Learn to Paint

My grandmother introduced me to paint when I was 5 years old. My Mom didn’t much like the mess or the smell so I used lots of colored pencils as a kid. When I picked up paint again in my 20’s I thought I could jump right back into it. I did jump, and I painted a lot.

Supply List
You can download the supply list below and take it to an art supply store, or hunt for them at flea markets and garage sales which is really kind of fun. If you want to just buy it all online here are two good sources:

https://www.jerrysartarama.com

https://www.dickblick.com

Click to youtube link see video of the supplies in my studio, and some easels that might work for you.

Start Scribbling!
Drawing and Painting are two different languages – drawing is about line, and painting is about form and color. If you begin to develop your drawing skills now it will help you leap right into the fun of painting.

I highly recommend scribbling as a way to leap right into drawing. It’s relaxing and you can feel the calm/joy come over you almost immediately! If you have an Ipad it makes it very simple to sketch and scribble every day. You can also use a good old fashioned pencil. Scribbling is a great way to get your creativity flowing.

Drawing, sketching, even scribbling, will get your neurons connecting in new ways. You will get better and better at – so let it flow, and don’t hold the pencil too tightly or the ‘juice’ get’s stuck!

I sketch on my Ipad using Adobe Draw but you can use the Notes program on your Ipad and click in the pen icon – you don’t even need a stylus, try using your fingers. Put on a song you like to sing along with, take a deep breath or two, and let your focus go from thinking/thinking/thinking to something more body based and intuitive.

Try this just for the fun of it. There is no pressure to represent anything – just a simple fun exercise to connect your eyes, hands, and happy heart.

We begin painting in the very first session. We will be starting with the ultra, uber, not to be underestimated, lesson on the importance of value (the range of light to dark), and how these value shapes create form and dimension. We start by painting these five basic shapes because they can be found in almost everything. Once you understand how to paint these five shapes, you will quickly be able to modify them and paint more complex forms.

We are ready to paint! By now you have all of your supplies and you’ve found a spot in your home to set up your

Let’s mix up some paint on that palette! In this video you will see how we mix our black and white to create a value