2022 Edit: Updated links.
We’ve all wondered if we are doing enough to grow as an artist. When I first started out, I felt so lost in the current, and questioned if I could be doing more.
Since today marks a milestone for my blog, I wanted to do something special.
This is my 100th post, so I'm going to try to make it as useful as possible. I'm going to include my top tips for growing as an artist, as well as some photos. The best of both worlds right?
So grab a cup of coffee, put on some relaxing music, and let's go!
Disclaimer: This advice is based on my own experience as an artist and what I've seen work for other artists over the years.
My credentials (if that matters to you):
Drawing for the last 25 years (I'm 33 now).
Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts.
Bachelors Degree in Interior Design.
6 Years as a professional photographer.
The last 3 Years as a full time self-employed, self-taught painter.
I've watched hundreds of instructional videos, plein air videos, listened to hundreds of interviews with renowned artists, and combined this with my own personal practice.
I am a SPONGE and I want to share what I learn.
My only goal for this post is to share as much insight as I can, share my lessons learned, and allow you to make your own conclusions.
1. Sit Down and Define Your Own Version of Success:
What does "success" mean to you? Does it mean you can paint or draw ANYTHING you can imagine without struggling? Does it mean being famous? Rich? Does it mean you are teaching and inspiring others on a daily basis? Each of these will require certain steps to accomplish.
Defining this will help you know when you are straying from your path, or when your growth has become stagnant.
2. Learn the Fundamentals First (or if you've already started, revisit them often):
Artwork by Pablo Picasso before Cubism.
Science and Charity. 1897. Oil on canvas. Museo Picasso, Barcelona, Spain.
Often times, new artists start drawing and painting without any desire to learn the fundamentals. They want to jump into the "fun stuff" immediately, and break the rules and do something wild and unique and wonderful. That's a fair goal. But without a deep understanding of the fundamentals, you will never know if you've broken the rules in an aesthetically pleasing way. Even Picasso was classically trained before he had his revelations in Cubism (as were most modern artists).
Form, line, color, space/perspective, texture, value, shape... call them what you will - but they will be critical to everything you do. Dedicate time to each one.
But how?
You can take classes, either in college or online (Hello, Skillshare). Or use my favorite: Youtube-university.
There is a vast amount of resources available for learning the fundamentals and why they are important to your development. Heck, just start with Googling it if nothing else.
One thing I wish I knew when I started: It’s OK to copy artwork for your own learning. In fact, in art school they teach you how to look at a “Master’s painting,” dissect it, learn how they did what they did. You copy it. You learn. You move on. It’s called doing master studies. (But don’t ever claim the painting as your own original content).
3. Don't worry about being Original. Be good. Be so good you can't be ignored:
Summer River. 2018, Oil on board. Sarah Burns.
I have a strange relationship with this concept, because I'm not a competitive person, nor am I good at accepting any form of praise. When someone compliments my work, I can think of a dozen reasons why they shouldn't. However, I feel that having the attitude of "be so good they can't ignore you" is a helpful phrase to remember, because it reminds you how important your technical skills are. It reminds you that it all starts with putting in the time.
I have talked to many beginning artists that are concerned with one thing: “being unique.”
They are so obsessed with this, that they only draw/paint when they have a "big idea" or are "super inspired."
Well I have news for you! You are unique no matter what you do. Even if you copy another work of art, it will be unique. (but don't do that and call it your own!)
If you are constantly worrying about being original, being unique, being the only artist who has ever done *insert thing here* you are wasting valuable time in progressing your skills.
A better strategy is to focus on being good. Grow your technical skills as much as possible instead of waiting to be inspired.
I guarantee, along the way (because it takes a long time), you are going to find plenty of ways in which you are unique, you will discover concepts and ideas that you are excited about, and you will have already done so much technical practice that when the BIG IDEA finally comes, you are more than ready to execute it.
4. Draw/paint From Life as Often as Possible:
This is probably the second most important piece of advice I could offer.
If you can't see it, you can't paint it. Or…at least it will be insanely difficult.
