if you want to paint realism well, you have to accept that I think. It’s hard work, and demands a lot of different skills, developed to a high level, working together.
Certainly I am better than I used to be at getting in the right ball park more quickly, though. I think that’s because, with practice, I’m gradually developing more detailed knowledge of my tube pigments and what combinations get me in which area of the colour space. Certainly I’ve picked up a lot of knowledge about value which helps keep me from making basic mistakes.
But look at it like this: Athletes don’t stop training when they get to a certain level of skill and fitness. They continue. Professional musicians don’t stop practising when they reach a particular level of skill and performance. If anything, they practice harder – at least, they do if they want to continue improving.
It’s exactly the same for us. I think it’s an unfortunate hang over of modernism and particularly post-modernism that we can do what we do without having to work – continually work – to develop our skills. We paint realism, and that takes skill, and skill means work and constant practice.
I'm a (mostly) self-taught artist. I paint realism in oils, mostly still life. On this blog, I try to share what knowledge I've gained on my own learning journey in the hope that it might help others who may be struggling with the same things I have.
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