Assignment 20- Megan Woodrum

How To Paint
          Some people place painting of some sort of unattainable level, when in reality it just takes practice and actually doing it like anything else. Start by making sure you have the paints (I recommend acrylic) and a canvas the size you wish. Before you start to try and tackle images just experiment with your paints, get familiar with your supplies. You should try and make painting color pallets and just shapes and designs, just have fun with your paints. After you have practiced controlling your strokes and the colors you have mixed you can try and paint actual picture, I wouldn't start with like anything living but with maybe some basic landscapes or still lifes. Lay down the basic shapes of your image with your basic back ground first, acrylic is an opaque paint so you can layer it easily. Slowly as you add each layer you add more and more detail, work in the shadows and highlights, these are important for giving your picture depth. Basically anyone can paint, the more you paint the better you get. Note that if you get into more complex paintings you will probably want to draw or sketch the image onto your canvas first. Also note that experimenting is key, you won't get anywhere unless you take risks and push yourself.