Subjects can be simple or complete. A complete subject tells us who or what the sentence is about, along with any extra information about the subject.
Beginner’s Guide to Choosing Paintable Subjects with Stan Miller
TLDR Beginners can start painting by choosing simple subjects, using basic techniques, and carefully observing and replicating details to create realistic watercolor paintings.
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Key insights
It’s important for beginners to start with basic techniques and gradually build their skills, rather than attempting complicated paintings right away.
Trying to paint a complex subject without practice is like trying to play Rachmaninoff on the piano without any prior experience – it’s impossible and takes years of practice.
Taking your time and going slow is important when painting a complex subject, allowing for more precision and detail.
The artist demonstrates how to use white paint to restore a lost highlight on the nose, showcasing a technique for achieving desired effects in a painting.
Many people make the mistake of choosing incredibly difficult subjects to paint, but it’s important to start with something simple and easy to paint.
Softening the edge between dark and light strokes is one of the hardest techniques in watercolor painting.
Miller’s constant back and forth between the picture and his painting demonstrates the importance of careful observation and attention to detail in creating realistic artwork.
“We want to use the big brush as much as we possibly can because we’re going to get a much more attractive painting.”
Stan Miller emphasizes the importance of teaching painting techniques to beginners, as even 8th graders can achieve impressive results with proper guidance.
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Q&A
- What are some tips for beginners in painting? — Beginners can start by choosing simple subjects, using basic techniques, and carefully observing and replicating details to create realistic watercolor paintings.
- How can I make choosing a paintable subject easier? — Starting with simple black and white compositions or basic techniques can make choosing a paintable subject easier for beginners.
- Is it necessary to have prior experience to paint complex subjects? — No, it is recommended to start with a simple subject when learning to paint, rather than starting with a complex subject.
- What are some important techniques in watercolor painting? — Techniques such as darkening and softening edges, using different brush sizes, and gradually adding darker and lighter strokes are important in watercolor painting.
- Can anyone learn to accurately paint a subject? — Yes, anyone can learn to accurately paint a subject by carefully copying its shapes and observing and replicating the details.
00:00
Starting with simple black and white compositions or basic techniques can make choosing a paintable subject easier for beginners.
02:56
The speaker shows how to choose a simple subject, create a sketch using basic shapes, and apply paint with a one inch flat brush.
04:47
It is important to have a precise drawing and carefully fill in dark areas when painting, and instead of copying someone else’s painting, find an easy-to-paint photograph and create your own project, as demonstrated by the speaker who emphasizes gradually adding darker and lighter strokes to create a realistic effect when painting an eye.
07:43
Painting with watercolors is as easy as learning to write the alphabet, and anyone can accurately paint a subject by carefully copying its shapes.
09:34
Choose a simple subject for easier painting, and beginners can use tracing for accurate drawings.
12:09
Choose paintable subjects that are not too difficult to paint in order to enjoy the process more, using techniques such as darkening and softening edges in watercolor.
14:39
Learn to paint by observing and replicating details, such as hair, using a small brush and constantly referring to the picture, while softening edges and creating a softer effect in watercolor painting.
18:19
The speaker demonstrates techniques for painting subjects, including creating soft edges, using brush strokes for texture, adding light tones, and emphasizing the importance of a good subject photo, while also discussing the use of different brush sizes and speeds to achieve different painting styles.
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What Is a Complete Subject?
To understand and define the complete subject, it’s important to understand what the subject and predicate are.
A subject is the part of a sentence that tells us who or what the sentence is about. A predicate is the part of a sentence with a verb—it’s what the subject is doing.
There are two types of subjects in sentences: simple and complete.
A simple subject is only the main word or words that “do” the verb. No extra information is included in a simple subject.
A complete subject, on the other hand, includes the main word or words and any modifiers.
Modifiers are words that add information or description to another word. They can include articles, adjectives, and adverbs. They can also include entire phrases or clauses.
Let’s see what modifiers look like in an example sentence:
- My best friend Hannah has two children.
