Wow @almaguer Honestly, I’m really impressed by your painting! There’s so much energy and experimentation in your work — the result is both surprising and beautiful.
Art always loves experiments, and every time an artist steps out of their comfort zone, there’s that little fear, as if learning all over again.
Changing the material, paper size, or canvas always brings new challenges, but they’re the kind that make us grow.
And yes, the bigger the size, the more brushes and larger tools we need — even the amount of paint increases!
With time and after trying different mediums, you’ll definitely find the one closest to your heart — the one that truly lets you express yourself.
Personally, when I first started, my dream was to learn oil painting and draw portraits.
But now, neither oils nor portraits are my favorites anymore 😅
My favorite mediums these days are acrylic and watercolor — they just feel more alive to me.
And by the way, I’d love to share a small tip that might help in the early painting stages:
First, paint the entire surface with a background color that fits your composition — it gives harmony to the whole piece.
Then, draw your outlines using diluted black paint.
After that, define the light and shadow areas using black and white.
Next, prepare all your color tones on the palette and start coloring each part carefully, paying attention to details.
You’ll notice that the first background color you applied actually helps unify everything beautifully. 🎨
Keep experimenting — every new painting opens a new door to creativity
Great tip but not everyone likes a black background and it changes the colours. Also, not everyone draws first and next colours... To be honest I never liked colouring. It nerves me.
I like what you made. Pity you didn't make a post out of it so more can learn from it.
♥️🍀
You have so much talent. You can see what you did in every step, and the result is amazing.
Taken the advice, it's valuable.
Something's wrong with me, though. I started less than five months ago. I'd never painted before. I've tried colored pencils and acrylic, but I haven't tried watercolor or oil. What I know is pure instinct and slow learning from what I see on YouTube.
I live in Cuba, and being able to paint is already a super luxury. You generally have to buy materials abroad; there are no stores where you can buy anything about art. So with each new experiment, where I try to learn, if the support material (cardboard) is of very poor quality (as is the case here), I prefer to learn something new and save as much paint as possible. I focused on better understanding how to paint a landscape, with dimensions larger than the A4 sheets I'd been painting. The experience is precious, because as the dimensions increase, the perspective and technique change, at least that's what I feel. I've experimented. Do you think I should always, even in small experiments, waste paint on backgrounds and the like, on something that doesn't seem like it'll last. Or do I strive for perfection, even on a sheet of newspaper?
I think criticism is very valuable; it allows you to reflect. I don't feel this painting is the best I've ever done, and there are some details I could improve. I didn't pay much attention to it. I was focused on other things, like understanding how to paint in areas, in several separate sections, how to use different colors. I don't have all the answers by any stretch of the imagination. I'm just still learning.
Would it always be good to know what others think?
To a large extent, I paint thanks to @wakeupkitty, who has my highest regard, always betting on art and creating.