How to Master a Medium Change

Alice Sheridan (Ep.70) had art training. She was an experienced oil painter.

And yet, after switching from oil to acrylic, it still took her three years to feel confident in the new medium.

Here's why.

It's easy to think that it's just the medium that changes when you switch paint types. An easy 1 to 1.

The truth is far from it.

Changing any one thing, but especially paints, is an exponential change.

You change the paint, which means you suddenly don’t know how light or dark something will dry. Which means all of your color mixing knowledge is now scrambled.

How quickly everything dries is now different, which means all of your rhythms around your palette have been turned on their head.

The new paint viscosity means all of your muscle memory of how much paint to scoop up on your brush or how hard to push that brush onto your surface to make a particular type of mark or edge, is now gone.

The list goes on and on.

Everything big and small, physical and thought ALL changes when you change even just one thing.

And that’s just for the stuff you do already know. What about the skills you’re still working to master? Combine the two and three years starts to look fast.

Put it to Practice:

The key is patience.

No matter whether you're starting new with no artistic experience or are transitioning between two media as a seasoned painter, you will need time to build those new skills.

For experienced painters, some of that knowledge will translate quicker. Other pieces may take more time.

Be patient and observant of where you’re running into trouble. And instead of getting mad at yourself for maybe not yet being where you'd hoped to be yet, take the lessons you're learning and celebrate the progress.

And where you can, simplify. Instead of starting with 12 colors, maybe you start with three primaries plus a white. You’ll master fewer things more quickly, and you can then take that knowledge and build on it.