For all of us on the path to becoming a master artist, here’s some good news: we only need to learn five things! The bad news? There’s a huge number of individual “hacks” that are part of those five things. [...]
For all of us on the path to becoming a master artist, here’s some good news: we only need to learn five things!
The bad news? There’s a huge number of individual “hacks” that are part of those five things.
If we’re fortunate enough to go to an art school or atelier we get exposed to those five elements in a relatively systematic way. By the end of our training we have a clear understanding of what we need to do and how to do it.
Ultimately, representational art consists of mastering these five skills: drawing, value, edges, color (temperature), and design. Everything we need to learn falls into one of those “buckets”. If we think about art this way, it’s much easier to learn. More importantly, it is also easier to recall each little procedure when we need it!
If we’re “self-taught” i.e. picking up information wherever we can, the knowledge acquisition is NOT systematic. Today we can learn from master artists through a variety of methods: books, workshops (both in-person and via Zoom), videos, mentorship, and YouTube. But this can lead to a problem I call “workshopitis”.
Most in-person workshops start with a demo by the teacher. Although the instructor probably understands the five skills, he or she may have developed an idiosyncratic way to start a painting. The student sees one teacher begin with a detailed drawing, another begins by massing shapes, still another by gridding out the placement of centers of interest. One portrait instructor carefully measures the placement of key features; another starts at one point and works outward. The student is understandably confused and can get hung up on the differences among approaches instead of noting the underlying commonalities. Too many workshops with different instructors can actually hinder a student's growth! (We “can’t see the forest for the trees!”)
So, what’s the solution?
- I’d suggest writing down those five skill areas listed above. Tape them to your easel. As you watch a demo or video and take notes, label each note with one of those five areas (you do take notes, right?!) For example, you might write “Drawing- the teacher measures with the handle of his brush.”
- Work on one skill at a time. Bryan Mark Taylor calls this “chunking”. For example, if you’re working on understanding value, don’t worry too much about drawing or edges. Just focus on the value “chunk”. (That's how musicians practice to become virtuosos!)
- “Attack your weakness!” That’s a quote from master artist, Dan Gerhartz. He means focus on your problem areas. Good advice that has the added benefit of making us think about each of the five “buckets”.
- Use the five skill areas as a checklist: “Is my drawing ok? Are the values accurate? How about the edges? Do I have accurate temperature relationships? How about the design?”
- Use the identical steps to begin each painting (at least for the first 50.) Once you have thoroughly ingrained an understanding of the five areas, then you can shake things up by changing your sequence.
They say the first step toward a solution is to recognize that there is a problem... So now you know!
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