You need to learn shapes. Values. You need to be VERY sensitive to subtle shifts in color. But it doesn’t happen immediately - this is a learned skill.
I have absolutely nothing against using reference photos, in fact I use them on a weekly basis in the studio.
However the thing about reference photos is that you are already looking at a "flattened" version of the scene. This doesn't make your brain work as hard to understand shapes and color relationships than if you were looking at the real thing. It is the camera's version of life. Cameras have become pretty darn good at their jobs, however there is not a single camera in existence that can replicate the delicate balance of color & value that is found in real life. (although large format film cameras probably come the closest).
The magical thing about painting and drawing from life is that your brain is forced to look beyond subject matter, and deeply observe the light and colors that occur in different areas such as shadows and highlights.
I have never grown faster as an artist than when I started painting from life.
Not only has my enjoyment factor gone up, but my understanding of color and light, and my ability to translate that to the canvas has increased tenfold compared to before when I only worked from reference in the studio.
5. Never Stop Drawing:
Quick landscape drawing, graphite on paper.
This is probably the single most important bit of advice I could give, and something that has dramatically helped me become a better painter.
Never. stop. drawing.
Ever.
Even as a painter, this is critical to your progress in understanding perspective, scale, and volume in space.
For representational art, I believe that your best painting will only ever be as good as your best drawing. “Them are fighting words, Sarah!” But I’ve seen it first-hand from myself and others. Lots of beginners want to jump straight into painting (I felt lucky that I had a good background in drawing before I started painting). But if you skip drawing, painting anything besides abstract art will be extremely difficult.
6. Never Stop Looking:
This has two parts.
A personal visual inventory will help expand your mind and gain deeper understanding of the world around you and your artwork. Look at lots of art. Find artists you admire. Compile an image database on your computer of what you like. Go to galleries. See what the public sees. Join online art communities like Deviantart or reddit. See what the internet sees. Scroll on Instagram. Look at art magazines. Check out art books. Look at architecture, fashion, landscape paintings, portraits, photography. Listen to all types of music. Absorb as much data as you can. I did this before I ever started painting and I now realize it had a profound impact on my growth. I heard an interview with Eleinne Basa (who is an incredible landscape painter). She said she did this every morning for 2-3 hours. It might not seem like it is making a difference. But after a year or two, it will help you elevate your taste level and trickle down into your work.
You are never done looking, never done absorbing the world, learning from experiences, and the more you get outside your own bubble, the richer your art will become.
7. Listen to artists that are better than you talk about their experiences:
This is almost too obvious... but I have to say it otherwise this list would not be complete. Here are three very accessible resources - although there are a whole sea of insights available online these days.
Listen to the PleinAir podcast with Eric Rhoads - Audio and audio. Hundreds of artists, (most are considered “masters”) pouring out their years of insight! Not just helpful for landscape painters, but anyone interested in growing as an artist!
Watch ColorInYourLife - Video. Dozens of incredible artists sharing their process of painting from start to finish and discussing their thought process and inspiration. They have playlists broken down by medium.
The Artful Painter Podcast - Audio only. Artists & connoisseurs share their ideas and techniques.
8. Get Comfortable with being uncomfortable:
Learning to be comfortable with your mistakes can be uncomfortable. But since mistakes are such a crucial part of learning art, you'll need to very quickly get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Humans learn the fastest through mistakes.
9. If color confuses you, ignore the rules:
Oh my, what a taboo thing to say. Yikes!
As an exercise, I ask you to forget the "rules" you have read about, forget what your teachers showed you or what you heard online. Literally just paint with whatever the heck feels good in the moment. See what happens. Observe what comes out. Collect data.
This is actually how I started my painting journey. I started out doing abstract compositions, reacting emotionally with color to each moment. I knew that in order to create a good composition there had to be a pleasing balance in both color and value. By ignoring rules about color harmony, I didn't see colors as colors, I saw each color as a "value" on the scale from black to white. It was a naive way of thinking, but it was all I knew.
