How Can I Improve My Art?
Up-and-coming artists, or young artists, always like to ask experienced artists for advice on making art and living life. How can I improve? How can I get better, or to a professional level? Or maybe you are simply not satisfied with the way that your art is coming out. There are many techniques that might guarantee an improvement in your art. But the first thing that you have to ask yourself before practicing and trying to make a living off of your art, is whether this is truly your passion or not. And what form of art is your passion? Once you have answered yes to this question, read on to find 10 ways that you can improve.
Let’s just get this one out of the way. This is the first thing that any skilled visual artist is going to tell you in regards to improving your art. You have heard it a THOUSAND times. Practice never fails. But it sure gets old hearing it from places over and over again. The truth is, the amount that you practice does not have to do with whether or not you are going to grow into a good artist. The truth comes into HOW you practice. And that is something that many of us do not realize at first. Practice can come in many forms: whether that be taking a class, copying a piece of art (SOLELY for practices’ sake, not claiming it as your own or showing anyone!), watching tutorials, etc. Try to draw more often from your head, instead of copying something you see in front of you.
Draw what is challenging, and draw quickly. A great way to improve drawing skills is figure drawing: go out to a cafe and do what is called “cafe sketching”, where you observe and draw people moving in real life. It is very technically challenging to do. But this sort of practice is the type of drawing that makes your brain work very hard on focusing on a subject and recording them on paper.
2. Read art books and watch tutorials
Any reputable artist has a bookshelf filled with art books full of tips, inspiration, tutorials, and more! Books like these not only support your fellow artists but offer a wonderful insight into art you have never seen before. The best thing about owning books perhaps is that they are tangible: you can hold them, and look through them, and read through them at your own pace. A wonderful book about realist painting is Color and Light by James Gurney. It is no secret that there are countless tutorial videos to watch on YouTube as well, that artists put out, giving many tips and tricks to simply get their name heard out there. Support the artists in your industry and strengthen your skills at the same time!
3. Invest in good art supplies
Find what works best for you! If you are a digital artist, for example, and find that your tablet is not working to your standards, or that a more expensive one may help with your workflow, by all reasonable means, don’t hesitate to jump on buying a new one! You would be surprised and what investing in quality art supplies can do for your art. But also keep in mind, just because something is expensive doesn’t mean that it will work best for YOU. Don’t fall onto the bandwagon of either side.
4. Observe the world around you
Many artists find that some of the best stories or ideas for art have not been their own, but from someone that has told them something. Or from instances that they have been in. Keep an eye and an ear open to ideas that you may find in your everyday life. Whether they are interesting, funny, or thought-provoking, there are lots of examples to pull from the real world that can work in your favor. Whether it be during your daily commute or out to get lunch, observing the world around you and the way it looks can improve your art drastically. Look at the way that light and shade play on texture. If you have a sketchbook with you at the time, record it, take note of it and try to mimic it. If you don’t, try to remember it in your mind, or snap a picture, then come back to your sketchbook later and try to re-do what you have learned.
5. Try different styles of art
Whether you are into anime, cartoony, or more realistic art, using various art styles every now and then opens your eyes up to the many styles that are out there, and will most definitely help you and lead you to the type of style that you are going for with your original drawings! Mimicking a style shows that you have a broad skill set, while having only one style can give you tunnel vision, and will not help you to grow as an artist.
6. Make a commitment (draw every day)
If you really want to get better at art, you are going to have to schedule a time to sit down and practice your art. You cannot expect it to happen overnight, or just in one session, or even several sessions. This is going to be a lifelong journey and setting goals and finding the hours in the day to draw are going to be crucial to your improvement. You will commit to the things that you care about, so if you care about your art and hold yourself accountable to the art you are hoping to create, then being successful in your art will go hand in hand with the time you are willing to put in. If it gets to be too much, that is also a bad thing, because artist burn-out can be very difficult to deal with. Yet, it is smarter to start with smaller goals and work up to bigger ones. Remember, these are commitments that every artist must deal with, else they fall out of practice or fall behind.
7. Learn from the masters
Masters of art such as Monet, Michelangelo, and Cezanne all had something in common: they studied from nature, and they had a mentor. If you want to improve your art, you need to do both.
You can learn things on your own, but having a mentor will give you another element of critique on your art that you would have never seen on your own. Your mentor is your pathway to success and all great artists had a teacher. Your mentor is your wealth of knowledge, that can see where you need to improve in ways that you cannot. You will make fewer mistakes, make more connections through them, and they will provide insight into your industry.
Visit your local MOMA for inspiration. Nature is a very revitalizing way to have your creative mind refreshed. Nature is full of color, wonder, mystery, beauty, but also danger. Go out and enjoy yourself, but also make sure to study the way that light and color interact with shapes, what sort of compositions you can form, the feelings that you get, etc. all things that you should be thinking about as you make your art.
8. Participate in drawing challenges
The most popular one in the art community currently is Inktober, where artists across Instagram post an ink drawing every day in October- coming from the Inktober page, where they post a new prompt every day. But you can simply make your own, use old Inktober prompts, or make a drawing challenge with your friends! These challenges put your skills to the test, make you use your creative mind to find solutions to the challenge. They also commit you to a time frame: whether that be daily, weekly, or monthly!
9. Surround yourself with art
Support other artists, your peers, by buying their art and hanging it in your room. Having an Instagram solely for your art, following only art accounts is most definitely one of the best ways to surround yourself with art in your daily life. Don’t stop finding new ways to be inspired… Surrounding yourself with art and other artists is a surefire way to get motivated to make art if you ever find yourself in a rut.
One of the most refreshing ways to give your creative juices a break is to take a break from making your art. Craving to make art is just as important as the process of actually making the art itself. This is very different and it is essential that you find the balance. When artist block comes along, you are essentially going to be the only person that is going to be able to help yourself when you need it. Ask other artists how they deal with artist’s block, and find healing ways for yourself to be able to put down the pencil every once in a while.
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