Alright so I've painted before but not on canvas , I don't no ANYTHING about paints and (please don't judge me on this)) I don't know if I can paint on canvas with oil paints? And what are the best paints to use? Should I draw out what I'm painting before I actually use paint? Thanks
Watch Youtube videos. Take classes. It's a huge topic and you never stop learning.
Try using a freshly sharpened pencil and lightly sketch out your image, or what your going to be painting. Acrylic paints are easier to paint with, in my opinion because you can paint over it if you make a mistake. Make sure you keep lots of brushes at hand and a cup of water to rinse them. Do your painting in layers. Starting with the very back, and work your way up. For example; a sunset painting; do the colours of the sunset first, let it dry and paint the land, then add tress or whatever you like. Make sure you let your paint dry before you paint over it because it'll smear or blend if it's still wet. Hope I helped!
If you're new at painting, I think acrylic paints would be best. They're easier to use than oils, and as Ruth said, if you mess up, you can just paint over it. You don't need to draw out what you're painting before you paint. In fact, I usually paint my entire background first, let it dry, then paint whatever's in the foreground. So that wouldn't work with sketching (because my background would cover up the sketch!). But anyways, it's not a good idea to draw on the canvas. Instead, you can just water down your paints so they're thin, and do a sketch with the watered down paint and a paintbrush.
