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I was recently working on a composition that I got so stuck with that if reduced me to tears yet for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with it. Once id finally finished the piece I was inspired to write this piece to help fellow artists out of the black hole of self doubt. By no means am I saying I’m an expert artist, in fact I’m far far from it, BUT I do think I’ve learnt a few things through art class that will instantly make any composition you’re working on instantly better. I’m sure any artist you speak to has had moments where the just don’t have a connection with their work yet they don’t know what the problem is. These tips are guaranteed to improve that tricky piece that you’ve become so frustrated with.
1) Balance the colour
This is the main technique that I think can instantly transform a blocky and childlike form into an intelligent piece that works in harmony. Even if you don’t think a certain colour goes in a certain place, light and reflections are sometimes over looked but are vital in creating the tone of the piece. An example of where this could be useful is in pieces with a great deal of blue sky and sometimes the landscape looks too harsh and blocky. By balancing blue in shop windows and in water reflections the piece looks a lot more elegant and realistic.
2) Line variation
Usually we are all good at the length of lines as they are clear to see from the photos / items we're inspired by, however the thickness of the lines are often overlooked. By using a mixture of thick lines and thin lines the piece becomes automatically more dimensional and creates depth. To test this on your piece try adding 5 thin lines, 5 thick lines of varying length to see your piece become more complex and interesting.
3) Abstraction
Sometimes when trying to create a realistic piece we paint what we think it should look like rather than what it actually does look like but to create an interesting piece we need to add in some abstract shapes or graphic detail that ultimately adds to the comprehensiveness of the piece. Small geometric marks often adds to the intricate detail by building up the layers. Just because a mark on its own doesn’t resemble anything, doesn’t mean as part of a composition it doesn’t work in unison.
4) Bridge colour
This one is especially useful to remember for highlighting. Instead of instinctively just adding pure white to a piece, you must consider tone. Any area of light probably should have at least a tiny bit of the surrounding colour mixed in so the tone is matching. For example, if you are using a cream highlight, surround it with progressively darker cream and yellow and brown tones to surround the area and create subtle tonal contrast. I call this 'bridging' as the surrounding colours provide support to the central highlight.
5) Areas of dark
Instead of just outlining any area of shadow, don’t be afraid to have intense areas of dark in contrast to the light detail. Don’t think the black has to be a border, if a shadow really is dark make sure you do use black or dark greys to emphasise the shadow, even if it does block out structure in some areas.
6) Stop the grey Overworking paintings is one of those things that every single artist needs to be aware of as it’s so easy to do. We’ve all been there, working for hours and hours on a piece and get somehow it’s getting worse. Often it’s because of messy paintbrushes and pallets causing your colours to go grey which ultimately reduces the intensity of your pieces and makes your colours go grey. Take a break when your colours end up muted and wash your brushes and pallets to reduce the risk of dull colours.
7) Too much primary
In the excitement of painting sometimes we're so eager to get started than we use colour straight from the bottle which can result in harsh childish colours that stand out like a sore thumb. Make sure if the theme of your painting is a specific light or dark tone then mix your primary colours with a matching hue to avoid the composition looking mismatched and clumsy. To get the perfect shade it can be useful to use water to dilute on the the other shades and use the wash with the new colour. By using water instead of mixing straight paint it allows the tonal change to be a lot more subtle and controlled than mixing. 8) Step back I’m sure everyone does this but it really is one of the most important things to do- and when you do it actually be observant. Don’t just look at it, acknowledge it’s not done and carry on. Think specifically what the problems is, whether it be too harsh. too light, not enough blue, be specific. Also remember most art is viewed at distances initially so focus on making it look realistic from far away, not just doing tiny marks that are only recognisable up close. 9) Stop blending I am the worst culprit of this one! I think it’s human instinct to blend the paint into the canvas as soon as it touches the surface, which in some cases is necessary however like I said above, areas of intensity are needed for distance viewing. Sometimes you just need to let go and instead of pushing the paint in to create your detail, you need to build up the layers on top to create boldness and texture where necessary. 10) Break the lines I try to tell myself that you can create structure through allusions of lines to avoid becoming reliant on blocky lines which can make the piece stodgy. You may think that to create the structure a bold line is needed however when you view from a distance a bold line becomes ever bolder and distracts from finer detail and unbalances the artwork. By breaking into lines with smaller fainter ones over the top you still get the structural impact in a more elegant and refined way.
I hope this helps you get out of an artistic mess! Happy painting!