The sentence is about Hannah. Hannah is the simple subject. The complete subject is “my best friend Hannah.”
Components of a Complete Subject
Let’s take a deeper look at the parts of a subject so you can easily identify the complete subject.
Complete subjects usually appear at the beginning of a sentence or clause, but not always.
The first step in identifying complete subjects is asking yourself who or what is doing the verb. If the verb is not an action verb, ask who or what the sentence is primarily talking about.
Now, let’s check out a detailed example:
- The beautiful painting she bought on vacation hung on the wall behind the sofa.
Before we can find the complete subject, we should find the simple subject and the predicate. The simple subject typically refers only to the main noun.
In this sentence, the simple subject is “painting.” Notice how this doesn’t include the article “the.”
Now, let’s identify the predicate so that we know which words comprise the complete subject.
The predicate is the part of the sentence that contains the main verb or verb phrase. In our example, the verb is “hung.” The complete predicate is “hung on the wall behind the sofa.”
That leaves us with the complete subject, “the beautiful painting she bought on vacation.”
It includes the simple subject, “painting,” and the modifiers “the” and “beautiful.” It also includes a restrictive clause, “she bought on vacation.”
Some sentences have a compound subject, which means there are two or more subjects that share the same verb. Together, all the simple subjects and their modifiers make a complete subject. Here’s how to find both the simple subject and the complete subject in this situation.
- The brown dog and the little boy played outside all day.
The conjunction “and” lets us know we’re dealing with a compound subject. Even though this sentence has a compound subject, we will use the same process. The simple subjects in this example are “dog” and “boy.” These are who the sentence is about.
Next, let’s find the verb. In this sentence, “played” is the verb. The complete predicate is “played outside all day.”
That leaves us with the complete subject, “The brown dog and the little boy.” The components of the complete subject in this example include articles, “the,” and adjectives, “brown” and “little.”
Complete Subject Examples List
Here are several more complete subject examples. In each sentence, locate the simple subject, the verb, and the complete predicate. This will help you find the complete subject.
- The new book I checked out from the library was so well written!
What is this sentence talking about? It’s talking about a new book. The simple subject is “book.” The verb “was” tells us where to find the predicate. This means that the complete subject is “The new book I checked out from the library.”
In the following examples, the complete subject is highlighted.
- My grandmother’s vintage stand mixer still works better than any new model.
- Lola, my daughter, loves to play with cars and trucks.
- The new high chair and the used stroller are both for sale.
- After class, the students who failed the test stayed behind to ask questions.
Remember, the complete subject represents all the information that modifies the simple subject. If you can identify the simple subject and the verb, finding the complete subject is easy.
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Book Review: You Can Paint Vibrant Watercolors in Twelve Easy Lessons
This is a helpful beginners book for learning watercolour. The author and artist is Yuko Nagayama (永山裕子) from Japan. The original edition of this book is もういちど 透明水彩を始めよう。 基本の12のレッスン which was published in 2012. This edition is translated by publisher Harper Design. There are 104 pages. This book takes a very hands-on approach to teaching watercolours. There are several step by step tutorials to follow along. It even teaches you basic proportional drawing so that you can sketch the outline of the subject before you add watercolours. I find that very useful for beginners with absolutely no knowledge at drawing. There are even tips on sketching. The tutorials feature good looking examples. Even though the subjects are simple such as fruits or flowers, after Nagayama’s watercolour treatment, they look really nice. The instructions are simple to follow, and the colours to use are clearly listed. Compared to other watercolour books, this is not comprehensive, so it does not teach you effects like splatter or more advanced techniques like wet on wet. What it does well is to get you comfortable at painting simple subjects with watercolour. And you can then build on what you learn for more challenging subjects in the future. It’s a great instructional book for watercolour beginners. The Japanese edition is also very favourably rated on Amazon Japan. You Can Paint Vibrant Watercolors in Twelve Easy Lessons is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN) 
Visit Amazon to check out more reviews. If you buy from the links, I get a little commission that helps me get more books to feature. Here are direct links to the book:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp | Amazon.cn
