Our Comprehensive Guide to Improving Your Painting Skills
The arts are as important as academics. Many may argue on this point, but this statement remains true—art is crucial to life! The impact of the arts can be seen and felt throughout the world. As such, it’s essential to learn about art to become successful and better artists.
Learning is crucial to becoming the best artist you can be. Sure, natural talent plays a part in your growth, but you won’t be able to make the most of the potential you were born with without consistent practice and education!
It’s simple: improvement takes constant learning. If you want to draw like the master artists or paint more creatively than now, it’s crucial to learn and work on yourself. To help you improve your painting skills, just read on our proven methods below:
Be Familiar With Your Materials
For the art you’ll create, it’s crucial to work on your painting skills to produce better works, but the quality of your outputs doesn’t just rely on your talents alone. Before you create art, you must gain a deep understanding of the materials you’ll use to realize your vision.
From each pigment and result paints to the construction of a good painting surface, learning about your painting materials as much as you can significantly impact the outcome of your creations.
The process does sound slow, but trust us when we say that your efforts will pay off. Once you’ve carefully and thoroughly learned about your materials inside and out, you’ll be able to familiarize yourself better with the characteristics of your paints and how they would apply, interact, and layer.
With knowledge comes power—the more you invest in understanding your materials, the more stable your final products will be!
Experiment With a New Tool
To create art to the best of your abilities, it’s vital to practice diligently with the right tools and materials. However, this doesn’t mean that you should forever stick to what you know. Once you’ve gotten used to one tool, you should try out a new one that you’ve never used before.
We know what you’re thinking: “Why use another tool when I’ve been doing good enough work with the previous one?” Remember, no one has ever succeeded by staying in the same place for all of their life.
Newness is necessary to create better works of art. Trying out a new tool doesn’t mean painting with it right away; who knows, experimenting with it may give you a new amazing idea!
If you’ve been used to watercolors, you may want to learn how to start oil painting. You don’t necessarily have to enroll in oil painting classes right away, but simply playing with a new painting medium can give you a comparison of two different mediums, improving an aspect of your painting process.
Of course, the element of freshness does benefit your art, but a new tool can also stir your creative mind and inspire exciting ideas you wouldn’t have thought of if you didn’t venture beyond what you already know.
Create a Plan for Your Painting
Painting involves a long process, so it’s only natural to feel frustrated when faced with a large undertaking. Seeing a blank canvas isn’t always pleasant; sometimes, it can be frustrating knowing that you have to fill every white space with your strokes.
Painting doesn’t always have to be overwhelming and frustrating—by planning it out, you can have an easier and more enjoyable time making your art. Planning a painting may sound unnatural, but you’ll be surprised by how many artists do this before they start creating.
The most recognizable masterpieces were made by someone with talent, but many forget that they didn’t simply create the painting with little effort.
Many artists go through extensive planning before touching the canvas, even those who work loosely. You can produce formal drawings and transfer them to the painting surface if you want to, but you can also just lay down an abstract idea of what your painting will be.
If you’re worried that planning a painting may inhibit your creativity, don’t be! There are no rules when it comes to your artwork—you can let your painting evolve as you work but still know that you won’t end up with a mess.
Identify Your Weaknesses
No artist has ever been successful without accepting their weaknesses and working on them. Of course, it’s vital to improve only our strengths, but you won’t be able to grow by only focusing on what you know you’re good at!
You’re not alone in feeling apprehensive about discussing your weaknesses, but you must overcome your hesitation if you dream of becoming the best artist you can be. Your struggles do not make you less of a successful artist if you actively work on them.
Don’t aim for perfection; it may sound like a strength, but it can actually harm your career and growth. There’s nothing wrong with being imperfect and having flaws, as long as you do something about them. It doesn’t stop with identifying your biggest weaknesses—the key is figuring out how to make them positively work for you through your art.
If your disorganization has been preventing you from seizing golden opportunities, then get your things in order. When you track and record every important detail and record your pieces, you’ll have more time on the essential things.
On the other hand, if you know you’ve been struggling with how to paint with watercolors, then take a beginner watercolor tutorial! With acceptance and progress comes success—as long as you continually work on your weaknesses, you’ll be an infinitely better artist than you used to be!
Paint for a Few Minutes Daily
No artist has become successful or a master in their craft because of painting every few weeks; it takes constant dedication to the arts to fulfill one’s creative goals. Painting is, in a way, like an exercise—it’s essential to perform some activity that works the creative part of your mind to improve further.
Painting every day sounds exhausting, but we’re not telling you to create masterpieces every time. Even doing a miniature painting is enough to hone your talents, give you perspective on your strengths and weaknesses, and ultimately help you be a better artist.
Conclusion
For centuries, many have wondered whether artists are born or taught. While it is true that creativity is as heritable as the color of your eyes, no legendary artist has left a mark on the world without working on their talents. Education is necessary, especially in art. If you want to improve your natural creativity, make sure to follow our tips and never stop learning!
Have you always wanted to try watercolor painting but don’t know where to start? Then, E. John Robinson’s beginner watercolor tutorial is perfect for you! With our courses, you can learn how to paint with watercolors from the master artist, E. John. Enroll in his watercolor lessons today!