Crazy Hobbies - I wanna paint, but should I do oil painting or what?

I wanna paint, but should I do oil painting or what?

I live in a small little town for college and its so boring, so im thinking maybe I should take up a hobby like painting. Whats the easiest form of painting for a beginner that still looks good? How much would it cost to get started and all, I can draw decent but not really good. I dont know where to start, thanks

Public Comments

Unless you're sticking with finger paints, the price will seem high at first. Not too high though. Just, try the cheapest stuff of all the techniques and find one that suits you and you love. Its easier to try everything and then pick which one you like most than spend all your money on one type and hate it. Have fun, and Good Luck!
Try your hand at both and see which better depicts your mental image.
Acrylics would probably be easier for a beginner. You can also combine it with collage. (Use Mod Podge or white glue, archival if you prefer, to glue pictures onto a canvas, board, or heavy paper; then paint on and around it with acrylics.) Watercolor can be fun but also very frustrating! I paint with oils, but it takes quite a bit of time to get used to the feel of them. They do produce the best colors & texture. What kind of painting do you want to do? Realistic, expressionistic, abstract, cartoon, graffiti? Look for an art instruction book with a style that you like and go from there.
I'd suggest starting out with watercolors or acrylics, as they are both fairly simple and safe to use. Oils can be a bit complicated, as you need to know about the chemistry of certain colors. I would suggest taking lessons if you want to learn about oils. You also may have fun playing with other mediums, like colored pencils (they also have these watercolor pencils -- they're fun!), pastels, charcoal, etc. Just go to the local art of craft store and get whatever strikes your fancy. ;) Good luck, and have fun!
after mastering sketching with a pencil..try acrylics first then move on to oil..acrylics drys fast ,oils drys much slower...the most important thing is practicing and experimentation..and be patient
Personally I wouldn't even start off with painting. I'd get myself a sketchbook, a good-sized one like 9x12 or thereabouts, some pencils (not necessarily even drawing pencils, I just use .7mm mechanical ones most of the time, slacker that i am) and maybe a set of colored pencils (Prismacolor has excellent ones, I'd start with a set of 12 or 24). And a kneaded rubber eraser. My advice is to get the drawing thing down before you try painting because if you aren't satisfied with your drawings, you won't like your paintings, and then you'll get discouraged and quit. Anyway once you've got a sketchbook, just sit down and draw. Plants, people, cars, the inside of Starbuck's, even your ipod if you're short on ideas, anything works as subject matter. If there's a Michael's or some other art store around where your school is, you can probably sign up for art classes if that interests you. Or there are plenty of articles online that'll help you learn techniques and such. Once you want to move on to painting, watercolors are portable, not too messy, and not too expensive. Just stick to the less-is-more rule with those because you can't really take away color once you've put it down. You can get watercolor paper in sheets, pads, or blocks of just about any size. Acrylics are great also because they're versatile and inexpensive. They do tend to make a mess unless you're careful. You can paint on anything with them, from canvas to watercolor paper to cardboard. You can dilute them with water to where they work almost like watercolors, or mix with a medium to produce impastos. Oils are expensive and messy but well worth it. They take forever to dry so you can take as long as necessary to work on details. But I wouldn't start with them until you've got a good hold on the others. To find out what stuff costs go to www.dickblick.com, they have really good discounts; sketchbooks you can usually find at random places like Kroger or Office Depot and they're like $10.