Questions to ask yourself to determine if you are ready to become a live wedding painter:
Becoming a live wedding painter does require a few prerequisites, but if you are considering becoming one you probably already meet most of them!
Are you confident in your figure drawing and painting abilities? When painting at a wedding, you will be pressed for time. So instinctually being able to proportion human form is a must! This is why every art school will require figure drawing. If one part of the body is too big or too small, the viewer will notice! It is a good idea to practice drawing people before your first live painting.
Do you work well under pressure? Painting in front of a large audience at a wedding is certainly a different experience than painting alone in your studio. Most artists paint by themselves, and most of us are pretty introverted. But that doesn’t have to stop you from live wedding painting. You won’t need to continually talk to people at a wedding, but you should expect many small interruptions and many eyes on you! Consider practicing plein air painting at a park or take your sketchbook to a coffee shop to get a feel for working outside your comfort zone environment.
How do you do painting from real life? Many artists these days (including myself) often create based on photographs. But the art of creating from real life is essential to live wedding painting! Sure, you will take lots of reference photos to work from, but you are unique because you are there in person. You can create the composition completely rather than being confined by the composition of a photograph.
How quickly can you paint? We all work at different paces, and that’s ok! With some practice you will get an idea of how much detail you will be able to add to the painting while still completing (or almost completing) it during the wedding day. It’s also totally ok to paint slower than other live painters you may see online. You don’t have to complete the painting by the end of the wedding. You can take it back to your studio for touch ups if that fits your methods better. For me, I have found that 6 hours is my limit of how long I can physically and mentally paint in one sitting. And I like to take my paintings home to add touch ups and take photos and scans before giving to the client.
Do you have all the tools? You don’t have to worry about this one right away, but it is important to consider what kind of tools you will need to have to paint at a wedding. Some are obvious, like paints, brushes, canvas/paper. But some you may not have thought of like, a water vessel with a lid, easel that can be easily transported, stay-dry pallet, or ergonomic pallet. If you would like more guidance on what to bring as a live wedding painter, check out my Live Wedding Painting Packing List.