Author Topic: A rat. A paint brush and learning not to run in circles.  (Read 2409 times)

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Offline cause the rat

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A rat. A paint brush and learning not to run in circles.
« on: February 08, 2023, 04:11:19 am »
When your looking for answers and you don't know what to ask. That's how all this has gone so far. So let's learn what to ask. I learned the process of breaking things down. Concentrating on what needs to be worked on. Then piecing it all together. If one thing is wrong the whole thing is bad. That's the reality of preforming music live. It's not perfectionism. It's self discipline. Skill is learned and earned through self discipline.

First question. How self disciplined are you? Be honest. How important is every mark, line, shading in your chosen medium to you?

Second question. What do you need to know?

Personally I need to learn to not run in circles. Values. Values are important. "Color gets all the credit. Value does all the work". "Values are the hardest thing for an artist to learn". Values this, values that. So what did I do? I learned everything I could about values. So what am I doing with this all important knowledge? Nothing. That's running in circles. Not knowing where to start I started in the middle. Did I learn something worth wile? Every second of frustration and aggravation was worth it. Understanding values is more important than color theory.

So, as a beginner, what do you need to know? Answer. Everything! Color theory. How to mix and match colors. And on with the running in circles.

As a total beginner what do you really need to know first? How to use the tools you plan on working with.

To learn how to handle a brush I decided to write out the alphabet. The better I got at it the smaller I was able to write with the tip of a brush. That wasn't enough. I filled entire pages with complex patters. Then traced over the lines with a brush. Frustrating, aggravating and mind numbing. I didn't know where to start. So I started with how we all learned to use a pencil. What did I really learn. How to make a mark with as little pressure as possible. I learned what it takes to draw with a brush. How to keep my hand and arm steady wile using a brush. How to make the mark where I want the mark to be. If someone was to ask me to teach them how to paint this is where I would start. So with all my running in circles I accidentally got something right. Now I need to keep going with it.

If you've been following me then you know what I'm up to. Doing the Cours de Dessin by Charles Bargue with a brush and paint instead of a charcoal pencil. For these reasons. Brush handling and learning to draw what I see with a brush. As this course progresses it gets into shading to create form. I'll be doing this with brush and paint as well.

So let's begin.

The idea behind this course is to learn to see simple shapes. Then turn those shapes into complex forms. To proportionally draw the simple shapes that make up the form.  Because I'm using paint I'll have to use paint to get rid of unwanted lines. In oil painting it's a technique called 'carving'. I'll be learning to control both the tip and flat side of the brush. You can do the same thing digitally. Use a brush tool the same color as your background instead of an eraser to sculpt out the lines you need. The video link below explains how to check your drawing better than I can. Out of hundreds of videos this is the only one that was worth watching. She's doing it the way it was intended. With a charcoal pencil and eraser.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY5pBDPDD5c

so let's let the mind numbing frustration and aggravation begin!
It's been said that rats can gain access to your home by climbing up threw your toilet. I prefer to use the front door.

Offline cause the rat

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Re: A rat. A paint brush and learning not to run in circles.
« Reply #1 on: February 08, 2023, 11:40:27 pm »
link to my thread at Wet Canvas.

https://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/topic/restarting-with-studies-2/

Found my first bad habit, OK, my second. My first one is running in circles. Doing something wrong and not correcting myself. Running with the mistake. Not happening again. Remember folks. You are as much apart of your skill as any tool you use. Gotta train your mind as well.
It's been said that rats can gain access to your home by climbing up threw your toilet. I prefer to use the front door.

Offline cause the rat

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Re: A rat. A paint brush and learning not to run in circles.
« Reply #2 on: February 11, 2023, 08:02:25 pm »
After multiple failures I'm taking a new approach. Going to start taking measurements with a stick. Like you would with a still life or portrait  Putting dots of paint down. Then play connect the dots with paint. Right now I make one mistake and have to wipe it all off. Can't erase paint like you would charcoal or lead.
It's been said that rats can gain access to your home by climbing up threw your toilet. I prefer to use the front door.