10 mistakes beginners make

  1. Using paint from pans – use tubes you may waste a little, but you will have more control of your colour.
  2. Buying a ready-made set of colours – you are bound to get colours which you will never use or use only rarely, for example vermillion.
  3. Using too many colours in the painting – 4 should be the maximum
  4. Not using enough darks – there should be at least 5 tonal differences – your darks should be dark and the lights light.
  5. Beginning with a brush that is too small – small brushes are only used at the end for fine details.
  6. Using the same brush mark for the whole painting – painting will lack interest
  7. Using a paper that is too light 300gsm is more expensive but it won’t cockle when it gets wet.
  8. Over liberal use of masking fluid – it will be obvious on your resulting painting.
  9. Not knowing when to stop – don’t overwork – better to work on several painting at the same time, put one aside and think about it
  10. Buying a lot of expensive equipment – we all think that it will automatically improve our painting unfortunately it won’t.