Art Tutorial
A tutorial for people with no knowledge of Art. Giving a simple guide to materials needed and an artistic philosophy based upon my own personal experience.
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Step 1:
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Welcome to art tutorial:
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Hello. Thank you for joining me. These tutorials are meant for people new to art, people who may want to do art, but are having difficulty finding their way into it, having difficulty getting over that initial first hurdle. Those of you who have read my biography will know that my own introduction to art was rather sudden and unusual, in that one day I couldn't paint, and the next day I could. I was very divorced from my own artistic abilities. I used to dream about being an artist. I thought a lot about it, imagined it, but not as something that could actually happen. Just like a faraway, distant, impossible daydream, like some people might dream about flying. You know you're not going to do it, but it doesn't stop you thinking it would be nice. But, fortunately for me, I knew somebody who knew me a lot better than I knew myself, and he was able to open the way for me to do art. He did it by believing in me, and by caring about me enough to do something about it. For me, that person was my friend, who later became my husband Farlan, and I hope that in a similar way, I may be able to be that person for you.
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Step 2:
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Just paint:
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Now all you really need, if you want to paint, all you really need to do, is just paint. The materials that you need are actually very simple. You just need some paints, some brushes, something to paint on, some medium. Medium is just the term for whatever you use to mix your paints. It's one of these technical terms that can confuse you if you don't know what it is, but it's actually pretty simple.
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Step 3:
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The four categories:
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Paints fall into basically four categories. You get watercolours, gouache, acrylic, and oils. I can show you some watercolours. Watercolours come in two separate types: they come in little palettes, like this. This is an actually "in use" palette, but you can see that there are lots of very nice colours there. This is about a medium-sized palette, but you can get smaller ones, you can get larger ones. Watercolours also can come in little tubes. There's a slightly different technique you use for those. But, these are the palettes. And this I can show you. Well, this was actually done using those paints, and this is a little painting by my son, Sebastian. It's an illustration for a story.
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Step 4:
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Gouache paints:
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Now, the other kind of paints that I'm most familiar with are gouaches. They do come in little tubes, and you can get various different makes. You can pick them up from the art shop. You can pick them up from all sorts of shops that sell painting materials these days.
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Step 5:
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About using oils:
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Now, I can't show you any oils because nobody in the family uses oils any more. Likewise, I can't show you any acrylics. But acrylics, like watercolours and gouache, are a water-based paint. That means that you mix your colours with water, and you also clean your brushes in water. If you want to use oils, you'll have to get some turpentine or white spirit to mix your paint and clean your brushes.
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Step 6:
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Types of paper:
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As for paper, you can pretty much paint on anything but you can get specialist paper. The one that's most important, I think, is the water colour pad. If you're going to use watercolour papers, you probably need a watercolour pad. The main thing about it is that it has this rather lovely texture, which takes the watercolour very well, and gives a lovely background for your colours. Some people like that. But you can just paint on a regular cartridge paper. Cartridge paper comes in all sorts of different sizes, and all sorts of different makes, and its principle quality is that it's very smooth. It has a smooth surface which some people like to paint on.
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Step 7:
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An oil painting pad:
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If you're going to use paper for oil paints, then you almost certainly need to get an oil painting pad, and that's already primed for you. That's a good, easy surface to start painting with oils. This is a painting done by Farlan and this is what you can do with gouache. I hope you can see that okay. It also has a painting on the other side.
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Step 8:
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About brushes:
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Brushes are something that you need. They come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes. For oil paints you need bristle brushes, and for your gouaches and watercolours you need either -- you can get synthetic brushes, which are the cheapest of the two options. The most expensive watercolour brush is sable, and it's expensive because you get better control of your paints with it. That's very nice, but it's by no means essential. You can also paint on boards -- not so much with watercolours, but certainly with gouache and with oils and acrylics. You can paint on wood, cardboard, plywood, anything you can lay your hands on. If you're going to paint on board, then there are two things you have to do to your board first. You have to sand it with a piece of sandpaper, and you have to prime it, which is just a base to put your paint on so that it doesn't sink away into the board. For oil paintings you just use an oil-based primer, and for gouaches you just need an ordinary emulsion. Any household emulsion or household oil primer will do, from the DIY shop. It doesn't particularly have to be anything special. And I think that's pretty much all you really need to do to get started. It helps to have an open mind, and don't restrict yourself with too rigid an idea about what you want your finished product to look like. Rather than just learning and perfecting a couple of techniques, it's ... Let your individuality be your teacher. Finding your own solutions to the problems and the challenges that painting will present you with is what will make it far more exciting, what will make it a more fruitful experience for you. So, good luck, and I'll see you next time.