Instructions

1

Paint quickly. van Gogh created almost 900 paintings during his life and many more drawings and sketches. Get inspired easily by the landscape and the people around you, and draw without analyzing or thinking too much about the subject.
2

Use colors like black, olive green and sienna at the beginning of your career. Wash canvases with tales of everyday peasant life like "The Potato Eaters." Move on to feature complementary colors, placing yellows and oranges against blues and greens.
3

Create still life paintings of fruits and flowers. Express joy and optimism in a series devoted to "Sunflowers," employing large bunches of vibrant yellow flowers in a vase from initial bloom to final withering.
4

Connect with your muse by using swirling strokes in your paintings. "Starry Night," based on a neighborhood scene in the village of Saint-Remy, France, and "Wheat Field With Crows" will show the skill and heart of this technique. Continue to use this stroke in your later paintings, giving them a sense of urgency and passion.
5

Focus on emotion, rather than technique. Eschew cold realism for depth of expression. This style will typify the Expressionist movement, in which artists exaggerate certain aspects of a painting or object to create a mood.