My Best Advice to Always Improve Your Painting.
During my 15 years of painting with oils, I've got a lot of advice and gained a bunch of experience when it comes to what works to improve your paintings, and what doesn't.
One of the best advice I ever got is something that I experienced myself and saw many people benefit from as well. This advice is something I've used as my mantra in many situations, and I think it can work as an inspiration and line of encouragement to anyone feeling stuck or like they don't have what it takes to become a great painter.
And the advice is this;
Hard work always beats natural talent.
Now, I think this is an excellent quote to remember, especially for anyone trying to improve their skills in any creative field.
That's because a lot of the time, people will say that if you don't have talent, then you don't have the magic ingredient that will make it possible to be great at what you want to learn or achieve.
But hear me when I say this;
I don't know how many times I've seen talented people depend too much on their talent alone, only to be surpassed by hardworking people eager to learn and willing to put in the extra time and energy to get good results.
And this is especially true when it comes to learning how to paint.
Because the truth is, painting is just a skill that can be taught! To see colors, mix colors, understand values, composition, form, and light! All of it can be taught and explained through step by step methods, and if you put in the effort you CAN be as good as anyone, the only difference is, you might have to put in some extra time to get there.
I also want to say that I don't know how many times people have thought that making whichever painting they're looking at was super easy for me just because they thought I had talent.
When in fact, I've spent the past 15 years painting several hours every day and felt totally useless at times, but I kept on pushing myself to always put in the time, even when I felt like every single brush stroke I laid down was the wrong one.
All of this to say, talent will only get you so far, but hard work, dedication, and persistence will get you to the top of the mountain.
So if you ever felt like you didn't have the talent to paint those beautiful paintings you always wanted to, then I say keep on painting my friend! You'll get there, I know you will.
Happy painting,