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what do I need to do to be better at art?
somethings I need to do is keep practicing and just work hard.
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11 answers
Updated
Michael’s Answer
Practice Consistently: Improvement in art comes through practice. Set aside dedicated time each day or week to engage in artistic activities. Experiment with different mediums, techniques, and subjects to explore your skills and expand your artistic range.
Seek Feedback and Critique: Sharing your work with others and seeking constructive feedback can be immensely valuable. Join art communities, attend workshops or classes, or find mentors who can provide honest critique and guidance to help you grow as an artist.
Study and Analyze Artwork: Take time to study the work of renowned artists
Seek Feedback and Critique: Sharing your work with others and seeking constructive feedback can be immensely valuable. Join art communities, attend workshops or classes, or find mentors who can provide honest critique and guidance to help you grow as an artist.
Study and Analyze Artwork: Take time to study the work of renowned artists
Updated
Ellen’s Answer
Hi Saskia
I think you answered your own question: improving your art skills requires effort, practice, and a willingness to learn. Many of my students believed that there was an "art gene" that people are born with, and those people are just naturally talented at art and didn't need to work on it, and if you didn't have this "art gene", forget about it. Well, there are a very few people who have this natural ability, and for most of us, it takes practice, hard work, willingness to learn from looking at our own artwork, and willingness to listen to our art teachers.
So, you are in good company! The good thing is your willingness to improve your artwork, and your recognition that it will take practice. The best place to start is to look at your most recent artwork. Ask yourself what you like about it, what you think is "working" in your artwork, and what needs improvement? Is the drawing solid, are the colors as you want them, is the shading or texture or design what you want? Does the artwork have the overall "feeling" or message that you want? Think about what you have learned from looking at your artwork, and then make some changes. Maybe you'll need to practice drawing, or practice your painting or coloring technique, or whatever.
Sometimes it is easier to do this with another person, since it can be hard to be objective about our own artwork. In many art schools and art programs, there are "critique" classes, where students bring their work to show others and hear what others have to say. I strongly suggest you go to your current and/or past art teachers for specific feedback. Art teachers can be overwhelmed with the number of students they have in their classes (I could have 150 students a semester!), but most art teachers I know would be very happy to give a sincere and hardworking student some extra attention. Trust me, they would love to talk to you about your art.
Talk to your current art teacher during class, or see if they could talk to you after school, and tell your art teacher you really want to improve your artwork, and you need their help. Bring one of the artworks you are most happy with, and show it to them. Ask your art teacher: What is the strongest element in this artwork? What do I need to improve to make this artwork better? Based on their knowledge of your past work in art class, ask them where you need to improve, and ask them for ways to make the improvement. THEN, listen to what they say, take notes, ask questions for clarification. Remember, they became an art teacher because they love art and make their their own art; they are artists, who happen to like teaching art to kids..
Go home and really do what your art teachers suggest, make a new artwork that shows what you have learned from them, and bring it back to show them, and be ready to hear more about how to improve it. Remember, making improvements in your artwork will take time, so be patient and keep on working on your artwork.
Now, if you are not taking art classes, I hope this has convinced you to take some! Art teachers are all about encouraging and teaching students about art and helping them reach their goals in art.
Best wishes!
I think you answered your own question: improving your art skills requires effort, practice, and a willingness to learn. Many of my students believed that there was an "art gene" that people are born with, and those people are just naturally talented at art and didn't need to work on it, and if you didn't have this "art gene", forget about it. Well, there are a very few people who have this natural ability, and for most of us, it takes practice, hard work, willingness to learn from looking at our own artwork, and willingness to listen to our art teachers.
So, you are in good company! The good thing is your willingness to improve your artwork, and your recognition that it will take practice. The best place to start is to look at your most recent artwork. Ask yourself what you like about it, what you think is "working" in your artwork, and what needs improvement? Is the drawing solid, are the colors as you want them, is the shading or texture or design what you want? Does the artwork have the overall "feeling" or message that you want? Think about what you have learned from looking at your artwork, and then make some changes. Maybe you'll need to practice drawing, or practice your painting or coloring technique, or whatever.
Sometimes it is easier to do this with another person, since it can be hard to be objective about our own artwork. In many art schools and art programs, there are "critique" classes, where students bring their work to show others and hear what others have to say. I strongly suggest you go to your current and/or past art teachers for specific feedback. Art teachers can be overwhelmed with the number of students they have in their classes (I could have 150 students a semester!), but most art teachers I know would be very happy to give a sincere and hardworking student some extra attention. Trust me, they would love to talk to you about your art.
