A great way to improve your painting skill is to look at a painter that you respect and copy them. Not just copy their work, although that can be helpful, use their work to dive into how they paint. Learn to improve our painting choices by understanding theirs. I set up a still life with produce from our garden and a pear from a friend’s. I chose Van Gogh to learn from because of his honesty, color, and I have always been drawn to his art. What do I mean by his honesty? He painted not only what he saw but what he felt about what he saw, something I could be better at. I learned a little about improving my brushstrokes and enjoyed diving into color that I normally wouldn’t try. I looked a lot at Van Gogh’s May 1888 still life “Bottle, Lemons and Oranges” while painting my little “Dinner with Vincent.” Acrylic on pressed paper board, 8 by 10 inches.
