My first oil painting at age 14 - "Crap no.1" - 6x8"
Thought you might like to see this and be encouraged - I often wonder how great artist's first paintings looked. I'm not saying I'm a great artist, but I can certainly see the improvement that practice has made. This painting was made from copying an old black and white photograph from a magazine. I remember struggling with it at the time - 21 years ago. I also remember the mistaken impression I had that using these new oil paints would surely make painting easier, and how disappointed I was with the result - hence the derogatory title I gave it.
No, oils don't make it easy to paint. They do make it easy to scrape off or paint over your mistakes, but they don't help you paint it any better the second time - only practice and study will do that. So there you are, I'm not ashamed to show you my first oil painting - it's a stepping stone, and that's how I encourage you to see your own paintings - little stepping stones to something better.
Here's a more recent painting...
Enjoy your steps - each one is precious.
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