As artists and designers, were always looking for new ways to improve our craft and skills. This might be through practice, education and learning, but what other ways are there to improve our art? Are you struggling with how to improve to the next level? Looking to improve these skills such as drawing, painting, digital painting and other aspects of art and design?

Well Graphic Tide is here to help with just that. Within this post I’m going to be highlighting some tips for you to use within your art, and hopefully improve from, and go from strength to strength!

Composition

Composition is one of the most important aspects of creating a good image. By learning what makes a good composition, you can arrange your images to communicate certain things to your audience. Learning effective compositions also allows your viewer to lead the eye and attract them to your pieces. Instead of putting something in the middle of your image, place it to the side, add intriguing angles, make your subject bigger or smaller. Try and put your audience first and think what it will communicate to them.

Tip

Try and draw your proposed image in sketch form, and see what best composition you can come up with. If your new to this way of working, create small sketches in your sketchbook, of roughly the same dimensions as your final artwork. With this you can see what sort of image your going to create before the final artwork, which is called ‘thumbnails’.

Colour

Just as important as composition, colour can make or break an image. Colour determines the mood, atmosphere, and sets you apart from the rest. Always think about the colour which you are putting down, and ask, is this right? It could be too bright, saturated, dark, the list is endless. Make sure that, especially if your painting, your mixing your colours together, and not just using the paint from the tube. Using the colour from the tube will result in an image that is way too bright and saturated, and your images will suffer from it. Make sure this isn’t you. By using good colours together, it can effectively lead the eye all around your image.

Tip

If your finding it hard to paint with colours, try and only work with a couple of colours for your next painting. A good example of this, is to use only warm (reds,oranges and yellows) or cold colours (blues and greens). Why does this work? It’s because your using the same colours on the colour wheel, which go well with each other. By selecting only a couple of colours for your painting allows you to simplify the colours which you are using.

Form

When drawing, painting or doing anything ‘arty’, always think about the form of your subject which you are recording. Most of the images your drawing have a 3D aspect to them, so make sure you draw them that way on paper. If your drawing a ball for instance, shade the object with strokes that go around the ball, and not horizontal. By doing this it adds a realistic nature to your work.

Tip

If your new to drawing, or are just a beginner, the most valuable tip I can give you is by drawing from life. Only this will improve your drawing skills considerably. It allows you to think about objects form and depth within your drawings. So the next time your thinking of drawing, draw a bowl of fruit, objects on your desk, or even a family member.

Think out of the box

When thinking of an idea for your next project, with whatever field you work in, think out of the box as much as possible. By thinking laterally, you begin to come up with unique ideas, that are your own, which you can become known for. Even though it’s hard to think of unique ideas nowadays (with everything already been done), there is still a lot of room for you and your next grand idea.

Tip

If your stuck into thinking of that killer idea, try and produce a mind map of your ideas and see what you come up with. Even though mind mapping is a well used phrase, it really does work if you want to think of a good idea. Start with your main word which your using, like football for instance, and think of words that relate to this. Such as ball, grass, green, crowd, standing, shouting, screaming, passion. etc .etc. By doing this it allows you to think of words which you couldn’t of before.

Have Fun!

Even though I’ve said that composition and colour are the most important tips I can give you in today’s post, I actually think fun is the key to producing great art. If you not enjoying the art which your creating, something’s wrong. You should find it exciting, engaging and interesting. Always experiment to keep you, and your sanity fresh.

Tip

If your bogged down with commissions, or are producing work which your not happy with, make sure you find the time for personal work which you do enjoy. By doing personal work it allows you to find out what your missing within your commercial work, and allows you to feed this into what you do enjoy. By experimenting, it allows you to do just this, and discover new ways of working.

One Extra Tip

I wanted to include one more tip, as I feel passionately about this subject, even though I said 5 tips, here’s one more.
It’s important that you attend galleries and national museums regularly, so you see what contemporary artists are producing, and what the great masters have done before you. This fuels creativity, inspiration and influences you in a way that can only benefit your work. Check out your nearest Picasso, Van Gogh or Grayson Perry, and be enlighten by it.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post about 5 ways to make better art, with an added tip! Please feel free to comment us below, we would really love to hear from you. How have you made your art better? Are there any negative aspects to what I’ve said? Or join us on Twitter or Facebook, thanks, and have a great day!