Okay but. Here's what I'm really needing. Tips from when you went to art school?
Okay! Actually something I'm super happy to share. I went for graphic design, so particularly computer and partially fine arts. That being said, I think there's a lot of digital art tutorials, so I'll focus on fine arts because working with materials IRL is harder because of amount of materials to work with and time to apply and/or set.
Using cheap oils? Little pigment to oil ratio? Put it on cardboard to soak up the excess oil and make your colors more vivid.
Oil taking forever to dry? Most standard oils take like 6 months. There are fast dry oils. Ignore what your teacher says, unless you plan to be touching this painting up for the rest of your life use quick dry oils. I think it's still wet for 2 weeks - a month, so plenty of time to dry but still put layers down.
Is your paper curling or peeling? Make sure your paper has the thickness to handle the amount of paint your going to apply (100 lb is the most minimal imo) and tape the edges down. It'll dry flat.
Paper tearing up? Dab the color on, not rub. Also use a hair dryer between layers to keep the paper dry. The longer paper is wet, the less integrity it has.
Your drawing disappearing behind your paint? Lay a thin layer down (using water for acrylics or water color, paint thinner for oils). You can build up shading and layers before your original sketch is hidden.
Feel like you shaded enough? Do it more. There's literally no point to stopping til your paper is almost entirely colored. Always keep shading with a darker pencil.
Blending an issue? Bending stumps work, but they aren't easy to clean. Paper towels that don't have deep designs and q tips work well as a replacement. On the upside both methods are biodegradable!
Is your paper turning silver from all that shading? Look into a "black graphite" pencil. They cost a bit more but have extreme color pay off in comparison.
Don't buy the hype, my $150 pencils color just as well as my Crayola set at like $20. The difference is that the expensive set will have more "muted" tones compared to the Crayola set. But you can make them anyway, I'll explain in color theory later on.
Need to blend out those pencil lines? With the expensive set there's a wax blending pencil (you have to buy separately 🙄) that helps blend, but because of their base you can also use a light amount of paint thinner. For cheaper pencils you can actually use the white pencil. For some reason they don't have a lot of pigment (unless it's super dark paper) but they blend colors together well and actually make them pop more. Go figure.
You can get an extreme range of light to dark. Easy to get dark, but how to stay on the lighter side? Willow/vine charcoal is very thin, ranging from like 2 mm to the width of a finger, it's very soft and transfers to paper well. However, unlike traditional soft charcoal it can smear off SUPER EASY. Awesome for lighter to medium tones. White charcoal can be used to give certain areas pop, but use it sparingly because it can turn your paper a weird color when mixed with dark charcoal.
Always have an arm gaurd. Not just a sleeve, but literally another piece of printer paper over where you will be laying your arm while drawing. Cloth can pick up and transfer charcoal super easy, printer paper has almost no texture to grip the charcoal and it remains still even as your arm moves.
Huge mess after using charcoal? It doesn't come out of SHIT. Once it's there it's really hard to get out of. Wear clothes that are black/you don't care about. And I mean you don't care about AT ALL. try to lay down an old blanket/towel/mat under your work area that you can throw into the wash with your shit clothes when you're done. If you don't have shitty clothes use a full length robe and wear it backwards like a snuggy to protect your normal clothes.
Soft pastels? Same tips as charcoal, just with colors.
You can use paint thinner to blend. I REPEAT you can use paint thinner to blend. Rest those weary, greasy hands.
Want a less vibrant version of your color? Only have the basic RGB spectrum? I got you bb
For paints, the basic necessities: Black. White. And a warm and cool toned version of red, green and blue. This makes the difference in your mixed colors later.
If you don't want stark black, mix equal part of RGB. It makes a natural black that you can tone with just a touch more or less of a certain color.
When mixing you can actually use Pantone and paint mixing pages to see what types of colors and amounts of each to get the color at the end.
Need a less vivid version of a color? Mix the color opposite of it on the color wheel. With paints just mix a bit in at a time and test, with pencil use a trial sheet to test the balance.
Literally any canvas will work. If you are in the phase where you're just practicing, I suggest canvas board, it's cheaper and less storage. Stretched canvas need to have a solid support and not be sagging when you buy it.
Canvas might say "preprimed" or whatever. Just slap a coat or few of acrylic on it anyway. The less paint your canvas absorbs = less material costs. And acrylic is far cheaper than oils.
Paint. The. Side. Of. Your. Canvas. Even if you didn't paint the subject on the side, at least paint it a color that goes with the actual painting on the front. It prevents the front of the painting from damage.
Paper is not all made the same, but don't be fooled by price alone. Check to see if there are issues with the paper, like fuzzies or oddities in texture, as those just compound to look worse when working on it. Heavy paper is a good choice as it's sturdier and has a better longevity.
Frames ARE FUCKING EXPENSIVE. Don't be afraid to look at a second hand store and buy an old/no longer in style/ugly piece and jack that frame for your art. You can clean it with a dry paint brush, a vacuum to suck of the nasties, and some TLC. If you're stressed that your painting might not fit then you can use the painting that came in it. For pieces that are on paper or canvas board you can use matting and other edge pieces to conceal edges.
People will flex their expensive shit at you, because art supplies can get costly. FAST. Don't be scared to search for coupons and get any deals you can. At the end of the semester/year there will be a grace period to anyone that left materials for like a month, typically. After that most places allow people to claim it or it goes into the class collection.
Use something air tight to carry paints in. Oils smell bad, but any paint could leak. I used an old tackle box my parents had. Ugly as fuck but works great.
If things aren't looking right just keep trying. Rome wasn't built in a day and DaVinci didn't pop out the pussy painting the Mona Lisa. Sometimes it's not even skill, but time to polish the piece. So don't feel as if you did bad, just say you need more time.
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