DU Artists---I want to start painting, but I need some help

[Heddi]

Firstly, I've never really painted anything in my life aside from using those crayola watercolor sets we all get as a child and using either typing paper, notebook paper, or thick typing paper as my canvas

Secondly, I'm interested in painting because I feel there's some kind of creativeness inside of me that has no way of getting out. I've tried music, but can't play worth a spit. I've tried sculpting, and that works okay. I've tried cooking which is great because i can eat what I create. But I still feel a creative burning inside of me. SO I want to try painting.

I asked my husband to get me a kit for Christmas, and I figured oil paints because aside from watercolours and tempra, I didn't know there was another kind of paint.

Now I find out there's Acrylic.

So i'm torn between oil and acrylic. I know that oil paints are more expensive and require turpentine to clean with, but aside from that, are there any other pros/cons of either of them that a VERY VERY LIMITED SKILL BEGINNING PAINTER PERSON should know about? Which do you reccomend?

FOr Christmas, I figured he could get me one of the kits that come with X number of tubes of paint, some brushes, turpentine (if oil is what I go with), a pallette, and a canvas. Is there Anything else that a VERY VERY LIMITED SKILL BEGINNING PAINTER PERSON should HAVE to get in order to paint. Not things that would be nice to get...but things that I must have to paint? Any kind of canvas-treater or anything like that?

Please help. There's a starving artist inside of me, I just know it.

[gumby]

1. Go For It

I'd suggest starting with acrylic. It's not so smelly, easy to clean up and you can paint on just about anything. I can't remember the name of that thin board that would be ideal.

[cags]

3. masonite board

[cags]

2. Most canvas comes pre primed so you don't have to treat it

[cags]

4. I prefer oils, they take a lot longer to dry than acrylic though

[gumby]

7. Yeah, masonite.

thanks.

[Heddi]

5. Great! Thanks everyone!

I'm happy that this seems to be a rather....simple hobby to try out, as opposed to the time I wanted to start learning how to play voilin. Jeeze Louise what a waste of time and money THAT was :)

[shamrock]

6. check this site

Try this website for artists...it can answer all of your questions on all the different mediums. Most people think oil is the easiest for beginners, but each of the different mediums has its pluses and minuses.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/

Here are a few samples of my work if you're interested. (my website isn't very impressive....just too lazy to work on it.

http://home.earthlink.net/~sharipa/index.htm

[NV Whino]

8. Personally, I hate acrylic

I don't like the smell--it smells moldy to me. And it doesn't have the depth that oil does. One solution is to do some underpainting with acrylic, simply because it dries fast and then finish off with oils.

Go to dickblick.com and check out supplies.

You can paint on masonite. There are pre-primed (with gesso) boards you can buy.
You can paint on canvas boards.
You can paint on pre-stretched canvas.

I recommend pre-stretched canvas. They are pretty resonable these days.

As for clean up, here's a not so secret secret. Buy a gallon of cheap vegetable oil, save your plastic throw-away containers--yogurt or whatever. Pour a couple of inches in plastic container, swish and mush brushes in oil, wipe off and then wash out with dish soap. Then, let the residu settle out in the container, next cleaning, pour the top part of the oil that is clean into clean container. When you finish that cleaning, pour back into old contianer for it to settle out and continue process until it's obvious you need to start again. I use almost no turpentine, and when I do it is Turpenoid. (Not sure about the spelling.)

Final bit of advice: check out your local community college and see if they have some classes. They are usually free or very inexpensive, and it's a good place to start.

[Nothing Without Hope]

9. I recommend lessons in drawing & composition

Overall, I'd suggest that you get drawing lessons as one of your early steps. If you don't know how to draw or how to put together a good composition, you will not know where to put the paint. And believe it, YOU CAN LEARN TO DRAW. Don't be intimidated. It takes practice and it will teach you to see in a new way that will enrich your life no matter how far you go with your painting. And it's fun.

Watercolor is great--my personal favorite medium to work in-- and portable and relatively inexpensive, but there are tricks that you need to be taught. Important to find a good teacher, not just one that has you start painting a picture and hmms and hahs without real instruction, which is all too common. Need to learn how to lay washes and many other basics, which are simple once you are shown how to do them. If you try to dive into it alone, watercolor will be frustrating. There are some good instruction books and helpful web sites, but still best to start with a teacher.

Acrylics are nontoxic and much less expensive than oils and also faster to use. Oils take forever to dry and there are other issues with them. There are many advantages to choosing acrylics as a starting painting medium. Synthetic brushes work well with acrylics, but you will need to keep them cleaned. Once acrylic dries -- on your paper or canvas or on your brush or shirt -- it is there pretty much forever. But this also means that acrylic can be very forgiving if you make mistakes in your painting. You can just let it dry and paint it out!

I strongly recommend looking into the local network of amateur and professional artists and seeing what is available for people who want to learn. A supportive network of people who encourage each other and pass along hints and tips about materials, teachers, exhibits and methods is invaluable.
Depending on where you live, there may be museums or Arts & Crafts societies or Adult Ed organizatinos that offer classes. I'm in the greater Boston area, where there are some great choices. If you're in the same area, I'd be happy to make some suggestions.

Keep painting! Don't let anyone talk you out of it. It's really, really worth it.
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