Unlock the Secrets of Painting Realism with Science-Inspired Techniques

Develop Fine Motor Skills & Train Your Brain To See Like A Realist

Sighting techniques, perceptual skills, flow states, fat-over-lean layering, observation techniques, and more to help you capture lifelike depth and color.

Painting as Brain Training

Painting isn't just about applying color. It's a great way to train your brain to see things more clearly and boost your creativity. When you focus on realistic painting and practice observing what’s really there, you may improve your visual-spatial skills. This helps you go beyond just knowing what an eye looks like to actually seeing things like an artist, focusing on the light, edges, and how everything connects.

Fine Motor Control & Flow States

This can help you develop fine motor control, improve hand-eye coordination, and experience flow states. Flow states are those immersive zones where you lose track of time, and your work feels effortless.

Who Is This For?

For beginners and intermediates, I hope these science-inspired approaches make realism both achievable and enjoyable: prioritize observation over intuition, layer strategically to prevent cracking, and embrace mindfulness to reduce distractions.

What You'll Find Here

Explore a range of topics, including sighting techniques—a perceptual strategy for measuring proportions—and material science to find the best art supplies for your projects. I will provide suggestions for achieving precise observation in realistic settings, explain how to move beyond childhood symbolic shortcuts that lead to cartoon-like drawings, and offer training tips for your brain to better perceive edges, negative spaces, relationships, light, shadows, and more.

Easy-To-Apply Tips

Learn some simple and easy-to-apply tips, such as relaxing your gaze, squinting to simplify large areas of color, and using sighting to map out key points. Over time, your brain should adapt, making accurate representations second nature as your skills improve. Mine are still a work in progress, but I've come a long way.

Art Composition, Tools, & Supplies

Explore composition tips and a variety of tools related to painting. Let's discuss paint itself. Paint is made up of pigment suspended in a binder—gum arabic for watercolors (which are water-soluble) and oils for traditional oil paints (which dry slowly through oxidation). Brushes can provide precision, while palette knives allow for expressive texture.

It's important to choose tools that suit your medium's viscosity to achieve better control and flow. Additionally, we'll cover the science of paint drying and techniques for adjusting drying times to meet your artistic goals.

Paint Drying Times

Water-based paints, such as watercolor, gouache, and acrylic, dry through evaporation. In contrast, oil paints dry via oxidation (also known as polymerization).

Fat Over Lean Rule

However, to prevent cracking in oil painting, it's essential to follow the fat-over-lean rule. This rule states that you should apply lean layers (thinned with solvent, fast-drying) first, followed by fat layers (oil-rich and slow-drying) on top.

Adhering to this method ensures even drying rates, enhances adhesion, and promotes longevity. This principle is grounded in materials science to avoid tension from uneven expansion. You can observe the fat-over-lean process by examining layered oil paint examples.

Optimize For Luminosity

Learn how to optimize for luminosity in your painting. The ground color affects brightness: White grounds enhance luminosity (reflecting light back through layers), while toned grounds are said to unify values.

Paint Surfaces

We'll discuss a variety of painting surfaces like wood panels (my favorite for stability), stretched canvas, panels, metal, or paper if primed properly.

Painting As A Mindfulness Practice

I believe that painting fosters mindfulness: Thoughts drift like clouds, but you refocus on observation. Learn about activating flow states (per Mihály Csíkszentmihályi's research). This state heightens focus, creativity, and perceptual accuracy, turning frustration into growth.

Conclusion:

Give these science-inspired techniques a try: perceptual training, strategic layering, mindful observation, to unlock believable realism. Believable doesn't have to be perfect, but it accurately represents nature. Practice consistently and experiment safely. Keep going. I'm cheering for you!