If you’re an aspiring artist or a professional looking for ways to improve your skills, you are at the right place. The art field is highly competitive and to stand out you need to keep improving your skills.
Some artists think that improving fast and reaching the next level of their craft is impossible without spending years and tons of money. They are wrong. You can reach pro-level quite fast if you follow the right steps.
This article will talk about how to do exactly that.
Find Your Unique Style
The first step to success if finding your own unique style. It may sound clichéd but your own unique style is what will set you apart from the competition. It doesn’t have to comply with the popular art styles of the time but rather should reflect your own unique way of perceiving the world.
Before you start improving your art, spend some time to figure out this unique style of yours. You can use various tools and techniques such as drawing exercises or even drawing analogies to find it.
Once you’ve developed your own style, you can start experimenting and improving it.
Be Obsessive About Research
You can’t expect to become an expert in a short time if you limit yourself to what you already know. You need to expand your knowledge base and find reliable sources of information such as art books, blogs and even YouTube tutorials.
You should also follow the work of other artists. Analyze their techniques and figure out why some techniques work better than others. By being obsessed with research, you’ll be able to observe the details and understand why some techniques are more effective than others.
Practice Every Day
The most important thing for improving your skills is practice. This is true for any craft, especially art. You need to set yourself a regular practice schedule and adhere to it by investing a few hours every day.
If you find it difficult to practice this often, start by setting realistic goals such as spending 30 minutes a day or 3 hours a week on improving your art skills. You should also practice with different mediums such as paint brushes, pencils, clay, etc.
in order to get a better understanding of your craft.
Find Out What You Don’t Know Already Know
It’s easy to get complacent and forget the basics. In order to keep improving your skills, you need to keep in mind what you don’t know already.
Are there some techniques that you’re still not sure about? Are you still struggling to draw perfect circles? You need to identify these weak points in your art so that you can focus on improving them.
Doing this will not only help you to improve faster but will also help you to become a more well-rounded artist.
Follow a Positive Attitude and Have Fun
The key to staying motivated and productive is following a positive attitude. You should always push yourself and strive to get better but this shouldn’t come at the cost of your mental health. You also need to make sure that you’re having fun while practicing.
Art is a creative process and it requires you to enjoy what you’re doing. If you feel there’s too much pressure on you, take a break and try to find out what actually drives you.
Find A Mentor
It’s always useful to have someone to guide you when it comes to art. A mentor will not only help you to identify your strengths and weaknesses but will also provide valuable feedback and advice. He/she can also help you in setting concrete goals and provide useful resources.
You can look for a mentor online, in your local art community or even in your friends list.
Join Online Communities
A great way to learn more about art and get inspired is by joining online communities. These communities have fellow artists from all around the world who are always willing to help.
You can join active forums and gain access to a large amount of knowledge and tips and tricks. Joining such forums can help you to come in touch with pro-level artists and learn from their experience.
Experiment With Mediums
As an artist, there are many kinds of mediums out there and you should make use of them all in order to reach a higher level of skill. Try different kinds of mediums such as charcoal, oil paints, water colors, graphite, etc. Experimenting with these mediums will help you to understand their properties and get the most out of them.
You can also experiment with other tools such as stencils, templates and rulers to get different effects.
Take Inspiration From Other Artists
When it comes to improving your craft, it’s essential to take inspiration from other artists. Gather as many different sources of inspiration as you can such as painting styles, color palettes and brush strokes used by famous artists. Try to understand why certain colors are used in some works and why other colors do not go well together.
Use this information to create your own works.
Create A Body of Work
Creating a body of work is essential if you want to get noticed and make a name for yourself. Start by creating small projects that you can finish in short spans of time. This will help to hone your skills.
Once you’re confident enough, you can work on large-scale projects and build your body of work. Try reaching out to potential clients and galleries to showcase your work.
Focus On Feedback
You should stay open to any kind of feedback. It’s important to take critiques and suggestions from others in order to improve quickly. You should take part in online competitions and get feedback from experts.
You should also learn to take negative comments constructively and make necessary changes to your art work.
Create Challenges for Yourself
Create unique and challenging projects for yourself. This will help to push your limits and unlock your inner creativity.
You can try creating art pieces using limited color palettes, using unique mediums or creating illustrations with limited time frames. Such challenging tasks can be fun and can help you to come up with new ideas and concepts.
Conclusion
Improving your art fast isn’t impossible. All you need to do is to follow the right steps and invest your time and energy in practicing.
Finding your own unique style, being obsessed with research, consistent practice, taking feedback and creating challenging tasks for yourself can go a long way in helping you to gain skills quickly. With constant effort and dedication, you’ll be able to reach pro-level in no time.