My Painting Story

 


Hi, everyone.
First of all, I'm no professional painter and merely doing it as a hobby. I'm also not that great, I would classify my paintings around elementary grade. Another disclaimer, none of the painting I posted here is my original idea; I mostly get the inspiration from the good ole internet and then paint it based on my capability; not trying to perfectly match the original at all since that would be forgery, right? With that being said, without further ado, here is my painting story.


I first got the idea of trying a new hobby in January 2020. While I do love watching TV, blogging, and reading books, I feel like I could take on one more hobby; one that doesn't involve a screen (planting did come in mind, but I never successfully keep a plant alive unless it's an outdoor plant). And then around February, just like that painting popped in my head. I always enjoy drawing so painting should be easy breezy, right? WRONG.
I never really use brushes before, mostly coloring pencils, I also painted on a canvas only once in my life, so the learning curve was there. However,  I truly do like the dopamine boost that I get whenever I finished a painting so I continue on.


I also love when I get in the "zone". If you watched Soul from Disney already, you'll know what I'm talking about. It's that time when you just get so immersed in what you're doing and your 100% focus is on your task. It allows me to focus on something I can control instead of my woes and worries. For me, it's a good way to relieve stress. 


In conclusion, painting is highly beneficial for your psychological well-being.
Some of the benefits are :
1. Painting develops your creativity. 
2. Painting allows you to express yourself. I always paint according to my mood. Sometimes I want flowers, sometimes I want scenery.
3. Builds your problem-solving skill. It's especially true during the first few paintings. My brush just never create strokes that I wanted so I need to figure out how to get the strokes that I like.
4. Improves memory and concentration. 
5. Painting is a meditative act, it takes you out of yourself. This means you are only focusing on the present and on the artwork in front of you as you paint, freeing your mind from worries and intrusive thoughts.

My very 1st painting back in February 2020.

(almost) Everything I painted in 2020.

Am I doing a good job convincing you to try painting? I highly recommend it. It's not an expensive hobby and you can do it pretty much everywhere. And the health benefits are really needed to combat the stress during this pandemic era. Painting is also a neat way to pass the time! I can easily spend two hours on one painting. 


If you want to try painting, some of the tips I can give you are :
1. Invest in a good canvas and just go mediocre on everything else. Even an expensive paint can't handle terrible canvas. 
2. Get an easel ASAP. Once you decided that painting is for you, get an easel. I used to paint on the floor and my 30yo back can't handle it. I always get a back pain after painting. I usually put my easel on a table for better back support.
3. Avoid detailed paintings at first, it might discourage you to paint more. Easiest to paint are usually scenery and flowers. And those are my two faves! I'm still scared to draw a person unless it's a silhouette (my Peter Pan painting) or from the back (my Aladdin and Rapunzel painting).
4. Start with small canvases. I started with a 15x15cm and go up slowly as I see fit.
5. Starter kit paints are great! Especially if you never try that brand before. So far my favorite is still Faber Castell for it's bright color, great consistency, price range, and availability. My second favorite is Reeves, but it's on the expensive side, however, the color range are much better than Faber Castell ones. For basic colors like black, white, blue, red, yellow; def get big tubes. You'll need those the most. And then for secondary colors like pink, green, tosca, sky blue, etc,  you can get it in smaller tubes.



A few of my favorite paintings are below. 



Decorated my home-office with my own painting. It feels rewarding.

I hope you enjoy this post. Have a nice day!

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