A Rat's journey in oil painting.

[cause the rat]

Trying a new art form I'm battling the same thing the rest of you are. Doubt is easy to overcome. All you need is determination. I'm talking about the two killers of wisdom and knowledge. Impatience and frustration. It's what kicks in when you start having trouble. Somethings not working right. Instead of stepping back and thinking about what you've already learned impatience kicks in. We go into the 'Let's try this' mode. Then there's frustration because that's not working. Impatience kicks back in. Instead of stepping back and thinking it through we try something else. Making a bigger mess. Skills learned with zero execution. This habit is what stumps us. I've done two studies. Both fell victim to 'let's try this'. Determination means this will not happen again. Recognize and stop this before it becomes a habit. When you run into a problem step back and think about it. Correct yourself if your going against what you've already learned. If it's a skill you don't have then you've found the next thing you need to learn. Recognizing when frustration leads to 'let's try this' is a skill. A skill that will keep you from making this mistake over and over again.

Yep. I made another mess. if you would like to view it the link is below. Despite it's glaring mistakes I'm going to finish it. Painting the fountain and retaining wall and adding the flowers to the garden. This will get scraped off or tossed. Going to spend some time practicing foliage and trees. I don't want to be a landscape painter. But there are times when a landscape would help tell a story.

https://s29608.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/IMG_0086.jpg

[Jade Sinapu]

I actually like that painting Cause.
And honestly what you said about frustration and impatience being killers of wisdom, should be framed on the wall! IT'S TRUTH.
I see exactly what you described happen over and over at work.

[cause the rat]

Thanks Jade. All I could see is what I did wrong and why it happened. Didn't finish it. Every time I looked at it all I wanted to do was correct what I did wrong. Honestly the only real way to fix it would have been to start over. Not a total loss. I learned things. About myself and my approach.

Doing value scale exercises again. Going to strengthen this skill. Also going to set up a still life box. Cardboard, black spray paint and some black material. Got plenty of things around the house I could use. Even fake grapes.  And I"m continuing my body studies. Renewed my subscription to Croques Cafe. Using a brush to block in. Eventually getting away from using a pencil.

I know the style I like. I know what I want to paint. Now I need to learn to stop putting a square peg into a round hole.   

[cause the rat]

Every time I do something I find something that needs attention. It all boils down to two things. Discipline and observation. Honestly glad I went through all the frustration with learning values first. What I see now makes sense. Because i can see the values along with the colors. Why they work. I would be completely lost without this knowledge. Right now I'm fighting me. I need to be more disciplined in my approach. I've already learned the "hardest" thing. Now I need to learn to use it.

Things I'm working on.
Abstraction. Using the direction of the paint stroke along with vales to create the illusion of texture and 3D.
Stop putting the horse before the carriage. In my constant quest of knowledge I've learned a lot of things that I really cant use right now. Get the basics down. Then add the whistles and bells.

The responses I get from the art community really surprises me. Why should I do an entire painting when I can learn to fix what I did wrong in a two inch square? If your having trouble with eyes painting an entire face is a waste of time and materials. Keep paining eyes until you work it out. Then paint a face. This is why it takes some artists forever to get good at anything. Instead of wasting time doing what your good at spend that time working on what needs to be improved.

One very important rule in art I haven't talked a lot about is temperature. 99% of every youtube channel or thing I've read has been great advice on this subject. They all say the same thing. Some are way more in-depth. Generally stay away from anything that advertises to be easy. Color temperature is important to know. It will help you with highlights and shadows.

Now here's a fun fact.
Norman Rockwell used black and white photos for his subject matter. He didn't what to be influenced by the colors. All he needed were the values. He chose the colors he wanted. Used the values in the black and white photo as a road map for the values of the color needed. So if the photo was of a blond kid wearing a blue shirt he could paint a red haired kid wearing a green shirt.

[cause the rat]

Still finding it hard to sit down and paint something. Did as few value studies. Struggled a few times with them. But it all came back quickly.

Today I want to talk about advice. Not going to shine a light on me. Said all I need to. I'd like to talk about the web and the type of advice you should stay away from. it doesn't matter how much you like their work. Or who they are. If you start listening to someone really pay attention to what they are saying. If it took them years to get where they are now there's a reason for it. If they are struggling or avoiding things there is a reason for it. Don't get caught up in their bad choices. Or bad advice. It's unfortunate. These well meaning artists are giving out the same bad advice that kept them struggling. Justifying their bad choices. "Taking years to finally getting it" is an excuse for never really working on it to begin with. There is a reason why some artists rise to the top quickly. It has nothing to do with talent. Everything to do with working on what they were bad it. Not letting self pride or justification get in the way of struggling to get it right. Learn what you can from their techniques. Their style. Not their mistakes. I brought this up because I just dumped another Youtube channel. Another "don't worry about it. You'll eventually get it" channel that promotes really bad advice.

and now to rant and talk about myself.

There is no such thing as natural talent. It's an excuse. A lie that creates a divide between those who are successful and the rest of us. Talent is a word that means your good at something. The word 'naturally' is a slap in the face.  An insult. Treat it as an insult. Not a fact. I can say this from my own personal experiences. I have what's known as Relative Pitch. It's a step below Perfect Pitch. Basically means that if I hear a note in music I instantly know what all the rest of the notes payed after are. This is an ability. Not a talent. As a student just learning how to play did this ability help? No. I had to learn to play the guitar. The techniques, music theory, everything. Just because I could pick out a single instrument in an orchestra. Then memorize each instrument. Then play it all back in my head did not help in any way. This ability only helped me after I learned how to play those notes. After I learned how to play the guitar. Can someone be taught to do the ability I was born with? Yes. That makes me no better than any other musician out there who took the time to learn what i was born with. What i could do on the guitar is what separated me from others. It wasn't natural talent. It was the hours struggling to get things right.

[cause the rat]

Welcome back to the everything that can go wrong has gone that way thread! I'm now doing my best to spend a good hour on painting a day. Still concentrating on techniques. The four basics I'm working on now.

Cast studies. Creating 3D forums with light and shadow. Doing this with paint and not a pencil.

Drawing. With brushes and paint.

Value. Continuing value studies. I want to be able to use complimentary colors within a field color and not change the over all value. Keeping the illusion of form intact.

And finally Master Studies. Copying paintings you like is a great way to learn how they did it.

Right now I'm concentrating on cast studies. Doing two small studies next to each other. Doing two studies allows me to see what I did on the first attempt. Then make improvements on the second. Scrape both off and start a new set. I've kept my first set but haven't looked at them sense. The difference between them are night and day. I'll give myself a month or more before I look back. Once I get to a comfortable place with these I plan on doing a different study each day.

Sorry about the delay folks. Life happens when you plan on doing something else.