Learn to paint
Clear guides to understand the fundamentals of painting — values, edges, composition, colour — and how to photograph your canvas well. Free, no account needed.
Values describe the lightness scale of an image, from pure black to pure white. They are the foundation of all realistic painting: values create the illusion of volume, depth and light, even before colour. Most paintings that «don't work» have a value problem, not a colour problem.
Read the guide →
Edges define where one shape stops and another begins. They are often overlooked, yet they are one of the painter's most powerful tools: varying edge types guides the eye, creates depth and gives a painting that living quality that «cut-out» images lack. A painting where everything is sharp looks stiff and flat.
Read the guide →
Composition is the organisation of elements in the painting: where the eye goes, what is important, what is secondary. It is felt even before the subject is identifiable — a good arrangement works like music, independently of what it depicts. Many technically clean paintings fail simply because their composition was never planned.
Read the guide →
Colour intimidates, but it becomes much simpler once you break it down into three dimensions: hue, value and saturation. Most colour mistakes — those paintings that look «garish», «plastic» or «muddy» — come from poor saturation control or from confusing hue and value. Mastering this vocabulary means you stop mixing at random.
Read the guide →
Photo quality changes everything: to track a painting's progress, archive it, share it or compare it to its reference, a bad photo gives bad information. Glare, perspective, distorted colours, crushed values… all faults that betray the real work. The good news: a few simple principles are enough to get a faithful photo, even with a phone.
Read the guide →