Talk to your current art teacher during class, or see if they could talk to you after school, and tell your art teacher you really want to improve your artwork, and you need their help. Bring one of the artworks you are most happy with, and show it to them. Ask your art teacher: What is the strongest element in this artwork? What do I need to improve to make this artwork better? Based on their knowledge of your past work in art class, ask them where you need to improve, and ask them for ways to make the improvement. THEN, listen to what they say, take notes, ask questions for clarification. Remember, they became an art teacher because they love art and make their their own art; they are artists, who happen to like teaching art to kids..
Go home and really do what your art teachers suggest, make a new artwork that shows what you have learned from them, and bring it back to show them, and be ready to hear more about how to improve it. Remember, making improvements in your artwork will take time, so be patient and keep on working on your artwork.
Now, if you are not taking art classes, I hope this has convinced you to take some! Art teachers are all about encouraging and teaching students about art and helping them reach their goals in art.
Best wishes!
Updated
Thomas’s Answer
Here are some general suggestions to get better at art.
Practice is always the best option, the more you it the better you'll get.
Setting aside time to regularly practice is also necessary, be consistent with how often you keep at it, but don't make it a chore.
Find your style. Look over everything you've done and see what it is that you do that makes your art different, what you find most enjoyable, what seems similar throughout and becomes your signature, refine it, make it truly yours.
Put your passion for your art in your art. Like the old saying goes, if you enjoy what you do, it's not work.
Practice is always the best option, the more you it the better you'll get.
Setting aside time to regularly practice is also necessary, be consistent with how often you keep at it, but don't make it a chore.
Find your style. Look over everything you've done and see what it is that you do that makes your art different, what you find most enjoyable, what seems similar throughout and becomes your signature, refine it, make it truly yours.
Put your passion for your art in your art. Like the old saying goes, if you enjoy what you do, it's not work.
Updated
Isabella’s Answer
hi there! i’ve found one of the best ways to improve as an artist is to ask for feedback. ask your friends, family, coworkers, anyone close to you- they don’t even have to be an artist. receiving feedback and critique helps so much in talking through potential problems or design choices.
additionally, taking breaks and knowing when to stop is so so so important. you absolutely do not want to get burnt out and lose your passion for your art. take breaks, explore other mediums, do things to exercise parts of your brain you’re not using, look for inspiration, etc.
the last thing you want to do in your efforts to become a better artist is to burn yourself out in trying to do so.
best of luck!!!
additionally, taking breaks and knowing when to stop is so so so important. you absolutely do not want to get burnt out and lose your passion for your art. take breaks, explore other mediums, do things to exercise parts of your brain you’re not using, look for inspiration, etc.
the last thing you want to do in your efforts to become a better artist is to burn yourself out in trying to do so.
best of luck!!!
Updated
Mihaela’s Answer
Hello Saskia,
Consistently practice and never surrender in your efforts. Don't be afraid to show your work and seek feedback for it. Above all, continue discovering new techniques, and mediums to experiment. Learn from fellow artists, and embrace new ideas.
I am confident that you will excel in your artistic profession, and I eagerly await to see your work in the near future!
Consistently practice and never surrender in your efforts. Don't be afraid to show your work and seek feedback for it. Above all, continue discovering new techniques, and mediums to experiment. Learn from fellow artists, and embrace new ideas.
I am confident that you will excel in your artistic profession, and I eagerly await to see your work in the near future!
Updated
Sayaka’s Answer
Practice consistently. Sometimes it's hard to stay focused when you have artist's block or are just not inspired to do anything. I've been there multiple times but when you pick up your pencil or any media of your choice and simply draw something (don't focus on whether it's good or bad), just keep going.
I would also recommend trying out different mediums of art supplies. Watercolor, gouache, pencil, graphite, color pencil, acrylic, oil, digital, pastel, oil pastel, etc. Sometimes you find your new art style and can expand on your subject and composition which can bring spark and excitement.
I would also recommend trying out different mediums of art supplies. Watercolor, gouache, pencil, graphite, color pencil, acrylic, oil, digital, pastel, oil pastel, etc. Sometimes you find your new art style and can expand on your subject and composition which can bring spark and excitement.
Updated
Mona’s Answer
Hello Saskia. You've already got great answers to help you achieve your desired goal. I just want to mention another important thing. I hope it will be helpful.
