In order to paint pictures, it is absolutely not necessary to graduate from an art school. Moreover, it is the originality of paintings written by non-professional artists that often distinguishes them from the general row, and attracts attention to them. It takes very little to start painting. First of all, desire.
It is necessary
Oil paints, stretched canvas, brushes
Instructions
Step 1
If you've never held a brush before, try painting with watercolors first. This will allow you to practice the basics of the art of drawing. First, sketch out the contours of the drawing with a pencil, then begin to work it out with paints step by step, in layers. Remember that after each layer of paint applied, the drawing must be allowed to dry.
Step 2
More complex is the technique of working with oil paints. Prepare your canvas first, you will need linen or hemp fabric for it. Cotton, synthetic and other fabrics are not suitable. Pull the canvas over a stretcher and secure with staples or small nails. The surface of the stretched canvas should be smooth, without distortions.
Step 3
Moisten the canvas with warm water from a spray bottle, then glue it with cooled wood glue, it should resemble thick jelly in consistency. Apply glue with a shoe brush, remove excess with a metal ruler. All pores should be closed, but the mesh of the canvas should remain - this is important.
Step 4
Dry the canvas at room temperature. If bumps are visible on it from thickening of the threads, you must carefully grind these places with a piece of pumice. Sand carefully to maintain the relief of the canvas. Brush off the pumice powder, then re-glue the canvas with hot liquid glue and dry well.
Step 5
Prime the canvas. There are many recipes for soil, find and choose the one that suits you best. One of the recipes (casein soil, in parts by weight): casein - 10-15, ammonia (25%) - 2-3, honey or glycerin - 2-3, pigment - 20-35, water - 120-160. As a pigment, various types of white are used - barite, lead, zinc, etc. You can use ready-made store-bought primer. The primed and dried canvas should be white, without spots, the texture of the canvas should be visible on it.
Step 6
Draw a drawing of the future painting on paper, then transfer it to the canvas. Apply the first thin layer of paint - underpainting. For it, you can use diluted oil paints, the underpainting lays the color and tonality of the picture. Don't work on subtle details and shadows at this stage. Let the underpainting dry.
Step 7
Start working on the shadows and details of the picture. This is the most difficult part of the job, it takes the bulk of the time. There are different writing techniques: paint can be applied in large strokes, in relief, or it can be very subtle, without hiding the texture of the canvas. The second method allows you to save paints, while the surface of the painting with the emerging relief of the canvas turns out to be very beautiful.
Step 8
Working on the last layers of the painting, add linseed oil or varnish to the paints. This will make the colors more saturated. The finished canvas should dry very well - it is usually recommended to wait at least a year, but many contemporary artists consider a period of several weeks sufficient. After that, cover the picture with a colorless varnish - for example, acrylic-pistachio, acrylic-styrene.
