One becomes a painter
by painting.
Vincent Van Gogh
I know I repeat myself a lot when I say, writer’s write. But here we have a Master saying the same thing about painting. How does one become a painter? By painting.
It really is that simple. In order to create a masterpiece, one first needs to pick up the paintbrush or the pen or the scissors or the mouse. You don’t create a masterpiece the first time you fall out of bed to create something. It takes time. It takes practice.
How Long Does Practice Take?
When Van Gogh first started out as an artist, he painted in the style of the old Dutch masters, dark, sooty greys as depicted in The Potato Eaters. How does one move from that to his Sunflowers painting? Practice.
Last year I painted almost nothing but flowers
to accustom myself to a colour other than grey,
that’s to say pink, soft or bright green, light blue, violet, yellow, orange, fine red.
And when I painted landscape in Asnieres this summer
I saw more colour in it than before.
I’m studying this now in portraits.
Vincent Van Gogh (10/1887)
A year. Van Gogh spent a year studying color. It’s not easy, but to get better at your craft, you must practice. Even the great Masters did. How does one become a painter? By practicing. So how much practice time will you put into your work?
I just had a friend from college post a memory on Facebook from two years ago that read: Streaming Bob Ross on Netflix makes me want to give painting a try. Today he is selling brilliant and breathtaking strokes of art to the tune of up to 600 dollars.
That is fantastic. I love that he was inspired to give it a try. I’m sure when he started, he wasn’t thinking about selling his work, just about how to learn the techniques.
Exactly, and even now it’s not about the money. That just happens.
A painter paints. Because he must.
It’s always fun to try your hand at something new!
Practice makes perfect so they say!
You’ve spoken to my mother? Lol. She always said that when I was growing up.
As with anything creative, the answer is always the same: Practice, practice, practice. But there is nothing more satisfying than making good strokes.
The practice comes first to get to the good strokes.
SO TRUE. My eldest is just starting clarinet, and so far she remains enthusiastic – but when the attention flags, I’ll need to remind her of how important practice is, day in and day out!
Love Van Gogh. Practice may not result in perfect, but definitely improvement!
I’ve always wanted to paint paintings.
I love painting, but because I write so much, don’t have the time. Still, your post reminds me to make the time. Thanks again for the inspiration!
I so agree. The more you do it, the better you can do it. But, the more you think about it without trying, the less likely you’ll do it at all.