Later, as I started to incorporate recognizable subjects into my work, I was still acting very intuitively, thinking about each color's value on a scale from white to black. I wasn't thinking about painting rules because I didn't know any rules.
2013
2015
Early 2016
Late 2016
2017
2018
I never sat down and thought "I'm only going to use wild and crazy colors!" In fact, I often TRIED to use "realistic" colors but halfway through the painting, my gut was pulling me to add some pink or red or purple or green where I knew it didn't "belong." Why? I don't know, but I loved it. It tickled my artistic funnybone if you will. It satisfied my craving for seeing and understanding the unique natural world around me from my own perspective. It's just how my brain worked.
So, I went with it.
But…
10. Color: Don't 👏 Slap 👏 Your 👏 Viewers in the Face With Color Without a Good Reason:
2016
Continuing on my point above…
I say this because it's what I did for years, and I don't recommend it because of the internal torment it caused me. Please ignore what you see in my portfolio for a second and try to understand this frustration from my (the artist's) perspective. I went nuts with color. I ignored all the rules and tried just about every combination of colors you could imagine - all without a reason except that it felt good. As I mentioned, I wasn't focused on the actual color itself. I was focused on the value I saw in each color. It resulted in some pretty crazy paintings. Was it fun? Hell yes.
Are they bad? Some find them hideous. But others love them. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder after all. But that’s not the point.
The point is: I wasn't in control. I was reacting to a subconscious part of my mind.
But after a few years I started to learn the rules, and my mind started to work differently. I started to see the value in having control. Nowadays, I have a healthier relationship with color and value, and I'm able to make informed decisions. I am not flailing in the dark.
This means I can do more complicated scenes, paint with almost any medium, and take on more commissions.
The painting below is an example of a recent fantasy illustration where I strategically and carefully placed color, to direct attention to my focal point and create a specific atmosphere. Yes it still has some wild color relationships happening. The main difference is that I did this on purpose.
My point here is to do things for a reason. It took me three years to finally understand color in a way where I can actually use it and talk about it with reason and logic - not just as an emotional response.
I recommend that every artist seek to understand value and color in a more academic approach. I would have saved myself years of frustration (don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed my journey, but I truly wish I had spent more of it with a better understanding and not just a purely emotional use of color).
By approaching color in a studied way, you can then use it strategically and CHOOSE when you want to be wild and crazy or when you wanted to be muted, depending on what your subject or atmosphere requires. Color speaks volumes.
11. Start with a Value Study:
If you are struggling to understand how to put a landscape together (or any subject), doing a value study will immediately remove the guess work (hello, drawing skills!). Once you get that value study to a place that looks good, you can then assign colors to your value range, even if you are using a stylized color palette like above. I used indigo as my "black"/darkest and yellow as my lightest - then worked within that spectrum of colors from light to dark, trying to use bright fantasy colors.
12. Work with a Limited Palette:
Each palette had three colors
On that same note, I think this is one of the most valuable things an artist can do to understand color. When your palette is limited you are literally forcing your mind to see value in each color. If you have three colors, there will clearly be a dark, a midtone, and a light color. Painting a whole scene will really help you understand shadows and light in a landscape. It will also automatically create color harmony in the painting.
Classically, most of the great masters have used limited color palettes with the universally accepted primaries such as red/blue/yellow. With these three colors, and white, you can mix almost every single color imaginable.
(I say "almost" because in order to create vibrant lime green or turquoise, you will also need a phthalo of some kind - either phthalo blue, prussian blue, or phthalo green. You might also want black.)
Using a limited palette simplifies color mixing to it's basics.
It's easy to buy every single color on the color wheel, but if you are just starting out, or have a weak understanding of value within colors, do yourself a favor and simplify. Get those primaries and give it a try.
13. Try Other Mediums:
This is somewhat controversial, because not every artist wants to use multiple mediums. However, I learned from experimenting that when I switch between different mediums, there are new connections happening in the brain, and it really forces you to understand layering, water control, and brush control on a deeper level.
You don’t have to do anything drastic. Watercolor and gouache go together nicely, but are different enough to offer a challenge.
