware.
I think there is also merit in joining a local art group (if there is one) if you want to indulge your hobby with like-minded people who are generally willing to share their own experience. I would also temper that by saying that you should choose the right group that provides the environment that will help you achieve your goals. I have had experience of a couple of art groups, vastly different in their format, but for various reasons didn't suit me.
Nothing beats actually doing drawing and painting, learning from your own successes and failures. Above all, enjoy it.
Posted
Hi Robert and thank you for your reply. I love watching anything about Art on youtube. Bob Ross just leave me spellbound in what he can create in 27 minutes. I love watching portrait artist of the year, and landscape artist of the year and whatever I can gleam I will watch. With reference to oils etc over the months every week I buy canvases, art pads, paints such as oils, acrylics and even watercolours, and although I am totally incompetent I have enough gear to open an art store
All I do is practise then when finished it ends up in my trashcan or get scraped and re-gessoed. It keeps me amused albeit just wished that I paid attention more at school. I did buy some tracing sheets A3 size called tracedown which I haven't used yet as I am still trying to work out a way to print out A3 images on canvas pad to use on my easel.
Again I thank you for your reply Robert and I will carry on playing with my paints.
Posted
I was like you and had no artistic fibres in me at all, or so I thought. One day I bought a basic acrylics art set at Aldi and decided to give it a go as I needed a new hobby after turning my previous hobby into my job.
I played around with it, not very successfully, and did some drawing too, again not very successfully. In the end, after a bit of a dabble on my own, I decided to do a correspondence course to give my learning some structure. So I signed up for the Drawing and Painting course by the London Art College. I am on lesson 7 now and am enjoying it. It starts right from the beginning and takes you through drawing with various media (I discovered I love charcoal), painting with various media and drawing and painting of all sorts of subject matters. This will give you a good overview and you can then decide which media, styles and subject matters suit you best. 🙂
Whilst doing the course work, I still also paint and draw other pieces that I fancy so it doesn't get too monotonous. 🙂
Edited
by Dylan F Jeskye
Posted
Hi Dylan,
Thank you for your reply and tip about doing an online course. I had a quick peep at the London Art College website and that is an avenue that I might pursue at a later date. I just loved your snowscape and noticed Blo Norton Church. I live not that many miles away from Harleston and my younger brother lives nearer to Blo Norton as I believe he lives in either Colney Weston or Market Weston. Just loved your hen and reminded me of my black rock chickens that I used to keep. Sadly last year I had to have put to sleep my springer gun dog as he had developed a huge mammary tumour and a few months after her I had to have my blue lurcher put to sleep as he got a cancer as well. Never mind they both lived to a great age and had a good life. At the moment I rescued a large jack russell type dog albeit he is the size of a beagle. Again thanks for your advice.
Posted
Hi Alan, that’s quite a big decision after all those years. But, do give it a go and as long as your expectations are realistic (and I’m sure they are), you will enjoy being creative.
I really do feel that it’s better to get first hand help and guidance from an art group or evening art college course rather than sitting at home grappling with a correspondence course, although this may work for some.
Some, or most art groups will have members who are experienced artists, and who are prepared to give you their time and attention. There are generally a number of other ‘beginners’ who you can also interact with at most art groups, so you won’t feel alone.
Do let us know how things develop and good luck!
Edited
by Alan Bickley
Posted
Hi Alan, that’s quite a big decision after all those years. But, do give it a go and as long as your expectations are realistic (and I’m sure they are), you will enjoy being creative. I really do feel that it’s better to get first hand help and guidance from an art group or evening art college course rather than sitting at home grappling with a correspondence course, although this may work for some. Some, or most art groups will have members who are experienced artists, and who are prepared to give you their time and attention. There are generally a number of other ‘beginners’ who you can also interact with at most art groups, so you won’t feel alone. Do let us know how things develop and good luck!Alan, I would love to go to an art group, but alas, my working hours won't allow me. I am used to correspondence courses, and in fact did one of my postgraduate law diplomas as a correspondence course as well as one of my degrees. It works well for me. But yes, if there was a choice a local college or art group would probably be preferable. In this particular correspondence course though you send in artnwork regularly to get feedback and advice on how to improve. 🙂
Edited
by Dylan F Jeskye