So you want to take up painting......where do you start?
Right here!

The first thing you have to realize is that anyone of any age can paint. You don't have to have any qualifications, you don't have to be able to draw. All you need is the will to express yourself and some materials to get started.The following is a list of the basic items required:

Paint: Click here to view Colour mixing with Chromacolour by Don Harrison for suggested colours to incorporate into your starter colour palette.
A surface to paint on: Chromacolour will paint onto any clean non-greasy surface. A few suggestions to start with are paper, card, canvas, wood.
Mixing Palette: A plain white china plate is ideal as it can be wiped clean quickly and easily.
Brushes: Four brushes in varying sizes, a painting knife, a dip pen, a natural sponge.

One of the amazing things about Chromacolour is that it is so versatile. This means that you can use Chromacolour to try out almost any painting technique without having to buy a different type of paint for each style/technique, such as watercolour, oil, acrylic or ink.

Try the following exercise to see just how versatile Chromacolour is:
Take a tube of Chromacolour and squeeze a reasonable amount onto a china plate and start painting - it works just like an acrylic, only brighter and more opaque. Now mix a small amount of Gel Thickener with the paint already on the plate and you can paint using an impasto technique (thick with lots of brush marks, see left), you can even use a painting knife to build the paint as thick as you like - it will take a while to dry but it won't crack.

Squeeze a tiny amount of paint onto a clean plate, add some clean water and mix. The paint will dilute immediately and produce a semi opaque ink that can be used for ink and wash techniques. Simply load a dip pen with the ink and draw with the pen onto watercolour paper.

Wipe the plate clean, squeeze out a tiny amount of another colour. This time add a lot of water and mix. The paint will dilute into a beautiful, translucent wash that is perfect for watercolours. The drawing you did with the pen will be dry by now, not only dry but waterproof too, so you can use the watercolour wash to "colour in" your drawing without fear of damaging the lines.

Standard "wet in wet" and "wet on dry" watercolour techniques are also easy to do with Chromacolour, in fact everything is easier because Chromacolour is very forgiving and is the perfect product for the inexperienced.

Before starting on your first painting, take some time to look at Beginning Colour Mixing with Don Harrison.

You can use Chromacolour to learn the basics of any technique and it doesn't cost a fortune to try! Compare Chromacolour with what you would have to pay if you were to buy ten colours of each of watercolour, acrylic and oils in order to try them out to see what technique suits you best.

To buy:
Ten 0.17 oz (5ml) tubes of good quality watercolour will cost around $50;
Ten 1.7 oz (50ml) tubes of good quality acrylic will cost around $40;
Ten 0.85 oz (25ml) tubes of good quality oils will cost around $60;
This totals $150 not including the different brushes, surfaces, mediums
and solvents necessary to use each of these.

With Chromacolour, a starter set of ten 1.7 oz (50ml) tubes of colour, some gel thickener, four top quality brushes and a dip pen is less than $85. For another $19.50 you get "Chromacolour - a Revolution in Art", the hardcover book that will teach you how to use Chromacolour and get the most from its incredible versatility when painting landscapes, flowers, animals and portraits.