ARTIST’S HINTS AND TIPS

• Ignore detail. Use the biggest possible brush for the longest period of time when tackling a painting. This allows you to keep a broad perspective and not get sucked into overworking a small area.

• We learn to do by doing. Art materials are not cheap, but they do not need to be overly expensive either. Cheap canvas pads and brushes and student paint will get you very far down the road to develop your skills. We are far more inclined to make a mess and use materials that we are less precious about, and it is in this sense of abandon that we learn the most.

• “The Blank Canvas Should Fear Me”, to quote Van Gogh, one of my key inspirations. Do not dwell on an impressive piece you have completed. Put it away out of sight and set a fresh, clean sheet on the easel or drawing board. This begs for us to make new marks and break ground, rather than working something to death and stagnating our creative development.

• Exercise your own quality control. You have to be able to judge your own work in order to move forward, so always strive to improve, to get better. More often than not, feedback from others will be positive, but in your heart, you must know how much you still have to learn. You must always have the hunger for deeper knowledge of your craft.

• Neophytes to hommages, artists steal. Use what you can from those who have gone before you. Incorporate what works for you, and discard that which does not. If you are merely copying the work of others, it will be immediately apparent, but using the technique of another as a building block in developing your own practise it part and parcel of how we grow.

• There are no mistakes. Every mark made should be treated as a positive addition and either built upon of worked around. Erasing lines and backtracking serves little purpose other than to slow us down. Keep moving forwards, learn to maintain momentum.

• Be careful not to work your paintings to death.