Posts Tagged ‘Art Techniques’

Depending on the work you are creating art can be an expository discipline almost like reporting. If you are trying to trigger an emotion or get an idea across its important to know your subject. Try taking out a pen and paper and brain storm a little.

This exercise is a type of brain storming technique that is useful for finding relationships between objects, life, and wherever your thoughts take you.

Take any object and list all attributes that are associated with that object. For example:

Your living room sofa:

Write down every attribute that belongs to this sofa:

• How big is it?
• What color is it?
• Is it soft?
• Is there a pattern?
• What is it sitting next to?
• Why did you decide to place it in this part of the living room?
• Is it next to a window?
• Is it sitting on a rug?
• Does it have a matching chair?
• Does it have throw pillows?
• Is there change in this sofa?
• How long have you had it?
• Where did you get it?
• Who was with you when you got it?
• What else did you do that day?
• Why did you pick this sofa?
• Is there someone sitting on it?
• Why did this person choose to sit here?
• What is that person thinking?

I can’t tell you where this will end. When you have finished a complete list of attributes for your subject- you now completely know the subject. You understand its purpose, its shape, its life span, its ideas, its future plans, and so on and so on.

Do you still see this object the same as you did before? Can you see this list transforming into a work of art? Good art comes from drawing what you see, and then drawing what you know- until you begin to see what you know. This is true whether the outcome is representational or abstract. Our style is what decides how
we express what we know. Knowing your subject is a very important element to creative expression.

This brainstorming technique is also valuable for generating ideas and overcoming creative blocks.

An artist will generally spend a great deal of time in their art studio. When reading an inventory list of the contents of an artist’s studio you might expect to find a list of brushes, paint tubes and various papers. But revealing the true inventory of a studio can become quite personal.

As a digital artist I continue to work on canvas but a lot of work takes place on my computer. Since I work on a laptop that I carry with me my art studio is technically a laptop bag and its contents. With that being true it makes sense that a portable studio would be easier to keep organized. I like to make sure I have things that I might need with me.

But even though my laptop bag is really just a laptop bag- I was amazed at the amount of stuff I managed to cram in there.

As I was going through my bag I had to smile at the neuroticisms that I must admit belong to me. There is nothing more intimate than revealing your studio’s true contents. Here is what I pulled out of there:

Contents:
1 Toshiba Satellite laptop
1 USB retractable mouse
1 Power Cord
1 Ear piece with microphone
1 Digital Camera (substandard but it takes pictures for the web just fine)
1 SD Elite Pro 2 gig memory card (goes with camera)
1 USB cord for camera
4 Rechargable AA Batteries
1 USB cell phone charger
1 Cell phone head set
1 Digipro 4×3 USB Pen tablet and Stylus pen
1 pack of Juicy fruit. 3 sticks left.
1 Tylenol (or rather half of one)
1 8 1/2 x 11 sketch book
1 Bottle of multi-vitamins
1 5 subject notebook- yellow (for jotting down ideas and taking various notes)
1 1 subject notebook- green (I don’t remember what I intended to use this for)
1 Walmart receipt (from when I bought the notebook)
1 Highlighter pen
2 #2 Mechanical pencils
1 Ball point pen
1 Red pen
30 or so post cards and business cards collected from various art shows and businesses
1 Nature Valley Granola Bar wrapper -peanut butter- (don’t know how long I have been carrying this around with me)
1 80 gig portable hard drive (contains source files from images being worked on or that still need to be rendered- also Bryce objects, Poser poses, Photoshop extensions and filters etc. And videos created, things I have written)
1 case logic USB memory stick holder
includes USB SD card reader (I don’t need this- don’t know why I carry it)
1 1gig USB memory stick (contains invoices, spreadsheets, password files, letters, diagrams)
1 1gig USB memory stick (contains client files such as logos, letterheads and such)
1 4gig USB Memory stick (contains web site files and images)
1 1gig USB memory stick (there is nothing on this one)
1 2gig USB memory stick (I just use when I need to transfer files from my computer to someone else’s computer or when I am not carrying my laptop- rarely)
1 black zippered case that contains a little notebook for checklists that I use to try and keep organized- includes a pen
1 leather bound journal where I keep ideas- includes a pen
1 zippered cd case where I keep software cds and backup files for drivers and things
1 DVD case with about 30 DVDs of images already rendered.
1 flashlight?
1 red 8 1/2 x 11 1 subject notebook ( I use this when I take notes at meetings)
1 retractable ethernet cord for when I need to hook up to another computer for internet connection
1 Strawberry chapstick
5 Cinnamon disk candies and 3 empty wrappers
1 USB Hub with 4 extra ports
1 retractable USB cord male to male
1 retractable USB cord male to female
1 retractable USB cord that hooks up to a printer
1 Creatacolor art set (contains various pencils, leads, chalks, graphite sticks)
1 Pencil Sharpener
1 Pink pearl eraser
1 package of wet wipes.
1 book of stamps- 7 left
1 Hair brush
1 Toothbrush
1 Tube Crest travel size toothpaste
…wow- I think there is more in there but you get the idea.

…listing the intangible items would involve more than one post.

My apologies…if you came here with the hopes of getting tips on how to organize your art studio…I may be worse off than you.

With any art medium you are using your goals are to express yourself, make an impact, trigger an emotion, or perhaps tell a story.

There are many ways to do this but the main solution still has to come from you. It is important to try different techniques to find those that you enjoy, work well for you and help you to reach your artistic goals with each piece. There are many to choose from and not all of them will be for you. But experiment and you will find those that suit you and your artistic style.

Try these:

Dry Brush
This is a painting technique that uses more pigment than water

Impasto
A painting techniques where the paint is laid on thickly to create a texture that will stand out as a relief

Lifting out
A technique that removes color from a canvas or sheet of paper to create highlights. This can be done with a sponge or your brush.

Pointillism
A painting or drawing technique that uses dots that are unmixed and juxtaposed next to each other. The dots will work together to create different tones when you look at the piece. Also referred to as stipple.

Scumbling
A technique where a thin or broken layer is laid over the top to show patches of color underneath. Very often used with dry brush and with pastels.

Scraffito
To scratch the top layer to reveal the color beneath. This can be done with the with the opposite end of a brush or a knife.

Spattering
A technique used to create small dots of paint randomly. This can be done by filling your brush with paint or using a toothbrush and flicking paint towards the paper.

Vignettes
This is a painting technique where the edge fades into the white of the paper using the paper to create a border around painting.

Wet on Wet
This is done by painting fresh paint onto wet paints. Most often used i watercolor this technique can create some interesting effects and is great for skies and fabrics.

Burnishing
This can be used in drawing by applying heavy layers of your medium until the tooth of the paper is completely filled in. Burnishing with colored pencil will leave a painterly effect.

Crosshatching
This is a drawing technique that uses fine parallel lines drawn closely together to give the effect of shade or tone.

Juxtaposition
Placing different elements next to each other to show their different qualities and contrasts.

Resist
Using any material that will repel paint to  leave the white surface or color beneath. Can be done with wax, crayon, rubber cement or masking tape.

Glaze wash
A transparent wash of color laid over the dried paint to adjust the tone