| Here's what I did when was in my late teens & early 20s, and taught myself. 1. Copy famous artworks that you admire -- even just drawing in a notebook is great, to start. 2. Once you can copy art that you really like, start adding your own flair to things, develop a personal style 3. Experiment more & more Just like with programming -- there are a ton of great books about how to paint, how to mix colors, etc. You can buy books and work through them, whatever is most fun. There are 2 key points, though: * The only way to get better is by painting... you'll have to paint a lot
* You'll want to paint a lot +only+ if you're having fun.
So don't worry too much. Just grab some paints and enjoy yourself. It's a great hobby.And try everything you can -- watercolor, oil, gouache, ink brush, encaustic, using the palette knife only, mixing with collage, pastels, all will teach you something. Just be consistent, and you will get good. |
As with any creative skill, especially the ones that involve fine motoric skills, one cannot skip the practice. The advice I once read about learning how to draw applies in some way to all of them:
"Every artist has at least a thousand bad drawings in them. It is best to get these out as quickly as possible."