Step One

To your left is the first painting I have completed in oil. Well, to be exact, this is the first one that I have completed on my own. I am trying something a little bit different from what I have been doing in my class. I am doing an online self-study program. The reason for this is that I feel that none of the classes I have taken have really taught me HOW to paint. The instructors go very in depth about your composition, and the conceptualization behind the painting, but as to the actual process of becoming a good painter logistically, I feel that I have sorely lacking. So far everything I have been reading through this has been greatly educational. The course itself is pretty intense. Hopefully I will be able to keep up the discipline to continue the program through its entirety. Supposedly, it takes a year to complete this thing, but it "can" be done in 6-9 months. I am shooting for the six to nine months route - I very much want to step up my game and make sure this is the path I want to pursue.

The painting I just completed is what is called a baseline painting. Basically that means I just paint something, pretty much anything. The only stipulation is that I have to paint it from life. Later on, I will compare my progress to this original painting, hopefully to help me boost my sorely trodden upon ego as I have spurts of success followed by many frustrations. Heh. In any case, it felt great to do something completely on my own, without an instructor constantly looking over my shoulder and meddling with it. One of my biggest pet peeves from my last class was how I always had to wait for the instructors "permission" to continue to the next portion of the painting. He also had a tendency to belittle the students, to mix the colors for them because they weren't "competent" enough, and to actually paint part of their works himself. I can understand this to a certain degree for super early beginners, but by the end of the class, I actually did not like some of the things he had done when touching my painting. In any case, this felt good to paint, although it is definitely not anything close to being stellar. Very student-grade. Sigh. Just keep swimming.