I spent the weekend with a paintbrush in my hand, which is my favourite way to spend a weekend these days.
About 3 years ago I decided to learn how to paint. I had been “art curious” for a while, but one weekend I decided to go ahead and just learn how to do it. I was finally ready to bring colour into my life in a big way.
I am not naturally talented at visual arts. I am whatever the opposite of a “natural artist” is. So the process of learning how to paint was a bit daunting for me. I can’t even do my own make-up, so learning to do an actual painting was a steep climb.
I started by looking at the art I wanted to make and comparing that with how much it cost to get the supplies I needed. Watercolour and eventually gouache won the day due to ease of clean-up and manageable start-up costs.
From there, I found some incredible teachers via YouTube. Starting with stroke by stroke tutorials of simple loose florals and working my way to landscapes, I grew as an artist through practice, pastiche, and following those tutorials.
I also took an in person art class at my local art centre, which helped a tremendous amount. Having someone to look at my work, watch my technique, and offer advice and correction pushed my art practice into a whole new realm. I was also able to make friends and start growing a community of hobbyists who were learning alongside me.
Between the video learning, the in-person learning, and the community built through my art class, my life has been immeasurably enriched. I’m not going to win any art awards or become rich and famous off my paint brush.
But I can at least look at a bowl of apples now and create a painting that is recognisable as a bowl of apples! It did take me a whole day to do it, but I did it.
