The BEST Thing to Help Improve Your Painting

[@CatWezel66]

Thanks for coming back here on YT and teaching us great things 😁💝

[@ArtStudioLife]

Of course! You are so welcome :) thanks for watching!

[@jerrytaylor7935]

I’ve been painting for about a year and a half now (a relative beginner). I’m picking up different things from different instructors, and I appreciate your concision and thoughtful vocabulary in your explanations; well-spoken!

[@ArtStudioLife]

Thank you for your kind words and for sharing, I appreciate it!

[@johnmcgrogan7733]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience! I am finally giving myself "permission" to do a number of studies in more of a free and loose manner. It has taken me a long time to finally get to this point without having a finished/complete painting. It takes a lot of pressure off on having a perfect piece of artwork. Your video helped validate for me that I am moving in the right direction. I enjoy your teaching and presentation style. I will purchase Hawthorne on Painting. Thank you.

[@ArtStudioLife]

That is wonderful that you are allowing yourself to do a number of studies in a looser manner - it is such a great practice that leads to a lot of growth. Glad you will purchase Hawthorne on painting - it will really help a lot.

[@jacquelinedunn4941]

Absolutely love your technique. Thank you for sharing 😊

[@ArtStudioLife]

Thank you so much for your kind words, I appreciate it!

[@janetgoodall6372]

I have been painting an abstract painting and constantly working on the final result! Wish you were here with me! 😊

[@ArtStudioLife]

Lovely that you are working on an abstract piece. It can sometimes be hard to get out of working on the final result - but am sure you can get there!

[@fritskeulers650]

Your are such a good teacher! And a beautiful teacher too 😉 It was again very usefull, thank you Elisabeth!

[@ArtStudioLife]

Thank you so much for your kind words, you are very welcome!

[@SDW90808]

Love your message! Thank you for sharing your process and experience. This should prove to be very helpful. ❤

[@ArtStudioLife]

Very glad to hear that, thank you for your kind words!

[@angeladee8789]

I saw a video somewhere that used a story about a pottery education. Something like: half of students were graded on the quality of their pots, and half was graded on the quantity. At the end of the term, it turned out the students graded on quantity were actually able to produce better quality pots too, because of the experience gained by making so many pots.

[@ArtStudioLife]

Yes! That is such a great story. It can be found in a book called Art and Fear (by David Bayles and Ted Orland). Its such a great illustration of the importance of working on ones craft a lot.

[@mikeadenff]

Thank you! That was such an eloquent demonstration of a really useful process.

[@ArtStudioLife]

Thank you for your kind words, am glad this was helpful for you!

[@douglasriddle6447]

Great video. Lots of good information.

[@ArtStudioLife]

Thank you, glad this is helpful!

[@BarbaraWaldman-lv2kz]

Thank you for this wonderful lesson. This is very helpful. I’ve learned so much from you.

[@ArtStudioLife]

Thank you so much for your kind words, very glad to hear that!

[@yuliayulia858]

Thank you very much for this lesson and sharing your knowledge!

[@ArtStudioLife]

It is my pleasure, you are so welcome!

[@dianerose4469]

thank you so much for this information. It is really helpful. I will start tomorrow on smaller items to improve my ability. thank you again!

[@ArtStudioLife]

That is wonderful, happy to hear that!

[@SaraBojanini]

Very inspiring! I am going to check Hawthorne's book. Thank you. 🙂

[@ArtStudioLife]

So happy to hear that, you will love Hawthorne's book

[@marthasusannaprinsloo4099]

Thank you I am from South Africa and retired going to look for the book ❤

[@barbaramoorman3475]

Thank you for this amazing and new to me information which I hope to incorporate in my painting practice. As a retired educator, I am very impressed with your teaching ability to express your knowledge in a very clear and understandable way. I am grateful I discovered your KZbin channel.

[@ArtStudioLife]

@@marthasusannaprinsloo4099 So glad to hear you will look for the book!

[@ArtStudioLife]

@@barbaramoorman3475 Thank you so much for your very kind words Barbara, glad to have you here!

[@joannsmith9]

Great video!

