Curious as to why you bought the game in the first place???? At some point it helps to rely on friends but it's not hard to catch bugs, fish or dig up fossils.
Really? IMO it's a lot more work getting your friends to give you stuff rather than do it yourself.
First, if you just got the game, you have to set up internet. Then you have to both add eachother's FCs, then you have to pick a good time to visit eachother (if you're in different timezones this can be a pain), then you have to actually do the thing and hope your connection doesn't snap, and finally you get the stuff.
Or you could equip fishing rod, go to the sea, throw the bobber at a fish shadow, and TA-DA!
It'd be easier to do the fossils, fish, and bugs by yourself. As for the paintings, you could look around the Re-Tail board or just wait for Redd to stop by your town and then look up a guide online to find the real piece of art.