‘Daily painting”—the habit of completing small paintings on a daily basis has always intrigued me. In my experience, oil painting takes forever to set up and clean up. If there was a way that I could streamline the process, I was all in. I read about this process in the book, “Daily Painting: Paint small and often to become a more creative, productive, and successful artist,” by Carole Marine. She writes about her little hacks for incorporating daily painting into her schedule.
I decided to try it. I was not brand new to oil painting but never painted consistently because of the hassle of setting up, mixing paint, choosing references, and cleaning up. I ordered Fredrix Canvas Paper. Instead of ordering Quantity “1” in my checkout, I accidentally ordered “10.” When they came, I decided not to return the order. Instead, I took it as a sign that I was supposed to really give Daily Painting a try.
I prepared the canvases ahead of time. First, I used painter’s tape to secure the canvas paper to a foam whiteboard. Then, I prepared them with a neutral color (acrylic).
I choose my references ahead of time. I find choosing references to be the hardest part. I usually decide on a particular type of image that I want to work on (i.e., faces, body parts, facial expressions, etc.). I typically study an anatomy book as I draw to learn something new constantly.
I choose about 14 images ahead of time. I spend a few hours drawing each image using a charcoal pencil on canvas. When I am ready to paint, I have all the prep work (priming canvas, references, initial drawings ready to go).
Once I have completed the setup for a particular painting, I usually spend 3-5 hours actually painting. I try to finish the quick study in one sitting. I record color combinations in a separate notebook. I enjoy these blocks of daily painting sessions immensely.
Over the years, I have completed hundreds of small paintings and have re-ordered the Frederix Canvas paper in batches of 10 (intentionally this time). The initial paintings were quite bad, but over time, they improved as I practiced. Here are some of my favorite pieces I have completed using this daily painting technique.
If you’ve always wanted to learn how to paint, I hope this gives you an idea of how to start. Give it a try!