If you are passionate about the art you create, you better try to understand why you are doing it and what drives you. Artistic creation is a desire to communicate and express before being a satisfying and fulfilling process. The message or the intent, however, differs from person to person or from time to time for any individual. It can be a way of storytelling that moves forward and evolves, whether the story is short and immediate or long and consistent.
So like any other form of communication, you can improve and excel at it when you know your tools and means perfectly and where, when, and how to use them. This tool I'm discussing is not your brush, palette, digital application, materials, etc. Those need to be practiced. The other device is the language in which you create your art. I'm sure you know that, for example, when it comes to painting, there are so many different styles and movements that each one delivers differently. You see, we can become experts in the execution process, but we might sometimes feel we ran out of ideas and we don't know what to create. Or we keep working on a piece, but it never feels right, as if everything that was going on in our head doesn't transfer on the canvas well enough. It is probably because we don't know what language our "Art" speaks, as if we are writing an essay part in English, part in French, Part in German,... It doesn't feel cohesive and integrated, so our audience does not understand it either.
Here "Language" is the primary tool; how to express myself. We figured out our own artistic language by studying and analyzing other styles and works of great masters in relation to periods and what was going on then. We can ask ourselves: "What message or emotion do I get from this artwork? And if I were to create it, how would I do that? What material or medium, style, or colors would have been my choice to deliver this? What would be my arrangements and composition?".
Art is a way of communication through our five senses that evoke deep emotions, and learning this specific tool can transfer us from unhappy artists to great storytellers because this method creates clarity so our audience can relate to our piece too. They find honesty, character, and even a sense of familiarity, even if some of the brush strokes are not perfect or some of the drawings could've been executed better. Finding your style and your artistic language is possible only by studying and expanding your understanding of yourself, society, culture, history, and compositions that are practically second nature to our brains. Before our brains understand numbers, grammar, formulas, and words that are our inventions, they understand visual composition, forms, and shapes. So the more we become observant, the better we can translate our own ideas and thoughts into our artworks.
Try to create a piece in different ways. See which one sits better with you. Try to understand why that style is better for you. See what you wish to add. At the same time that you practice, try to consider what kind of visual communication is your ideal and how you would express yourself, and that would be a perfect practice to find your own voice in your narrative. Don't be afraid of changing paths from time to time because, like any language that changes over time, our artistic language changes too.
I wish you an incredible journey in your art.
If you are passionate about the art you create, you better try to understand why you are doing it and what drives you. Artistic creation is a desire to communicate and express before being a satisfying and fulfilling process. The message or the intent, however, differs from person to person or from time to time for any individual. It can be a way of storytelling that moves forward and evolves, whether the story is short and immediate or long and consistent.
So like any other form of communication, you can improve and excel at it when you know your tools and means perfectly and where, when, and how to use them. This tool I'm discussing is not your brush, palette, digital application, materials, etc. Those need to be practiced. The other device is the language in which you create your art. I'm sure you know that, for example, when it comes to painting, there are so many different styles and movements that each one delivers differently. You see, we can become experts in the execution process, but we might sometimes feel we ran out of ideas and we don't know what to create. Or we keep working on a piece, but it never feels right, as if everything that was going on in our head doesn't transfer on the canvas well enough. It is probably because we don't know what language our "Art" speaks, as if we are writing an essay part in English, part in French, Part in German,... It doesn't feel cohesive and integrated, so our audience does not understand it either.
Here "Language" is the primary tool; how to express myself. We figured out our own artistic language by studying and analyzing other styles and works of great masters in relation to periods and what was going on then. We can ask ourselves: "What message or emotion do I get from this artwork? And if I were to create it, how would I do that? What material or medium, style, or colors would have been my choice to deliver this? What would be my arrangements and composition?".
Art is a way of communication through our five senses that evoke deep emotions, and learning this specific tool can transfer us from unhappy artists to great storytellers because this method creates clarity so our audience can relate to our piece too. They find honesty, character, and even a sense of familiarity, even if some of the brush strokes are not perfect or some of the drawings could've been executed better. Finding your style and your artistic language is possible only by studying and expanding your understanding of yourself, society, culture, history, and compositions that are practically second nature to our brains. Before our brains understand numbers, grammar, formulas, and words that are our inventions, they understand visual composition, forms, and shapes. So the more we become observant, the better we can translate our own ideas and thoughts into our artworks.
Try to create a piece in different ways. See which one sits better with you. Try to understand why that style is better for you. See what you wish to add. At the same time that you practice, try to consider what kind of visual communication is your ideal and how you would express yourself, and that would be a perfect practice to find your own voice in your narrative. Don't be afraid of changing paths from time to time because, like any language that changes over time, our artistic language changes too.