[@ArtStudioLife]

Thank you!

[@Sheepadventures]

Thank you so much! I so enjoyed your video 😊 I’m in the uk, but have already managed to find a copy of Hawthorne’s book, so it will be on its way 👍 I will be making lots of starts now, sounds so freeing, and totally resonates because recently i have tried to just enjoy the process and not focus on the end result, so watching your video Im inspired to kick it up a gear ❤xx thank you once again, I’ve subscribed so I don’t miss a thing lol xx

[@ArtStudioLife]

Am so pleased to hear that, thank you for sharing! That is so wonderful that you have already been able to find a copy of Hawthorne's book. Glad to have you here as a subscriber :)

[@FlorentinaMunteanu-w6t]

Thank you beautiful Elisabeth I love your process and thank you for your teaching ❤️🌺

[@ArtStudioLife]

Thank you so much dear Florentina!! 💙

[@anuschcka1]

Thank you a lot about this experience ! Greetings from Germany!

[@ArtStudioLife]

You are so welcome!

[@astridtermaat3854]

Thanks so much for this information! I’m going to try this. And if you finish the painting, did you write down what the mixture is from the blue vase?

[@ArtStudioLife]

You are very welcome! Glad to hear that. For the blue vase I mixed a variety of different shades by mixing together ultramarine blue with cadmium orange (to mute it a little bit). Then to lighten it I would add in a little bit of white. There were a few moments where I would also mix in a little bit of quinacridone magenta into the blue to warm it up a little bit.

[@astridtermaat3854]

@@ArtStudioLife but what I mean is, how do you get the same blue color if you wait a few weeks to finish the painting ☺️

[@ArtStudioLife]

@@astridtermaat3854 oh gotcha! :) the best way to go about that is to mix up a color that matches the color in the area you plan to re-work into. It might take a few tries of mixing something up and placing a small dot on the area to see if it matches and then adjusting it as needed. Once you do this, it will be much easier to mix up the colors needed for your painting. Hope that helps!

[@teriehr8490]

Love this idea! cuz many times, I am working on a technique, not just a "cool" picture.... so I also don't ask what somebody might think of it or if they like it because that wasn't the purpose of the painting. Your taped "canvas" on a board? You don't use pre-made stretched canvas?

[@ArtStudioLife]

Glad you like this idea - yes it is so good to be able to have the freedom to just work on something without needing to be concerned about how it turns out... Yes! I often use masking tape to secure my canvas to a board. When the painting is complete I then mount it to a board - I love painting on a hard surface. I prefer to not use pre stretched canvas as most often the canvas is not very good quality. When it is, it is very expensive. When I want something stretched I just make it myself.

[@donnamoongoddess927]

Beautiful 🧜🏾‍♀️💖🌘

[@maryanderson6357]

I not when you paint for parctice you use ? canvas taped to board. Do you gesso these canvas pads?

[@ArtStudioLife]

I very often paint linen taped to board. When my painting is complete I then mount it to a board. If I want to stretch the canvas over wooden stretchers instead of mounting it I then leave enough area around the edges to be able to do so. I don't use canvas pads but I buy linen by the roll - I sometimes buy the rolls pre primed or I buy it unprimed and gesso it myself.

[@pearly2061]

I am working in watercolor. How does this method work for that, since we go from light to dark, and the wetness and possible merging of paint?

[@ArtStudioLife]

the ways of applying it are a little bit different but the mindset is exactly the same. The way to go about it with watercolors is to simplify your subject matter as much as possible. Break it up into large areas of value and color. Think of it as a study of light and color and keep yourself from viewing your subject as an object. Hope that helps! :)

[@pearly2061]

@@ArtStudioLife thank you ☺️

[@KIPS123]

What is oil primed linen ? Do you do it yourself ? Thx

[@ArtStudioLife]

Oil primed linen is linen prepared with oil ground instead of acrylic gesso. You have to first put down a layer of rabbit skin glue before laying down the oil ground. I do gesso my own canvas with acrylic gesso, but have never done it with oil ground as it requires a significant drying time and curing process - and space to store it in. This is why I prefer to purchase pre primed oil ground linen.