Beginning Oil Painting – The Lesson of the “What Do I Paint?”
My First Oil Painting - Age 11
For more than ten years I taught beginning oil painting in Cupertino, CA in a community center setting that became a sort of open studio for more advanced painters who wanted to escape Silicon Valley and paint in a quiet setting with like minded folk.
The first lesson always begins with a talk about oil painting art supplies. I reveal what is needed and why…I even delve deep into the differences between water color versus oil painting brushes and use diagrams to help people remember the names of certain brushes. There is a good bit of info I share and then we discuss how to select an image to paint. This is the most important lesson of all. The idea behind this is so critical that if you get it wrong, you will never be a successful painter.
Since this class is about me guiding the students to a completed image on canvas, I ask that each person select a photo or magazine image to work from. The reasons for this are simple:
- I can’t read minds. If someone has something in their mind’s eye, I can’t see it and help them when they get stuck.
- I can point out details that they missed. I can hide part of the image to reveal contrast, isolate color, find parallel lines or horizon lines with a ruler on the image and more…
- Most beginners are looking to relax in a beginning oil painting class, not get stressed out from having to paint a live model or work from a still life before them.
- If for some reason they finish the class and their painting is still unfinished and they choose to work at home alone, they have the photo or image to work from.
Now that we have established some basics, I’ll give you my number one rule about what to oil paint on your first blank canvas: anything you want as long as it comes from your heart.
I reassure all beginning oil painting students that as long as it comes from the heart they won’t lose their motivation to get past their obstacles when stuck and they will long to complete their inner vision and be persistent.
So, if you are contemplating what to paint whether you are a new, beginning oil painting student or an old hand with the brush, return to this simple rule and you will always find your brush returning to the canvas to finish what you started.
As a beginning oil painting student myself, I picked the Grand Tetons because I had recently been there and loved it. I always found Nature to be my retreat. I was a little put off by my instructors insistence that I do the painting in Raw Umber and Titanium White to learn from, and that’s another blog post!
Next up…”How to Select A Canvas.”
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