I wish you an incredible journey in your art.
Updated
Angela’s Answer
Hey Saskia! There are numerous ways to improve your art, and I'd like to share what has helped me grow in my own artistic journey.
1. References! There's no better method for refining your art than by drawing from real life! It might be intimidating due to the abundance of details in reality, but that's where your unique style comes into play!
2. Drawing inspiration from various artists! It might seem like copying, but trust me, it isn't. Tracing and claiming someone else's work as your own is stealing, while incorporating elements of another artist's style into your own is not. If you admire how another artist creates eyes, try to capture a similar essence, but without tracing! Make it your own! That's true inspiration!
3. Practice, practice, practice. The more you work on honing your drawing skills, the easier it becomes! If something seems off in your artwork, revisit step 1! It's an ongoing process, but with each cycle, your art will consistently improve!
I hope you find this helpful, and I wish you the best on your artistic journey!
Warm regards,
Angela (A fellow artist)
1. References! There's no better method for refining your art than by drawing from real life! It might be intimidating due to the abundance of details in reality, but that's where your unique style comes into play!
2. Drawing inspiration from various artists! It might seem like copying, but trust me, it isn't. Tracing and claiming someone else's work as your own is stealing, while incorporating elements of another artist's style into your own is not. If you admire how another artist creates eyes, try to capture a similar essence, but without tracing! Make it your own! That's true inspiration!
3. Practice, practice, practice. The more you work on honing your drawing skills, the easier it becomes! If something seems off in your artwork, revisit step 1! It's an ongoing process, but with each cycle, your art will consistently improve!
I hope you find this helpful, and I wish you the best on your artistic journey!
Warm regards,
Angela (A fellow artist)
Updated
ashna’s Answer
You just need to practice more and that's it.Give Time from your daily routine and your art will gradually improve.
Updated
Christy’s Answer
Hello,
While engaging in artistic activities, it's important not to dwell on the accomplishments of past artists. Rather, concentrate on your current emotions and let them steer your creative process towards crafting a unique masterpiece. You might be amazed at the diverse art styles that emerge from your emotions at that particular moment. Enjoy the process, and remember that it can also help reveal hidden feelings and serve as a positive and therapeutic outlet!
While engaging in artistic activities, it's important not to dwell on the accomplishments of past artists. Rather, concentrate on your current emotions and let them steer your creative process towards crafting a unique masterpiece. You might be amazed at the diverse art styles that emerge from your emotions at that particular moment. Enjoy the process, and remember that it can also help reveal hidden feelings and serve as a positive and therapeutic outlet!
Updated
Nivedita’s Answer
Hi Saskia,
Consistency is the key to progress in any area. Just be consistent. If you're interested in art make sure you spend some time daily if possible or atleast weekly once. Try to learn different forms of art. Suppose that you like painting, then you could try different forms of the same like Warli painting, Madhubani, watercolors, acrylic, abstract...and so on...explore, learn and try your hands on at everything you can. This way you would be more curious to grow and without realising you would be creating a path for yourself to become an artist :)
Second thing, you could open up an Instagram business account and call yourself to be an "Artist" on Instagram. Then start posting your paintings or whatever art you create. Create reels, show the process of it (if possible), more the number of views, more is your confidence and motivation to do more.
You see, how you can help yourself to grow...You are competing with yourself daily. Always focus to improve, don't stick to one art form that you already know or do well. Be curious to learn and you will see the universe showing you the right path. 🙂
Kindly note, this implies for any of your hobbies or things which you want to grow at..and not just art.
All the best!
Consistency is the key to progress in any area. Just be consistent. If you're interested in art make sure you spend some time daily if possible or atleast weekly once. Try to learn different forms of art. Suppose that you like painting, then you could try different forms of the same like Warli painting, Madhubani, watercolors, acrylic, abstract...and so on...explore, learn and try your hands on at everything you can. This way you would be more curious to grow and without realising you would be creating a path for yourself to become an artist :)
Second thing, you could open up an Instagram business account and call yourself to be an "Artist" on Instagram. Then start posting your paintings or whatever art you create. Create reels, show the process of it (if possible), more the number of views, more is your confidence and motivation to do more.
You see, how you can help yourself to grow...You are competing with yourself daily. Always focus to improve, don't stick to one art form that you already know or do well. Be curious to learn and you will see the universe showing you the right path. 🙂
Kindly note, this implies for any of your hobbies or things which you want to grow at..and not just art.
All the best!