How did Vincent van Gogh learn to paint?



Vincent took painting lessons in The Hague from a cousin by marriage, the celebrated artist Anton Mauve. Van Gogh felt his drawing technique was not yet good enough, so he also continued to practise fanatically. An uncle gave him his first commission: twelve drawings of city views in The Hague.

Did Van Gogh teach himself painting?

Largely self-taught, Van Gogh believed that drawing was “the root of everything.” His reasons for drawing were numerous. At the outset of his career, he felt it necessary to master black and white before attempting to work in color. Thus, drawings formed an inextricable part of his development as a painter.

How did Van Gogh prepare his canvas?

These canvases were specifically chosen based upon their weave which he then prepared and stretched himself². Upon this support van Gogh laid his ground. This ground is a protective layer between the canvas and the layers of paint which van Gogh prepared himself. This was a revolutionary technique in modern painting.

How did Van Gogh develop his skills?





Early Years: Largely self-taught, van Gogh started his career copying prints and reading nineteenth-century drawing manuals and books. His technique grew out of the idea that to be a great painter you had to master drawing first.

When did Van Gogh learn to draw?

The early works of Vincent van Gogh comprise a group of paintings and drawings that Vincent van Gogh made when he was 27 and 28, in 1881 and 1882, his first two years of serious artistic exploration.
Early works of Vincent van Gogh.

The Sower (after Millet)
Year 1881
Type Pen and watercolor on paper
Dimensions 48.1 cm × 36.7 cm (18.9 in × 14.4 in)

Was van Gogh a trained artist?

Though he had no formal art training, his brother Theo offered to support van Gogh financially. He began taking lessons on his own, studying books like Travaux des champs by Jean-François Millet and Cours de dessin by Charles Bargue. Van Gogh’s art helped him stay emotionally balanced.

Can artists be self-taught?

If you are disciplined, then you can achieve anything as a self-taught artist that a trained artist could achieve. In fact, formal art training can be restrictive to the learning of some artists, who may be better suited to the self-taught path.



What was Van Gogh’s technique?



impasto

Van Gogh was known for his thick application of paint on canvas, called impasto. An Italian word for “paste” or “mixture”, impasto is used to describe a painting technique where paint (usually oil) is laid on so thickly that the texture of brush strokes or palette knife are clearly visible.

What tools did Van Gogh use for art?

Van Gogh worked with oil paint. He used both paint with (natural) pigments, made the same way for centuries, as well as paint with new synthetic colourings. In Van Gogh’s time, an age of revolutionary scientific advancement, these colourings were being developed for the textile industry.