Behold: David's Ten Commandments of Painting

A little while ago I posted some “commandments” that I held in my head while tackling a new piece.  Not long after, somebody on DeviantArt asked me for some tips and I responded with a few more commandment-sounding tidbits. This started me thinking about whether I could actually come up with 10 of them and then attempt to apply them to my work. Deity-complex notwithstanding, here goes:

1. Thou shalt paint a LOT.  At least 3-4 times a week (that’s a lot for me – with the job, kids, etc, etc).  If you don’t feel like, do it anyway – it’s worth it.  I plan out my paintings like a to-do list.  I have a target date to finish each and a reason for painting them (for a show, a gift or commission, for inventory or for my own collection).   This keeps me on track.  On the days I don't paint I make sure I do something related to painting, be it updating my blog, posting images on my site, preparing canvases, you get the idea...
2. Fear not the canvas.  Just jump in.  What could possible go wrong?  If it does all go horribly south, make a mental note of what took it there, learn from it, paint over it and start again.  Maybe take a break and do something else for while. If the brush/knife still refuses to cooperate put it down until another day.  Nobody improved without screwing up.  In my previous post I called this “Go at it all fierce like” – I think that about sums it up.
3. Thou shalt simplify.  Painting’s complicated enough without making it even more trickier by painting every blade of grass or leaf.  Squint, step back, posterize the scene in your head.  Make a note of the values and shapes.  Take a look through a red plastic transparent sheet (e.g. Mylar) to remove the colour from the scene and reveal the values. 
4. Thou shalt paint the shapes not the objects.  Sounds weird I know, but it works for me.  Don’t try to paint the thing itself, but paint the shadows and negative spaces that define the thing.  Before you know it the thing will be on your canvas!  Worrying about the reproducing the thing will take focus away from its place in your composition.
5. Mixeth bold colours, then make ‘em bolder.  Colour goes a long way to defining the final piece and your audience’s response to it.  Look deeply into your subject and pull out the colours you see.  If this is tough, try looking specifically for reds (for example) in areas that appear to contain no red.  You might not find red, but something else might pop out.  Don’t worry about being 100% faithfully accurate (or is that accurately faithful?). Remember this is your take on the scene.  If you want a blue tree, by all means paint a blue tree.
6. There’s no such thing as too much paint AKA ‘tis easier to bin it than remix it.  An artist with way more experience and skill once pointed out that one of my pieces would have been better if I hadn’t been so cheap.  Thanks a lot.  No, really I mean it.  Thanks.
7. Thou shalt paint a study before the final piece.  I would never have believed this myself until I tried it.  Painting a quick small study (e.g. 5” x 7”) makes painting the bigger piece way easier.  All the big decisions have been made small scale and now you have two references for your work.  By day I’m an IT guy and this technique is the same as compressing the development time by using a quality requirements document.  Live long and prosper.
8. Thou shalt be your own harshest critic.  OK this one’s easy for me.  I have a large list of things I don’t like about everything I’ve ever painted.  I study my own work harshly as if someone else painted it.  All the time.  Conversely I’m constantly on the lookout for other people’s stuff that I like (thank you DeviantArt).  I study that and compile a mental list of what I like.  Next time I’m at the canvas I try to do away with my own negatives and incorporate others’ positives.
9. Thou shalt not be a one-trick-pony.  Every now and then I catch myself thinking “I like painting skies.  I could paint skies from here on in.  I would be the sky-guy - life would be a breeze.”  So I stick my fingers in my ears and sing loudly (except while driving or listening to my wife).  In my opinion, one-trick-pony painters are ex-artists turned craftspeople.
10. If you’re good enough, give it up.  Learning everything there is to know about painting is like reading the entire internet.   It ain’t gonna happen. If you think you’ve got it then there’s nothing left to achieve so move on to another hobby like lawn darts.