Top 100 Painting Tips for Artists

A collection of useful painting tips to help you improve your painting.

This collection of 100 painting tips deals with all sorts of things that come up when you're painting, preparing to paint, or cleaning up after a painting session. If you've got a great painting tip, you can share it here.

Tips for Dealing with Paint Tubes

1. Use Pliers to Open Paint Tubes
2. Preventing Stuck Paint Tube Caps
3. What To Do If a Paint Tube Cap Breaks
4. Get the Last Bit of Paint Out a Tube

Brush Care Tips

1. Fixing Rough Hairs in a Paint Brush
2. Shampooing Brushes
3. Protecting Brushes From Masking Fluid
4. Extend the Life of Sable Brushes
5. Rescuing Old Oil-Painting Brushes
6. Painting Wet-on-Wet: Get Two Strokes from a Brush
7. The Perfect Brush for Painting Fur
8. Brush Movement for Painting Fur
9. Organise Your Brushes

See also: How To Clean Your Paint Brushes

Painting Technique Tips

1. How to See Shapes
2. Don't Color In Shapes
3. Paint Convincing Shadows
4. Painting Straight Lines
5. Painting Lace
6. Painting Barn Roofs
7. Finishing a Painting

Practical Painting Tips

1. Dust-free Drying
2. Making Varnish Less Glossy
3. Cleaning an Eraser
4. Easy Way to Use a Hairdryer
5. Converting a Stepladder into an Easel
6. Cleaning a Palette When Plein-Air Painting
7. Use Low Tack Masking Tape
8. Shape of Canvas for Landscape Painting
9. How to Decide Where to Place Elements
10. Leave a Blank Border
11. Storing Paper for Easy Access
12. Protecting Reference Material
13. Use a Magazine to Transport Drawings
14. Tearing a Sheet of Paper in Half Easily

Canvas Tips

1. Removing a Dent in a Canvas
2. Use Impasto to Hide a Dent
3. Tightening Loose Canvas
4. Choosing Between Cotton and Linen Canvas
5. Draw on Canvas with a Brush Not a Pencil

Color Mixing Tips

1. Mixing Black
2. Getting White Whites
3. Greens in a Landscape
4. Mix Your Own Flesh Tones
5. Use Daylight Bulbs in Your Studio for True Colors
6. Learn the 'Real' Names of Colors
7. How to Determine What a Color Is

See Also: Color Mixing Quiz

Creativity Tips

1. How to Overcome the Fear of a Blank Canvas
2. Using a Colored Gesso for Background
3. Never Get Creative Block Again
4. Increase Your Productivity through Variations
5. Create a Series
6. What to Paint When You're Uninspired

See Also: 10 Tips for Loosening Up

Figure Painting Tips

1. Painting Ears
2. Painting Eyes
3. Painting Human Hair
4. Use Glazes for Flesh Tones
5. Ensuring Figures Aren't Too Stiff or Upright
6. Be Your Own Model

See Also: Figure Painting Class 1: Body Proportions

Still Life Painting Tips

1. Direction of Light in a Still Life
2. Setting Up a Still Life
3. Photographing Objects for a Still Life

Framing Tips

1. Use Standard Size Canvasses if You're Framing
2. Make Your Own Strip Frames
3. Paint the Edges of the Canvas Instead of Framing
4. Making a Frame to Mail a Painting Safely

Perspective and Composition Painting Tips

1. Create a Feeling of Distance
2. How to Spot Mistakes
3. Using a Proportion Wheel

See Also: Top 10 Tips for Painting Compositions

Acrylic Painting Tips

1. Cleaning Dried Acrylic Paint off a Palette
2. Storing Excess or Leftover Acrylic Paint
3. Extend Working Time of Acrylics
4. Water for Acrylics
5. DIY 'Stay-Wet' Acrylics Palette

See Also: Top 10 Tips for Beginner Acrylic Painters

Oil Painting Tips

1. Good But Cheap Turps for Oil Painting
2. Stuck Oil Paint Tube Caps
3. Underpainting Oils with Acrylics

See Also: Top 10 Tips for Beginner Oil Painters

Watercolor Painting Tips

1. Covering Large Areas in Watercolor
2. Controlling Results in Watercolor
3. Get a Fine Line with Masking Fluid
4. Don't Shake Masking Fluid

Pastel Painting Tips

1. Using a Knife for Detail with Pastels
2. Framing Pastels