Skill Level Assessment - Art Life School

The following questions will assess your experience level with oil painting.
There are no wrong answers, but please try to answer as honestly as you can.

Materials

Pick the answer which most accurately describes you.

I’m not sure what materials to buy and why. I don’t understand the differences between different colors and surfaces. I don’t understand what medium to choose or how much to use. I don’t know how to lay out my palette or what kind of brushes to buy.

I understand what materials I like to use mostly, but I run into confusion sometimes especially when I change up my materials.

I know exactly what materials to use to get the best results. I lay out my palette the same way every time. I know what colors to put out, how much medium to use and why. I can also change materials and get the same quality of results.

Drawing

Pick the answer which most accurately describes you.

I can draw from photographs pretty well, but when I draw from life I have a really hard time or I’ve never drawn from life. I don’t understand how to draw perspective. I often resort to tracing, projecting, or gridding photos to compensate for my lack of drawing skills.

I can draw pretty well from life. I understand one point perspective. I still struggle with symmetry, proportion, and creating form especially with complex objects.

I can pretty much draw anything from life with good results no matter what the subject matter. I understand one and two point perspectives. My drawing never looks off in my paintings. I know how to break down complicated forms into simple geometric shapes and create form.

Painting Process

Pick the answer which most accurately describes you.

I don’t have a painting process. It changes all the time. Sometimes, I’m not sure where to begin let alone finish.

I feel my painting process feels for the most part stable, but I still get lost sometimes and don’t know how to finish the painting.

I feel 100% confident that when I start a painting I know how to complete it successfully. I know exactly how to take a painting from start to finish every time using a routine process. I know what to do and when to do it to ensure a high quality finished image. I’m comfortable with changing up the order of steps in my process knowing I will never feel lost and not forget any part of the process.

Brush Handling

Pick the answer which most accurately describes you.

I feel like a giraffe wielding a wet noodle! Paint goes everywhere except where I want it to go. I feel out of control with the brush and gooey paint so I tighten up to try to control it by painting in the lines.

I’m gaining a lot of confidence with my brush strokes. I understand how to carve out with paint, I paint with my arm and not my wrist, and I’m comfortable working wet into wet. Occasionally I do feel like I’m going backwards and losing brush control. Sometimes I feel like I don’t know how to load the brush or palette knife. I still get confused about what direction to make a brush stroke.

Brush handling has become intuitive to me. I know how much paint to pick up, what direction of stroke to make and what kind of pressure is needed. When a brush stroke occasionally doesn’t go down the right way I know why and how to fix it. My brush just feels natural and like an extension of my art.

Edges

Pick the answer which most accurately describes you.

What are edges? I don’t understand what edges are in painting and I don’t have a clue where to use a hard edge, soft edge, and why that would be.

I kind of understand edges now, but I still get confused about where to use a soft or hard edge and why.

I’m a master of my edges. I know where to use them exactly and for what purposes either for stylistic reasons or for representational purposes.

Values

Pick the answer which most accurately describes you.

I don’t really know what values are or I have a very vague idea of what they are.

I understand what values are and how to judge them, but I still struggle to hold my value shapes or design my value structure and why.

I know values inside and out. I can identify the value of a color instantly. I can hold the value of my shapes with ease. I know how to structure my values in a painting for maximum impact.

Color

Pick the answer which most accurately describes you.

I don’t know how to mix colors very well. I struggle to mix clean color and don’t understand how the color wheel works.

I understand how to mix all colors on the color wheel using the primary colors. I can judge the hue, saturation, and value levels of a color that I see. I understand how to use my color wheel to design a painting.

I understand all of the above plus I understand how to create color harmony or emphasis in my painting by using color. I understand the differences between warm and cool temperatures and how to use them to describe light or create an effective design.

Composition

Pick the answer which most accurately describes you.

I don’t understand how to design a painting of my own. I need some place to start as I often don’t know what to paint.

I understand how to design a painting of my own for the most part. I still occasionally get dud compositions and can’t figure out how to make them work better.

I’m a composition ninja! I know how to arrange a painting for maximum effect and lead the viewer's eye through the picture. When I run into a problem with a composition I can quickly figure out what’s not working and course correct.

Artist Voice

Pick the answer which most accurately describes you.

I can copy other artist’s ideas and work, but I have no idea what to paint on my own without that. I’m mostly doing lesson work.

I’m starting to paint a lot of my own ideas that aren’t based on lessons or other artist’s work. I know what subjects, styles, colors, value structures that speak to me the most. I still can get caught up in comparison or self doubt about my work.

I know clearly who I am as an artist. I only paint independent work. I watch lessons or look at others' work for inspiration, but I don’t need to copy them. I know exactly what I’m here to create and am confident staying in my own lane without comparing myself to other artists.

Art Biz

Pick the answer which most accurately describes you.

I can’t even contemplate running an art business. I just want to learn how to paint. Although the possibility of becoming good enough one day that people might want to buy my paintings is secretly an exciting one for me.

I’ve sold some of my paintings and it feels really good to me! But I’m scared to commit to building an art business or scared to admit that I want that for myself. I might want to be in a few shows and sell a few paintings, but not run a serious art business.

I’m ready to build an abundant art business! My skills are at least at intermediate level so I have the quality skills to begin building my art business.

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