How to Learn To Paint: Secrets of A Modern Painter

Think about how you are learning how to paint.

Developing yourself into a unique artist takes a great deal of experimentation and time.

It helps to separate experiences of flowing and creation from those of questioning and more direct learning, so you can simultaneously progress in both elements.

Otherwise, you might find that, after a long period of trying to learn things outside of yourself, your freedom to experiment and make mistakes has been hindered.

You do not have to do something radical to be unique - Individuality can be subtle and profound. Think of novelists; it's still words on a page, but writers can define themselves with a delicate manipulation of ideas and phrases, they don't need to reinvent the language.

It is often better to have questions than to have answers: Answers are fixed, static, hardened, and often dead and boring.

Answers can make you feel that they are King, the final solution to a problem that never needs to be engaged with again. Answers do not like to be dethroned, they don't like to be re-questioned or doubted. Answers are like the stern parent, who when asked, 'Why?' simply says, 'Because'.

Questions are open and optimistic, they are vibrant, dynamic bundles of energy, infinite in their potential.

It is always better to ask good questions. In painting - and I think in life - there are many bad questions; you may need to ask them, but the answers may be false prophets.

First of all, separate the questions into groups, those easily answered by sources, and those that can only come from you.

Secondly, decide whether or not the question is technical, about the materials or their uses, or aesthetic: compositional or design oriented.

For many years, as you develop your facility with your chosen medium or media, you will have daily questions which you need to engage with and attempt to separate from the development of your 'flow.' As well, confusing what is essentially a technical question- say, 'color harmony' with an aesthetic issue of your own 'color preference', will lead to deferring to another artist's choices and push aside your own.

As soon as you begin to look elsewhere for answers to your painting questions, you run the risk of moving far beyond yourself.