The key to perfecting your craft

1. Practice -The secret of perfecting your craft is practice, practice and more practice. I started with making cards before I seriously began painting. I’d give my finished works (“Thank you and get-well” cards to friends at Christmas time and birthdays. I just kept sketching, drawing, painting; trying different mediums (soft pastel, color pencils, oil paints, water color etc.) until I found the one that best suit me. I also experimented with different canvasses (paper, cloth, wood).

2. Patience and perseverance - At first, your work may look pre-schoolish (unless you were born gifted but still, that’s rare), eventually you’ll learn to mix colors; use brushes and develop your own style and ways of painting your favorite subject. Don’t give up!

3. Learning from others - There are many painting sites on the net now that offers free membership and lessons as well as video tutorials. Most of them are community sites for both newbies and veteran artists, and the professional ones are usually friendly and generous enough to share their expertise.

So don’t feel so bad if you can’t paint like Da vinci, you can learn.