K
kronek67
Guest
Ever hear the saying "Practice makes perfect"? WRONG! I may be new to airbrushing, but I have studied a lot of other things and when I did my freedive training, it clicked.
Practice does NOT make perfect. Perfect practice makes Perfect.
Have you ever been practicing something, it was going good. You could see improvements. Then it suddenly starts to get worse and you cannot correct it. The harder you try the worse it gets until you finally get frustrated and give up thinking you can never learn this? Then you went to far. Once you notice that you have stopped progressing and have made a change for the worse, STOP. Come back to it tomorrow. Up until you stop progressing, you are focusing on the proper techniques and building good habits. One you start getting worse, you are only reinforcing the wrong habits. So now that 20 minutes of good practice is ruined by 3 hours of bad. Its not about the amount of time you spend practicing. It is about the QUALITY of your practice. That is where people are doomed to fail. They think that they have to spend hours upon hours to learn something. Don't get me wrong, it does take time. It is just how well you spend that time determines how much time you need.
For most things, I recommend setting a beginning time limit that can be expanded as you improve. Example would be to start with 15 minutes of practice. then when you can get through the entire 15 minutes without any issues stretch it to 30 minutes. However, Airbrush Tutor has made limiting your practice very simple with the use of the practice sheets. Here is what I recommend. It will also keep it from being as boing.
Print out 10 copies of the following practice sheets. Dots, Lines, Blends. Start with ONE sheet of dots. When you finish that sheet, STOP. Your practice session is done. There should be several hours between practice sessions. Example. One session each day. Or if you have time you can speed up the process by doing one in the morning and one in the evening. As you start to master dots, add in a sheet of lines. Then as you master lines, add in blends. After you have completed those start with the other tutorials like the eye. At this point you may not need the sheets any more for your practice. Do a few dots, lines and blends, then start on the eye. If you start getting frustrated, STOP. Come back to it tomorrow. Do a few dots, lines, blends and start again.
Here is an example of the practice sessions. I'm breaking it up into 5s. Some will be able to do it in 3s others will need to print more sheets and do it in 10s.
Sessions 1-5: One sheet of Dots. STOP
Sessions 5-10: One sheet of Dots, One sheet of Lines. STOP
Sessions 10-15: One sheet of Dots (optional), One sheet of Lines, One sheet of Blends. STOP
Sessions 15-20: One sheet of Lines, One sheet of Blends, (Optional, Start the Eye, but give yourself a time limit or stopping point).
Sessions 20-25: One sheet of Lines (optional), One sheet of Blends, Work on the Eye or next tutorial if you have finished the Eye.
All Future sessions: Do a few Dots, Lines, Blends, Then work on a painting. Weather it be a tutorial (recommended in the beginning) or something you want. The more you paint, the more time you will be able to paint
Doing this will break up your practice sessions, reduce you picking up bad habits and you will improve faster. Once you start painting, you will not be struggling with the basics as much and can focus on painting. The more you paint, the more time you will be able to spend on each session. Just start off small and build up to it. At anytime you get frustrated, that is a sign to stop or possibly just move on to a different portion of the painting.
I hope this helps, and yes, this is the process I'll be using as well.
Practice does NOT make perfect. Perfect practice makes Perfect.
Have you ever been practicing something, it was going good. You could see improvements. Then it suddenly starts to get worse and you cannot correct it. The harder you try the worse it gets until you finally get frustrated and give up thinking you can never learn this? Then you went to far. Once you notice that you have stopped progressing and have made a change for the worse, STOP. Come back to it tomorrow. Up until you stop progressing, you are focusing on the proper techniques and building good habits. One you start getting worse, you are only reinforcing the wrong habits. So now that 20 minutes of good practice is ruined by 3 hours of bad. Its not about the amount of time you spend practicing. It is about the QUALITY of your practice. That is where people are doomed to fail. They think that they have to spend hours upon hours to learn something. Don't get me wrong, it does take time. It is just how well you spend that time determines how much time you need.
For most things, I recommend setting a beginning time limit that can be expanded as you improve. Example would be to start with 15 minutes of practice. then when you can get through the entire 15 minutes without any issues stretch it to 30 minutes. However, Airbrush Tutor has made limiting your practice very simple with the use of the practice sheets. Here is what I recommend. It will also keep it from being as boing.
Print out 10 copies of the following practice sheets. Dots, Lines, Blends. Start with ONE sheet of dots. When you finish that sheet, STOP. Your practice session is done. There should be several hours between practice sessions. Example. One session each day. Or if you have time you can speed up the process by doing one in the morning and one in the evening. As you start to master dots, add in a sheet of lines. Then as you master lines, add in blends. After you have completed those start with the other tutorials like the eye. At this point you may not need the sheets any more for your practice. Do a few dots, lines and blends, then start on the eye. If you start getting frustrated, STOP. Come back to it tomorrow. Do a few dots, lines, blends and start again.
Here is an example of the practice sessions. I'm breaking it up into 5s. Some will be able to do it in 3s others will need to print more sheets and do it in 10s.
Sessions 1-5: One sheet of Dots. STOP
Sessions 5-10: One sheet of Dots, One sheet of Lines. STOP
Sessions 10-15: One sheet of Dots (optional), One sheet of Lines, One sheet of Blends. STOP
Sessions 15-20: One sheet of Lines, One sheet of Blends, (Optional, Start the Eye, but give yourself a time limit or stopping point).
Sessions 20-25: One sheet of Lines (optional), One sheet of Blends, Work on the Eye or next tutorial if you have finished the Eye.
All Future sessions: Do a few Dots, Lines, Blends, Then work on a painting. Weather it be a tutorial (recommended in the beginning) or something you want. The more you paint, the more time you will be able to paint
Doing this will break up your practice sessions, reduce you picking up bad habits and you will improve faster. Once you start painting, you will not be struggling with the basics as much and can focus on painting. The more you paint, the more time you will be able to spend on each session. Just start off small and build up to it. At anytime you get frustrated, that is a sign to stop or possibly just move on to a different portion of the painting.
I hope this helps, and yes, this is the process I'll be using as well.