Painting 101

So you've never painted in life and think you can't. Stop right there. If I can paint, so can you. I never thought I could do it until my friend Mary Gatling encouraged me to do it. Many, many thanks for that. She not only encouraged me to do this, but also showed me painting techniques. My life will never be the same again and I will be eternally greatful.

Here is how I painted with a cheese knife and a chop stick...

1. On a canvas, draw some shapes using a charcoal pencil.



2. Gather some supplies. I used acrylic paint, a cheese knife and a chop stick. No brushes were used in this painting.





3. With the cheese knife, start filling on the shapes with the paint. Apply a thick layer and don't worry if it drips a little on the canvas.






4. More colors and more dripping. Use only the cheese knife. Don't worry about the dripping. Notice that I am trying to have some balance on my canvas. Also, do not try to make perfect shapes. And feel free to paint outside the lines!


5. More paint and colors. At this point, you may ask yourself, "what the heck am I doing? A 2 year old can do better than this!" Don't worry. Believe in yourself and keep adding paint.



6. All filled in. Doesn't look that great does it? Remember to believe in yourself.



7. Now while the paint is still wet, take out that chop stick and draw lines on the painting. Blend the paint a bit. Also remember to cover any bald canvas spots with your chop stick.




8. Here is what my painting looked like when I was done drawing lines. I propped it on 4 cans and let it dry overnight.




9. The next day, I applied thick acrylic on it. It looks white but once it dries, it becomes transparent and glossy.



10. See? Very cool once it dries.

I learned this technique from a book called Painting Abstracts by Rolina van Vliet. I highly recommend the book.

If you do follow these instructions, I would love to hear from you.

Supplies you'll need:

1 stretched canvas. I recommend getting at least 8 by 11 or a larger size
Charcoal pencil
Acrylic paint. I used white, yellow, red, blue and green
Pallete knife. I used a cheese knife because I was too lazy to go out to buy this.
Chop stick. Or any stick. You could do this with the back of a brush.
Acrylic gloss

Now go paint!