Sorry its been so long.

Yea, I'm really lazy. I know. Anyways, Ill be basically off Deviantart for a wile, since I never have time for it anyways. Well, should anybody need me use email. And that's about it. See ya later!

Hello everybody! I've started these little things called Art Notes, its where I will be posting any and all good tips and ideas I find out there on basic art skills n' such. It's meant to be brief, so you will be able to remember it (opposed to those long technical explanations of art theory, composure, and so on which are no help at all). Also, if you have some of your own and would like to share, pleas send me a note. Thanks!

Hey, we have also decided to start featuring artists and Tutorials! So if you do want in-depth help, just follow the links.



Now to the Notes:


* Terms all artists should know: [link]

*Having an art block? Here are some tips and tricks you might want to try:

~Don't be afraid to mess up and totally suck! That happens to everybody, just go with the flow and get the "sucking" done with.

~Take a hike! (gasp) yes, some physical activity (even for 10 minuets) will help blood flow to your head, and thats where the art comes from!

~Get inspired! Here on DA alone there are thousands of artists with amazing work that will make you never want to leave your pencil and paper alone again! (Trust me, I can hardly stop myself sometimes)

~Get some sleep! Studies have shown that your mind processes and stores info when you sleep, so when your mind is all blocked up, give it a 20 minute break!

~Complain to your friends! They'll whip you back into shape with some complaining of their own!

~Take a ride in a magazine or favorite book! a.k.a. Let the fan-art flow!

~Everybody has something they wanted to paint or photo but just haven't had the time, well. . . now is the time!

Now some from our wonderful contributers!

Duffzilla:

Realize you are not self-taught. What you know about art has been influenced heavily, if not taught directly, by the people who came before you. Give them the respect they deserve and realize you are not a revolution. (I only stress this because I'm constantly amazed at the stunning self-confidence some people on dA are capable of)

Read a lot and look a lot. Look at art, great, good and terrible. Read theory. Read about color theory and compositional theory. Understanding color theory and compositional theory is not stifling. If you really care, you'll find it inspiring and it'll improve your work.

Draw from life and reference constantly. If not for your final works, which may be completely fantastic, then at least in your private practice.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~WarriorExodus:

Color, contrast, and composition. These are general tips that can theoretically be applied to any piece. To look at a piece and say, "this color could be brighter here" or "this flower could be more twoard the center here" or "without these, the scene is more balanced, more focused" risks nothing.

Idea, theme, and emotion. These are the risky places of art. To look at someone else's art and say "Is this supposed to be a dog...?" "What's this picture supposed to be about?" and "You call this a happy picture?" risks everything. These are the things that can make or break a piece of art.

No one dares to write about these because they are so powerful, so concrete. I think its important in writing these advices to note how little can really be said about what makes art art.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Here's my advice: Don't spend endless hours trying to improve a single piece of art. If you are just starting out, this will only make you frustrated because you won't be able to get all the details right. Instead, what you should do at this stage is to improve your ability to draw the basic shapes most drawings are composed of. Over and over again." -Jürgen's

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

T-U-T-O-R-I-A-L-S :

[link] <--Best online database for artist I know of!
[link] <-- Great Anatomy site
[link] <-- A very good DA club if you need help.
[link] <-- for all you web designers n' such.
[link] <-- Corel Painter Help
Stock:


And now for the features:


~~~~~~~~~~Featured Photography!~~~~~~~~~~















Pleas visit and comment on their work!

Amazing web site you can help:

[link] <--you can give, for free, just buy clicking a few questions, and you get smarter too!

Hello everybody! I'm starting these little things called Art Notes, its where I will be posting any and all good tips and ideas I find out there on basic art skills n' such. It's meant to be brief, so you will be able to remember it (opposed to those long technical explanations of art theory, composure, and so on which are no help at all). Also, if you have some of your own and would like to share, pleas send me a note. Thanks!

I have posted the following in a blog also, if you would like to add information/ideas for the next Art Notes, pleas send me a note HERE and not on my blog. The blog is for a wider spectrum of media, so if you have any random comments or ranting to do, do it there!
Blog: [link]

Side Note: PS stands for PhotoShop, so the tips that are labeled with PS are referring to Photoshop.




~Having a hard time with composure? Remember the Rule of Thirds!


~Conveying a mood is sometimes best accomplished with a good color-scheme, one with colors that speak your mood for you.

~When you are trying to get an area to stand out(your focal point), put it in high contrast compared to the rest of the image. If a yellow flower is your main focus, make it BIG and make it really yellow!

~Like the tip above, if something in your image is not important, dull it out so that more attention will be given to what you are trying to show!

~When you have a dynamic composition, try tweaking the perspective a little to add some flavor! ( you could try this with anything though)

~A good way to create depth is using proportions wisely. If, say, your characters are looking up at a enormous building, make them tiny and the building HUGE!

~Limit the # of focal points in one picture. Too many will create a sense of chaos.

~Compose your pictures so that your eyes have a path to follow, if not, you will end up confusing your audience. You can always have more than one path too, but try to limit it.

~Break down your objects into simple shapes, see if they match the tip above, a.k.a, check to see they create balance.

~"Limitations encourage creativity" - Matthew Frederick

~Learn from life, its the master teacher! So next time your having trouble drawing say, a tree, look out side! Try and see the tree for what it really is. Is it all green and brown? Or are there yellows and other colors there too?

~Never expect to get it right the first time, if you do your going to be very disappointed in your work.

~Observation feeds your imagination, so pay attention!

~PS - Holding down the shift key will allow you to draw perfect vertical/horizontal lines.

~PS - If you want to add lots of detail to a painting, start with a large canvases size, and shrink it when you are done.

~PS - To create a sense of motion, take the moving object, duplicate it a few times, tweak the in the direction your object is moving the layers, and lower their transparency.

~PS - If a painting is created in RGB mode a print of the image will have less striking colors. Chane the image to CMYK mode before printing to see how it will really turn out.

THE END! thanks for reeding, and pleas leave comments and advice!

Amazing web site you can help:

[link] <--you can give, for free, just buy clicking a few questions, and you get smarter too!