Week 1: The Beginning

I've been creating art for as long as I can remember. Literally. 

This is an art class I took when I was six!

I cannot imagine what my life would look like without art. When I was little, I would make art with any medium I could get my hands on: watercolor, acrylic paint, clay, pastels, crayons, pencil, almost anything you can think of. But the one significant medium I've never used is oil paint. 

Oil paint is traditionally used in realistic paintings and portraits: the center of my project. Since I have no experience using oil paint, I have no idea what I'm getting myself into. I obviously know that within these next few weeks, I will be nowhere near the level of a Gustave Courbet or a Rosa Bonheur: that's a given. I mean, "The Gleaners" by Jean-François Millet took two years start to finish! My one hope for this project is to be able to create paintings that somewhat look like their references. I also want to get better at painting hands. Like AI, I've never been able to get those right. 

This brings me to my goals. I'm aiming to:

• Understand the use of values in paintings and how to apply them
• Become well-versed in various perspectives, including one-, two-, and three-point perspective
• Improve anatomical accuracy and proportions
• Show a noticeable improvement in my artistic ability through my work
• Be able to create realistic portraits and landscapes

It's lofty, but I think I can pull it off. As for mentors, the only artist I know is my aunt, who I will 100% be calling for advice on my paintings. She paints still-life paintings and landscapes in her free time that my family has hanging around our house. Otherwise, I'll be relying purely on YouTube art tutorials. I may use other creators throughout my journey, but as of now, this is who I'll be learning from:

https://www.youtube.com/@SIMPLIFYDrawingandPainting

https://www.youtube.com/@FlorentFargesarts

https://www.youtube.com/@zarinasart

https://www.youtube.com/@DrawMixPaint

Now that I have goals and online resources for my project, I need the supplies. This is where the trusty craft store Michael's comes in. It's a big store with all the craft supplies and other knick-knacks you could dream of, so it's easy to get lost and overwhelmed. I needed to do some preliminary research on what I was buying. I knew I needed basic painting supplies: canvases, paintbrushes, palettes, etc. But as I've said, I know nothing about oil paint. Which quality do I pick, and how much should I splurge on it?

This led me to an art subreddit that had a specific discussion on oil paints. I know, not the most credible source, but bear with me. By quickly scanning through the thread, I noticed most people recommended Windsor & Newton's Winton Oil line. The set I found at Michael's was about $32, which seems like a lot until you compare it to professional sets that cost upwards of $90. I also picked up oil paint medium to feel like a true artiste.

So let's talk timeline. For week 1, I'm starting by collecting all my supplies. I'm also painting a baseline portrait to gauge my current skills and to compare my final piece to (the finished baseline piece will be in the next blog). For the rest of the process, I will learn a skill one week and apply it in a painting the next, culminating in one final mega-painting for my TED Talk.

I've got a lot of painting ahead of me, and this is just the start. Until next blog!