Five easy ways to improve your art
Every artist has had that moment when you have a vision in mind, but there’s just something not quite right about the piece you’ve put together. Not only is it frustrating but it can also be incredibly demotivating the next time you want to get creative.
But sometimes what is missing can be found with just a few minor adjustments to your mindset or technique. With that in mind, we’re sharing some of our favourite inspiration for easy ways you can improve your art to see a massive difference in your results.
Understand complementary colours and cool vs warm tones
If you’ve found yourself wondering how to improve your art style fast, then broadening and experimenting with varying colours is a great place to start. We generally all know the primary and secondary colours, but it’s also important to think about complementary and harmonious colours in the colour wheel.
Harmonious colours are those that are next to one another while complementary colours sit opposite. When placed together, complementary colours have a strong visual impact and can create a statement with your art. Cool and warm tones can also help to complement one another or evoke a certain mood or tone. Cool colours are based on blue undertones and will bring a more calming effect while warm colours are based on yellow undertones and can convey emotions. Think about what emotions you want your audience to feel and incorporate the relevant colours, light or dark, where you can.
Learn more about composition and negative space
Particularly for those looking to improve their painting, practicing your composition and use of negative space can be a quick and easy way to do this.
The way your art is composed is going to change the way it relates to itself, give it perspective, and add to its purpose. The rule of thirds is a good place to start. Draw inspiration from a game of noughts and crosses and divide your painting into nine equal parts. This creates four points where the lines intersect which are where you can create focal points for pleasing composition.
Once you know where your focal parts are you can learn more about the negative shapes and space around these. Knowing how much negative area you have will help you compose your focal subjects better using that space.
Invest in good quality tools and materials
If you want to make your art look more professional then a lot of this can come down to quality, not just of the art itself but of the tools and equipment you use. Material quality can particularly impact the overall professional look or feel of an art piece.
We recommend investing in some higher quality equipment, tools, and materials for a quick and easy way to improve your art. Quality brushes, paints, resins and canvasses are just some of the tools you could improve with. We recommend making this a gradual process of refining your toolkit so that you can improve your art within your own budget.
Get feedback
Feedback is one of the best ways to improve on anything and can be sought from fellow artists as well as your target audience. One of the best ways to get feedback is to try and get your art noticed online.
One of the easiest ways you can do this is by setting up a dedicated art account on a visual social media platform like Instagram. Sharing completed art or works in progress are great ways to show people what you’re up to, as well as seek advice. Depending on how you want to seek feedback or get your art noticed online you can also build your own website, enter competitions, join online communities, or write your own blog and newsletter.
Think about what makes a great artist
This can sound daunting but thinking about what you value in a great artist can help you strive to achieve those same goals to improve your own work. Is a great artist someone who starts with a vision in mind and creates from the heart? Are they determined and make sure they never give up no matter how long it takes them to perfect a piece? Or is a great artist simply someone who can create emotion and evoke feeling in at least one person?
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and taking a look at your values will help you improve your art through your own passion and creativity.