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Painting rain
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Message
Posted
It is, but be careful - there are one or two rather expensive courses out there which are poor value for money: in particular, an American gent who purports to teach you how to paint in oil.
There is a site called how-to-draw-and-paint.com, which seems pretty good; specializes in watercolour, but there are lessons in oil and acrylic too. There's the Michael Willcox School of Colour, which offers instructional dvds and books. And there are numerous "how to" dvd's available from many of the magazines and artists' equipment suppliers.
If money is tight, there is some free instruction online on Peter Saw's website (in watercolour); and if you go to Roger L Bansemer's site (a well-known US artist) there is a wealth of free to view material on acrylic painting.
Opinions differ on this kind of instruction, but I think when you're starting out, books and dvds, if they're by artists whose work you admire, can be really helpful (and encouraging). Finally (though not exhaustively) there's the SAA site and its associated tv demos page - a lot of the advice is good, some excellent, but again, you have to discriminate a bit.
We all get frustrated, new or not - it's part of the process. Going to classes isn't for everyone, and in a mixed=ability class, you need a first-rate tutor. Sounds as if you didn't have one!
Posted
I've got limited experience but have come a long way in the past couple of years. The one thing I know with certainty is that I learn more from my mistakes than when things go well. Dive in. Slosh around. Enjoy it and you'll learn. Get help with the basics and then follow your own path. You won't loose your frustration (unless you set your sights too low) but it'll happen less often.
Posted
Welcome anna.luke@mindblow
Just get stuck in...some dedicated space...some surface to paint onto...a brush...some paint...paint...paint some thing each and every day.
An artist takes a personal voyage of self-discovery. For which there is no clear final destination in either space or time. There is no route. There is no plan.
There are lots of would be guides. The sheep of the art world willing pay to follow them. The goats will always just get on with it & make their own unique contribution to art.
Your pathway will be littered with the souvenirs that you made in that journey. many of these will be rubbish. Others will be good. Some will be very good. Learn not to be anal retentive with any them. Learn to be unique in style too.
Posted
Producing a good painting is more like 10% Inspiration and 90% perspiration. Just practice practice and more practice. There are plenty of online demos on YouTube, there are some basic tution and a landscape example on my website. Of course there is plenty of advice on here as well as other sites. I belong to a forum watercolour-paintbox.com you can get help and advice there as well.