Thursday, March 19, 2009

The Three Keys

When teaching my painting workshops... I usually begin by taking the mystery out of “learning” to paint and draw. I have found there are three keys to developing success:

1. TALENT: Like it or not we are not created equal when it comes to talent. Some people are just born with more talent when it comes to drawing and painting. Years ago at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, they exhibited one of John Singer Sargent's sketchbooks. Page after page of the most beautiful drawings... done at age 14. The starting line for the road ahead is not the same for everyone. But remember the road is long and it's not talent alone that gets us to the finish line.

2. KNOWLEDGE: The basics are easy to find whether you get them from an instructor or from a book. The more you know , the better you will get. It's as simple as that. If you are going to paint in color you must know color theory. If you are going to paint figures and portraits you must know anatomy... landscapes... perspective and so on. I never found learning the basics boring or a burden. In my opinion it's pretty exciting with results ate very turn.

3. PRACTICE: You will never learn to draw or paint if you don't DRAW and PAINT. It's obvious. People who get really good are the ones that do it all the time. They think art, talk art and love art.

1 comment:

  1. I'm enjoying your blog. Good advice and beautiful work!!

    ReplyDelete