If you’ve read my blog post called “My Story” you might remember me mentioning that I’m a self-taught artist. Well….I’m still learning, and I wanted to share with you some things that I do to teach myself new techniques! I search the internet sometimes and look for tutorials. I check out links on Pinterest, too! But do you want to know my biggest secret?
CHILDREN’S BOOKS!!
We are a homeschooling family, so the library is our friend! Most of the time, we go about once a week, and I spend lots of time looking in the children’s section with my kids. What I’ve found is that the art instruction books that are written for children are really very helpful, and they will teach you several basic skills in a way that is not so intimidating.
Our library has several great art instruction books for children and I recently picked up a few.
This one is great for teaching you how to paint many different objects, and it lists ways to use several different mediums. I spent a little time doodling and trying a few things.
This spread explained painting feathers and some different kinds of birds.
Here are my feathers. I’m still working on it! 🙂
These pages show different ways to paint a trees. These are really easy strokes, and you can make a large variety of tree designs using them.
Here’s one…
And two…
And three.
I’ve learned many different painting techniques, gathered ideas, and learned other crafts, like knitting, using library books written for children. Now you know my secret! Go check some out for yourself, and see what new skills you can learn!
Amy L
Wow and LOVE! Thank you for sharing!
Amanda
Thanks so much! I hope you can benefit from it somehow! 🙂