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A few ideas to help improve your paintings- especially helpful for beginners!

1. Horizons are always perfectly horizontal. Trees mountains etc. can be added but determine where your horizon is and keep it straight. Also, never divide your paper exactly in half- place the horizon above or below 1/2!

2. Decide before you start where your light source is. This will help you to know where to place darker and lighter tones and keep shadows going all the right direction. I found it helpful to place a tiny pencil X on the edge of my paper to remind myself!

3. Save some white- more rather than less- you can always paint it in if it’s too much but hard to get back. I am getting better at this but trying to do more planning. I found masking fluid really helped me- it was a game changer!

4. Get ideas and inspiration from a reference photo. I can’t tell you how often I started to paint an object then couldn’t remember how it actually looked- branches pointing up or down, ears forward or back, pointed or rounded, how much trunk or branches actually show through foliage, etc. you don’t have to copy it - rather reference it!

5. Almost nothing is one solid color. It has light spots and dark spots. Don’t be afraid to use an unusual color to help with depth, interest, and painterly- ness. There is a place for solid colors , but mostly in illustration- type compositions.

People ask for advice to improve their work. Please feel free to use or ignore whatever works for you! I think any efforts are well worth it! I am so impressed and inspired by the art I’m seeing on this page! A teacher once told me, there is no bad art work, it’s just not done yet! He also told me- paint like a millionaire- if you worry about wasting paper and paint you’ll always restrict yourself from creating a great painting! ❤️!