Creating art and being an artist is not an easy task. It takes years of practice to attain a certain level of expertise in the set field. Many artists spend most of their time figuring out many things like brush strokes and colors to use, etc. There wouldn’t be one great piece of art that hasn’t undergone stages of thought patterns. While the only way to master the art is doing it, a few tips and hacks from fellow artists wouldn’t hurt anybody.
- Use a Color Checker
Colors are a significant part of any painting or piece of art. So you must ensure that the colors in your artwork are accurate and natural. One thing about colors is that they can be deceptive to the human eye. Your visual judgment on color accuracy may be wrong many times due to several reasons. For instance, if you place a bright red-orange beside red color, the intensity of the orange color differs from when it exists next to blue. Also, many artists, especially novice ones, go with preconceived notions of how specific objects appear. So they might use a bright blue color to paint the sky than it naturally is. Softwares like Photoshop have color checkers so you can understand color accuracy and train your eyes over time.
Apart from perfecting the art, an artist must also learn the business aspect, i.e., selling and how to price your art. The Internet can be a great place to learn all about art marketing and the art business.
- Make the Reference Picture Black and White
Value, i.e., how dark or light an object is, also plays a crucial role in a painting or art, similar to color. So, you must try your best to achieve accuracy in the value of the object. That said, achieving accuracy with tones is also complicated. Therefore, the best thing to do if you are painting using a reference picture is to get a black and white print of it. Creating a monochrome effect for a photograph is easy, and that way, you can get a better idea of the values without worrying about its color. Finding the dominant and light values in your picture becomes easy. You can also buy a value finder like a grayscale to carry with you at all times.
- Avoid Using a White Canvas
A common rookie mistake many artists make is using a pure white canvas for painting and drawing. The colors black, and white, are extreme values, and painting on them is challenging because it becomes difficult for you to judge your values of other colors and objects you paint. You can start by staining your canvas a little bit until you achieve a neutral tone or start practicing on a canvas with a neutral tone like tan, blue, or grey. The same applies to drawings and portraits as well. The tones and shades look more natural and perfect on a toned paper than a glaring white one.
- Use a Grid
The proportions of the reference picture should also be accurate while creating art. The best way to achieve perfection and accuracy is by using a grid. You can also use an online grid application for this. Place a grid on your reference picture and recreate each section of the grid onto the canvas accurately. That said, don’t straight up try to copy the aspects of each grid because an artist needs to focus on the painting as a whole and not just a portion of it. You can practice painting without the grid once you’ve attained a level of perfection in recreating objects in your artwork. Using a grid helps mainly to perfect the proportions of large objects in your art.
- Take Progressive Photographs of Your Painting
You will not always be painting using a reference photograph. So, here’s a helpful hack for the times you are painting or drawing using your imagination. Make it a habit to capture progressive pictures of your artwork as you proceed. That way, you can think of what to add next and the best ways of doing it while you look at the photographs of your painting. For instance, you can use idle time while commuting on the train to imagine and visualize the forthcoming aspects of your painting. Doing so will immensely help you in creating a beautiful piece of artwork over time.
Final Thoughts
Those were some of the art hacks every artist must know. Learning how to create art is a time-consuming process, so patience is the key. You never know how close you are to creating a visual masterpiece. Analyze your artwork and identify the problematic areas. That way, you can dedicate more time perfecting those aspects. Also, make sure to possess the right tools required since that helps immensely as well.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
