My First Ever Painting

In 2006 I walked into a $2 shop to buy a coffee mug. They were positioned right next to the art supplies.

I looked around at all the brushes and paints and thought to myself … wow I would love to whip up a painting.

To my surprise, the idea of painting got me excited. I was always a creative being so I guess it made sense. As I looked at all of the colours this voice in my head said “Buy Everything and have a go“.

So I purchased a bunch of stuff with no real idea what I was doing and took it all home. 32 different colours, 15 brushes of various shapes and sizes, 11 different canvases ... zero clue on how to use any of it. That weekend I did this painting … then I did something that most beginners do I imagine, I packed it all into a box and put it in the cupboard not to be seen again for some years.

First Painting In 2006

In 2007 while on a business trip to London, and with a spare hour up my sleeve, I walked into Tait Britain Gallery and stood mesmerized by the Turner watercolors and oil paintings. I knew then that painting would be in my future. On my return home I took up watercolor painting. The next few years were totally frustrating and again I gave up and packed everything away assuming I had no talent.

By November 2010 my Dad was ill and dying. He had been a painter and I got my creative urges from him. So I decided I wanted to do something special for him for Christmas that year so I did my first oil painting. He passed away in March 2011.

His passing inspired me to launch the TV show ‘Plein Air Painting TV’ later in 2011 despite the fact I really wasn’t that good at painting at the time. People loved the show and it led to the creation of Moore Art School.

Eventually my painting improved slowly but surely.

The key I found to learning how to paint is two things:

1 – Get the knowledge of the basics to get you started (The Moore Method of Painting is the easiest simplest way to learn to paint)

2 – Practice. There is no substitute for having a brush in your hand to learn how to paint.

Doing those two things for long enough will lead you to the same conclusion I had, which is that talent is over rated and anyone can learn to paint well when they know the basics and they practice lots.

I still have lots to learn but I am pleased to say I have had the good fortune to help hundreds of people learn to paint personally and thousands through our courses. The Moore Method of Painting is a result of all of the teaching I have done.

Here is a recent painting of mine:

Aireys Inlet Lighthouse Shadows

It’s been a terrific journey over the years … amazing what learning the basics and a bit of practice can do. Through this period studying painting it became obvious that it was very easy to overcomplicate things. So I focused on simplification.

That's when the idea of 3 colours, 3 brushes and 3 steps came to me. Once I simplified things right down my paintings improved dramatically.

I started teaching this simplified approach to students in a local art class I was running and all of a sudden their paintings improved rapidly as well. One of the students suggested we call the approach the Moore Method of Painting and the name has stuck for more than a decade now.

Tens of thousands of students globally have since learned to paint with the Moore Method of Painting.

People often comment on how amazed they are that I have made such great progress with my painting. Honestly I don't take credit for it personally. I put it all down to following the Moore Method of Painting.

This method is at the heart of what we teach in every project, course and painting challenge in the Learn To Paint Academy today.

The hardest part of learning to paint is starting.

Once you start you will realise that with the Moore Method of Painting anyone, including you, can learn to paint.