Honestly, even if you are only doing it to learn from a "failure," you will learn so much!
14. Start Every Art Session with 10 Minutes of Drawing:
An actual page from my college sketchbook. Weird.
This was something my college professors made us do every day. They knew we had been up all night in the studio, that we rolled out of bed, started our caffeine drip, and rushed to class. They knew we were thinking about our assignments, or the annoying roommate who ate all the ice cream, or the kickball tournament on Saturday.
They knew we needed a palette cleanser before they'd ever get us into the right mindset to do any decent work.
They would say "Ok, get out your sketchbook, walk around until you find something that interests you, and start drawing." See you in 10 minutes. (Sometimes 20 minutes).
In that 10 minutes, I always felt the equivalent to "waking up" my artistic senses. It was a way to switch on my creative brain.
Shut out the world and become immersed in your creative thinking.
15. Enjoy your Failures:
I bet you're looking at this image and cringing. Who could possibly enjoy failure? Yea, it sucks to fail. But what I mean by "enjoy failure" is to embrace the mistakes.
With the risk of sounding redundant, some people (especially new artists) think that a mistake is a failure and thus not worth anything.
It's time to rewire your brain.
Every single mistake or "failure" is a lesson. You need to fail millions of times to become a master artist. Accept it. Embrace it. Welcome it. Enjoy it!
Change your relationship with mistakes as being failures to steps towards success. Because every time you learn something, regardless of how it happened, that is a success.
Helpful Exercises for Beginners:
Purchase 50-100 small canvases or panels (about 5x7 inches).
Select a limited color palette (perhaps using the classic Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue (or French Ultramarine) and Lemond Yellow. You’ll also want Titanium White and Black.
Go outside and paint all 100 canvases (or use various still life setups in your home) limiting yourself to 30 minutes per painting. Take as many weeks as necessary.
Don't worry about creating amazing results, just focus on the process, color mixing, layering, brush stroke, etc. Take notes after each painting about what you learned.
After you complete all of them, you will have already learned SO much about color mixing, value, and form, that you can take forward into your work.Do the same thing with a small toned sketchbook (or grey) paper, with graphite and white pastel pencils.
If you want a guaranteed strategy for improving, do daily sketches. If you need encouragement or "ideas" - try using the fun reddit group, Sketch Daily. (or find it on social media with #sketchdaily). Or join one of the hundreds of monthly challenges like #mermay #retryjuly #inktober or #huevember.
Quick Lessons Learned:
Oil: Start with your darks. It's much easier to add white into your colors slowly, but it's nearly impossible to remove white later. Your darkest colors/layers should be the thinnest. For more depth in your painting, your brightest color/layer should be the thickest. Reason is because light reflects differently off each thickness. Remember the golden rule: “fat over lean.”
Watercolor: Work from light to dark. Since you can't paint your highlights later, they become the most important aspect of the painting.
When starting watercolor, buy several sheets of nice paper (I recommend Arches 140lb cold press) and do several tests. Large washes of color, wet on wet, dry brush, etc. These tests are critical for understanding water flow and absorption. You want to do these tests on the same paper you’ll use for finished work.
Don't use cheap watercolor paper. It is a waste of money and time and you WILL end up frustrated.Gouache: It is possible to work in layers, depending on how absorbent your paper is. With watercolor paper (especially cotton), it is beneficial to lay down one thin layer first, slightly diluted with water. This allows the top opaque layers to have something to "grab onto."
When your painting is finished, spray with a workable fixative (such as what you might use for pastels).
Do not ever get the painting wet even after it’s finished! Regular gouache never "cures" like other paint, and it remains workable. Splashing water on it will result in deformed blobs.
Remember, I offer tons of classes on Skillshare, Patreon, and free tutorials on YouTube.
This post is long enough… time to go. I hope these things help you enjoy your journey and grow as an artist! I know this was a long post, and I didn't even cover everything.
Feel free to share your progress with me on social media! Use the hashtag #sarahburnstutor so I can find you.