Exercises for Improving Your Painting Ability

Based in San Francisco, Polly Zebrowski serves as a senior visual interaction designer at Wells Fargo. Polly Zebrowski enjoys a variety of creative activities outside of her professional design work, including painting.

As with many things, practice is the key to becoming a better painter. During your painting sessions, try the following exercises to further improve your abilities.

Start by painting one piece a week, but only use one color. Doing this helps you become more familiar with varying tones and shades as you paint. It also makes it easier to take the time to paint if you only focus on one piece a week. If you are already familiar with color shades, then try eliminating black and white from your available colors. Instead, use primary colors to create more vibrant shadows and highlights. Always complete the painting you start.

As you practice with your colors, you can work on improving your ability to paint various scenes. Try making a master copy, a painting copied from one of the Old Master artists of the past. With a painting to reference, you can recognize specific areas that need improvement. The more master copies you produce, the more you will improve your weaker areas.

Finally, take the time to do things other than paint. Although practice is important, you can easily get burned out if you spend multiple hours a day painting.