Lessons learned from painting

Painting class wrapped up on Thursday night. I don't profess to be a painter, but I think I've shown a definite progression over the past seven weeks. I mean, just look at my painting from weeks six (pink and red - top) and five (blue and green -middle) and compare it to the one from week two (orange and blue - bottom). Hugh difference.

(I'm still sparing you my effort from week one, weeks three and four are boring, and I haven't taken a photo of week seven. Disclaimer on all of these: they were each done in a two-hour class.)

What I've learned in the painting class:

Squint and look at things with a blurry gaze.

Lay a bold foundation and then add detail.

Work with confidence.

Don't be afraid to go outside the lines. Imperfections are more interesting.

An artist spends most of his or her time mixing colors and preparing to paint, and very little time actually applying paint to canvas.

Using true black can be overpowering.

Destroy the white background first. It can be intimidating, plus it can throw off your colors.

Personal lessons:

I need to take a drawing class.

I need to learn perspective.

No matter how bad I think I am, I've definitely made a progression from the first week.

It's nice to have a foundation of understanding in painting, but I should stick to writing.