10 Tips for the Self-Taught Artist
One doesn’t need to go to a prestigious art school or have a master artist as a mentor to become a good artist. I’m completely self-taught and have regular sales and commissions. Here are my top ten tips for becoming a successful self-taught artist.
1. Pick up your paintbrush and paint!
It’s stating the obvious but if you want to become a successful self-taught artist you need to paint and paint lots! I started out by painting every day for 30 days and haven’t stopped since. Self-teaching means learning as you go and you need to paint as much as you possibly can with different techniques, different brushes and different subjects. By doing this you will learn what you’re good at and, more importantly, what you’re not so good at and need to work on to improve.
You are likely to find that there are some things you just can’t get to grips with or don’t understand how to get the effect you’re after (or trying to emulate if you’re trying to create something you’ve seen before). When this moment comes, and it will, it’s time to get outside help to develop further and tip 2 kicks in…
2. Read and watch lots
When I first picked up a paint brush I had no idea what I was doing. My first effort (which you can see on my 30 Day Challenge Story) was awful and I decided that I need to find out how to paint. The wonder of Google presented me a myriad of articles on painting techniques and information on what brushes did what and how to use them effectively. I also watched videos - a lot of videos - on YouTube. Be warned, some are good and some are bad, so be selective! Finally, I bought a lot of books too.
The scientist in me has a tendency towards research so it was quite natural for me to research painting to help me understand it and determine which direction I was going to go in. It was through this that I knew I wanted to start with water colours and progress to acrylics.
3. Practice on a small scale
This is perhaps my favourite tip because it facilitates keeping you painting. If you are looking to develop as a self-taught artist don’t be drawn into trying to paint large complex paintings that you might find on YouTube tutorials. You could spend weeks working on a complex painting only to be disappointed with the results. And on that note, don’t think you are going to become Bob Ross overnight because you followed his video!
My tip is to keep a good stock of small canvases and papers to practice on. I often try out new ideas and techniques on 8x8 inch stretched canvas or A4 sized water colour and acrylic paper. By doing this it means you have time to finish whatever you are trying to create and the smaller space is more forgiving. Also, if you make a terrible mistake you can simply gesso over the canvas (with acrylics anyway) and start again. My practice pieces are never intended to be sold (no matter how good I think they might be) and are there just to let me try things out.
4. Be your own worst critic
It’s very easy to sit back and think you’ve created a masterpiece but in order to learn and improve one needs to learn how to review one’s artwork without bias, which is not always easy. Of course, you may be inclined to think your work is the best it can be and this can prevent you from seeing any obvious flaws or identify weaknesses in your ability or technique.
I know that I am overly critical of my own work and genuinely believe that I haven’t yet created a painting that I am truly happy with. To get around this I have stopped relying on myself and get a second opinion - well several actually.
5. Canvas the opinion of others
It’s one thing to be overly critical of your own work, or worse, too praising of your own work. It’s quite another to solicit the opinions of others and it can be brutal. I found that many of my friends were very complimentary about my work even when I knew there were major flaws evident. Some friends, however, can be very direct and were genuinely kind enough to be blunt and tell me when things were not quite right. I also started to show some of my apparently finished paintings across my social media platforms - strangers can be incredibly honest when you make it clear that that is what you are looking for. I’ve had some equally blunt feedback which has helped me enormously. I will be honest though and say that one has to develop a thick skin at times!
6. Be open-minded
When I first started painting I was fairly sure that I really did not like abstract art. In fact, some years ago my wife took me to the Tate Modern in London to see an abstract art exhibition and I hated it! Afterwards, we had to visit the Natural History Museum so that I could see some rocks just so I could feel better! You know where you are with a rock!
About 6 months into my journey as an artist I was asked if I would be interested in painting something abstract for a friend and they were prepared to pay. My initial response was honest and I said that I didn’t like or paint abstract art! My wife kicked me and politely pointed out that I would love to give it a try. The result was my first abstract painting and my first successful sale of one of my paintings!
Since then, I’ve spent a lot of time researching art and reading up on contemporary and historical artists and I now have a much wider appreciation of art in all its forms. I no longer shy away from any genre and remain open-minded when it comes to deciding what to paint.
7. Aim high but be realistic
I firmly believe that one should always aim high in everything one does. However, it is also necessary to be realistic and stay grounded. The art world can be fickle and there are a great many artists out there who may never sell a single painting despite their work being of very high quality. When setting out on your journey as a self-taught artist it’s a good idea to think about where you want to go with your artwork. Do you want to sell or are you just doing it for fun as a hobby? It may be that you start off without the intention of selling (just as I did) but then discover there is a demand for your work. It is then up to you whether or not you choose to embrace that and develop it further.
It’s worth bearing in mind that in some circles self-taught artists are not considered nearly as highly as those who attended schools or colleges so one needs to be realistic in expectation. That said, the 21st century world is powered through the internet and there are many hugely successful self-taught artists selling their work through their own websites or, in some cases, exclusively through Instagram.
8. Copy other artists to learn techniques
Now, for this tip I need to make it clear that I am not suggesting you copy another artist’s work and try to sell it! Instead, what I’m suggesting is that there is a lot you can learn by trying to replicate another painting. You will learn how brush techniques, layering and blending, for example. If you’re lucky you might be able to accurately recreate a piece but that really isn’t the aim. The idea is to simply try to repeat some of the elements so that you learn what needs to be done to get a particular effect.
I used this method to learn how to paint skies with clouds so that they had depth and didn’t look flat and one-dimensional. I have literally hundreds of pieces of paper with prototype skies!
9. Challenge yourself
Stepping out of your comfort zone is possibly one of the best ways to develop as an artist. If you were to attend an art class or a school you might find that you end up painting what you are told to paint. As a self-taught artist you can paint literally anything. However, deciding what to paint can be difficult if you have a tendency to keep doing what you know you’re good at. I found that asking others to suggest topics worked well. I was very comfortable painting landscapes and trees and was terrified when challenged by a friend to paint something else. However, if I hadn’t taken on the challenge I would never have discovered that I enjoy painting snow-scapes and scenes with the northern lights or that I have a flair for abstract art. I sometimes also look at other artists’ work and see if I could do something similar.
10. Put the time in and record everything
There really is only one way to become proficient at something and that is to put the time and effort in. I set myself the challenge from the beginning to paint every day for 30 days. This not only developed painting as a habit (which I now find impossible to break) but it also allows you to develop. Long pauses between painting will inevitably mean that you won’t benefit from the mistakes and the learning that you gain along the way. The mistakes are the most important. As frustrating as it is to make mistakes they tend to be the things we remember and learn from the most and even now I still experiment with different ideas and techniques - sometimes with disastrous results!
Finally, keep good records of what you do. I find photographing my steps helps a great deal, especially if I’ve created something I’m pleased with and want to remember what I did or how I did it. I also keep a notebook to record details about the materials I used. Basically, the better a record you keep the more invaluable it will become in the future as you continue to develop as a successful self-taught artist.
