The Power of Tutorials

Most of the paintings that I've done so far have been from tutorials that I've found on YouTube. Let me tell you, even if you don't try every single painting that you see posted by an art instructor, it really helps just watching their different techniques and listening to their advice. Here are some samples of paintings that I did based on tutorials: 

Shooting star night scene over the water.

Waterfall

These were both lessons that were posted on YouTube by professional artist and art instructor Wilson Bickford. He has a ton of advice to give when it comes to painting and starting out painting and he makes the paintings quick and simple. 

I've done paintings with other tutorials, as well, but these are two recent attempts and I think they both turned out pretty good. These only require the basic colors that would come in any student set (except perhaps the purple in the top picture - but that wouldn't be too difficult to mix). 

So, if you feel so inclined, I encourage you to give it a try. As Mr. Bickford advises, anyone can pick up a brush and learn the proper strokes to make a beautiful picture - it isn't always about having a talent from birth. Feel free to ask me questions, too - I might not know the answers but I certainly know where you could find them :)

My Current Obsession

Election season is stressful. So are work, weather, relationships and decisions. So, this summer I decided to dig up an old past time of mine – oil painting.

I do not consider myself to be a particularly artistic individual but I do enjoy making pretty things that I can use around the house. Most of the time, it is really easy projects like framing a sponge painting or letting the hot wax drip down a wine bottle.

However, when I was in early high school (I’m thinking 8^th or 9^th Grade) my mother went through an oil painting craze and stocked up on canvas, paints, books and brushes. I had a couple projects at school that had an option of using a creative outlet rather than writing reports. It sounded like the perfect excuse not to do research on Greek mythology or Spanish culture. So, with the help of my enthusiastic mother, I painted a picture of sirens/mermaids beckoning the ship of Odysseus for my English class and of a Matador for my Spanish Class. Awesome, right?! I got to paint, have a different project than the rest of the class (#teacherspet), AND I didn’t have to write silly reports on our ancient computer that would then be printed on our even more ancient printer. Or, as was often the case, staying late at school so that I could type it and print it on the library equipment which, despite being overused, was much more reliable than the machines at home base.

I digress.

So this summer, Alex and I moved into a lovely house. It is the first real and semi-permanent place I’ve lived in since I left home to come to JMU seven years ago. I suppose that I could psychoanalyze further but I’m just going to say that I felt the need to decorate my walls… I won’t go into the fact that I was feeling a little “restless soul syndrome,” as happens from time to time. Perhaps we shall delve into that later.

Again, I apologize for my digressions.

I was becoming frustrated looking for decorating ideas… even in my favorite thrift store it was hard to find a piece of art that was both “me” and a reasonable price. I started my search online and found that it was still difficult to find something meaningful: everything was in bulk and it is so hard to judge sizes and colors when looking at a computer screen. Finally, I ran across a wonderful website: www.fineartamerica.com. On there I discovered a painting that I thought captured something I wanted in our house. It was loving, whimsical and delicate. I suppose all of those words translate to feminine… oh well. Anyway, it too exceeded my small budget. So I clicked on another link and tried to put that oil painting behind me.

But I couldn’t. For about two weeks, I thought about how I would paint it if I had the equipment. I drew it out in my old drawing book that I had carted with me through numerous moves. I hadn’t drawn anything in years and I’m not really sure what had kept me from throwing it out long before. Finally, one weekend I made myself a deal: Alex was going away for a couple of days and my goals were to clean the house and unpack the final boxes that remained. I decided that if I accomplished those two not-so-small tasks, I would reward myself by splurging on a set of student paints, some cheap paint brushes and canvas.

I didn’t realize at the time that Michaels was the expensive place to go for art supplies… but while there I decided that I would just deal with spending so much on supplies that I had really thought I would only use once. Walking up to the counter, I already could feel the buyer’s remorse forming in my stomach and spreading across my gut. However, when I got to the counter and the nice cashier asked me if I would like a 20% discount that remorse quickly turned to excitement – it was meant to be!

That very night I painted what my version of the painting I had seen online. I thought I did very well considering that I hadn’t picked up a paintbrush in about 10 years, give or take some. The painting was dark and I over blended the colors but I still really liked it.

Now, almost two months later, I’m using our guest bedroom as a drying room and have converted the dining area into a studio. Thanks to YouTube, I’ve watched countless hours worth of tutorials online and have learned even more than I knew before. I still struggle with over blending but now I know how to fix my problem and what I’m doing wrong. I see improvements in myself and I analyze my paintings – if I think of a way to improve it, I paint it again.

Yesterday was the first day that I came home from work and I didn’t feel the need to paint. I felt its draw and I was still tempted… but I did not feel the emotional need to. Other days, I think about painting all through the day and wonder what I should paint and how I should change an old painting or I look for pictures online to try to inspire a certain setting.

I don’t paint everyday… life and chores do get in the way. But if I had it my way, I probably would. It is a release that I just can’t describe. It can be stressful when making a big decision for a landscape but usually it is just calming putting the paint on the canvas and knowing that the direction of my brush strokes is the only thing determining what it will turn into.

And on the plus side – it is helping to decorate my house!

My first painting! More to come soon, I'm sure...