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Many of the students who come to me for classes want to learn to paint. When I ask if they have any drawing experience, there is generally a long pause before they answer. Seldom do they stick out their chests and declare "YES!" And, I can understand where they are coming from. It is SO MUCH more exciting to see those colors come to life on the canvas then having to wait to get an accurate sketch of their subject first. This equates to not putting an egg in your cake batter, and discovering that no amount of beautiful frosting or decoration will make the cake taste like it should. Even if you don't want to spend a lot of time to develop your drawing, sticking to the basics will go a long way to have a pleasing end result.

As an example, let's take this vase of flowers. An artist may think, "I am painting these flowers, so that is where I will start"--drawing or painting from the inside out. Frequently what happens is, by the time they get to the other elements, they may run out of space on their paper or canvas. The trick to this is to formulate the shapes first, as shown in the second example. Think of it as a blueprint, or a coloring book. The shapes should mimic what you see in the photograph and are best seen if you squint. Make an attempt to define the largest shapes first and put them together like a puzzle a toddler could easily assemble.

After you get the simple shapes in the correct places, then you can move on to the smaller shapes that live inside the larger shapes (example 3). Once you have your smaller shapes in position, you can begin painting.

Different mediums will require different ways of applying the color, but choosing the correct value relationships will be what will bring the painting to life.

I hope you found this tip helpful. If you would like some tips on your own work, check out my classes here.

Keep your pencils sharpened,
--Cheryl