So... I wanna be a painter.

Cafe Society
1

I moved in to a new apartment a few weeks ago, and I’ve got a lot of bare walls. I’ve been browsing around Etsy and Ebay, and while I’m finding a bunch of really cool prints at 8.5x11 (or smaller) that are relatively inexpensive, I’m not finding much in the way of medium-to-large paintings that are within my budget.

So I’m pretty close to deciding “What the hell. I’ll buy some canvases, some paints, and do it myself.”

I can’t draw worth a damn, but since my tastes tend to run to abstract expressionism, pop, and schlock, I don’t necessarily see that as a problem. I figure I can start off by finding a bunch of cool public domain photos, project them on to canvas, and use the projected image as a crude stencil. Think Frank Kozik channeling Franz Kline.

So, any tips for the budding hack artist?

I really don’t have the slightest idea where to get started, other than walking up to the counter at the art store and saying: “Here’s a hundred bucks. Make me a painter.”

2

I’ve been dissed for this advice before, but I’d get some cheap acrylics because they are about the easiest paints to work with. Splurge for high quality brushes, there’s no replacing them. If you start making keepers, then jump up to high quality acrylics.

3

Cool, thanks. I was wondering where to sink the most money first.

So how much paint am I going to need? Say I want to cover four square feet with a single color on raw canvas. Will an 8oz tube of paint be enough? Or should I gesso the canvas first?