5 Tips You Can Practice to Improve Your Art Skills!

Practicing your skill is a vital part of your art journey, but what are some ways we can do it to see positive improvement and benefit? In the previous video we picked a topic, prepared our space, supplies, and I shared some vital tips to practice for the benefit of freeing your hand, loosening up, and letting go of perfection. Definitely check out that video first and try some fun quick gestures, but ever since starting my new sketchbook I've been practicing some more figures on my own. You may recognize this gesture from part 1, which I also decided to try out in a different technique, some ballpoint pen and gouache. So in this episode, part 2, let's continue to practice with some slightly longer poses and we'll discuss different techniques and the best way for practice for great improvement. I can't stress enough how important repetition is. Although I've drawn this gesture in part 1, and although you may have drawn something one time, the repetition of the same subject in turnarounds, for example, is a huge tip for practice. You don't necessarily have to do it the exact same way each time, maybe try a new medium. Here I practiced a standing figure, but in six different turnarounds. I did this with the full figure and then right below it with some portrait head studies. Not only was this a fun exploration for myself, it was definitely fun and kept things interesting, and then right below I did a full turnaround of the same portrait from the same model, just a close-up of the head so I can practice those turnarounds as well. This is just one method that I like to do when I practice, and I'm constantly innovating new things for myself, and I inspire you to do the same. So fall in love with repetition because it'll be your best friend during your art practice. Breaking down complexity into shapes can be a great way to visually see and practice any topic. It helps us realize that something is not so complicated or complex after all. In my Patreon live sessions, I'm constantly reminding my patrons to find shapes, whether it's in the overall form, in the shadows, in the highlights, they're definitely there so it's important to think about while creating. Determining and seeking out these shapes can be of great benefit when developing stylistic choices, which we'll talk about in just a little bit. If you need to physically draw out the shapes to see them, go for it. I like to physically draw out some of these shapes, that way that hand and eye coordination and putting it into practice is all solidified. And I have to say, this is something that I'm actively looking for and thinking about when drawing or painting. As we get started on our first longer pose, this one will be five minutes. Think about this. Have you ever met a friend that brings out a certain side in you, and then when you're with another friend, a completely different person, they bring out another side in you, a completely different side as well? I think the same happens with different art supplies. Trying out different tools and including them in your practice will reveal certain strengths to you. You'll learn certain things that you haven't with other mediums, which is why I'm a big believer in trying out as many as you can, experimenting, because you never know which new discovery you'll have with each practice every time. For these next two five minute poses, I'll be using two different mediums. I've recently tried out these crayons. They seem like crayons to me, but they're actually water soluble. They're very creamy to draw with, and they give a bit more texture, thicker line weight, and an overall different feel to your drawing. And I also challenged myself with a bit more advanced arched back pose. We can often do the same standing pose or the same simple pose, so it's always a great idea to throw in some variety as well, as mentioned in part one. This next pose, another sitting pose, along with a smiling pose, I decided to take a fine liner and see how I can tackle it with that. The curve in the back and the placement of the hand made it seem intimidating at first, but trusting yourself throughout the whole study, the whole process, is the most important part. My point for these two exercises was to show you that different art supplies will actually bring out different textures, different line weights, different personalities in your drawings. So don't hesitate to grab that new color. Don't hesitate to grab a different art supply, because hey, you may surprise yourself. Going back to breaking down things into shapes, in these next two male figure poses, also five minutes long, before going into detail, I spent some time finding those shapes, and then I was able to find the values and the shapes in those. So as you're thinking about and implementing things into your practice, try to intertwine them all into one another as well. I've mentioned it before, but I'll say it again, some of the most simplest tools make for great supplies to practice with. For these next two poses, which will be 10 minutes long, I'm grabbing a different supply, some highlighters, and a ballpoint pen, and let's experiment with this pose and see what happens. I started off with a quick gesture and a bunch of messy lines with the highlighter. That allows me to create some movement, some flow, and now I'm slowly going to pick and choose, carefully observe the reference, and carve out more and more detail in the figure. A colored marker and some good old ballpoint pen has been my go-to lately, and you can never really go wrong with it, especially when practicing some sketches. Since we had a little bit of extra time for this pose, I took a gray marker and got in some shadows to make sure that I can see where the light is coming from. This will help create clear volume and dimension to your figure. Then, a noise back and forth for me as I add some ballpoint pen on top, and frankly, looking back, I probably could have left it as is. So going back to the reflecting we did from our sessions, I told myself that the sketch itself for proportion is successful, but I'm going to try to simplify it and not go too much into detail for the next one. Sometimes less is more. So as I'm capturing this next pose, a quick word from today's sponsors, Squarespace. It's pretty simple, Squarespace is a website where you can build a website. I built my website with the help of Squarespace's all-in-one platform. This was a few years ago before they became a kind sponsors of the channel. But when I was starting, I remember I tried out all the different award-winning templates that they have on their site. I dragged and dropped pictures, super simple. I had a bunch of different scans of my sketchbooks and voila, it was up and ready to run. Slowly over time, I built my shop, which I managed to do there as well, and I highly recommend checking them out. So go to squarespace.com for your free trial, and when you're ready to launch, I've got a discount code for you. Go to squarespace.com forward slash Jess Carp for 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. Being conscious of the way you practice and the way your drawings look, giving yourself feedback is one way I keep trying new things, adjusting methods, trying different techniques. And that brings me to our next chapter, which is stylization. This really should be a video of its own. Let's talk about it for a little while. I personally believe that your style evolves after you've built a foundation for yourself. Once you know the rules, you're able to break them. And truly, as much as we all search for it or have searched for it, it's something that you can't really force. It comes out on its own through your practices, through every drawing, through every painting. Just as we evolve and grow through life, the way we stylize, the way we have our line quality also evolves and grows through our art journey. I've learned that the more I focused on stylization, the more it felt forced. However, the more I just relaxed and enjoyed the process, the more I just tapped into my own intuition as an artist. Those were the moments where things came out naturally and there were little breakthroughs in terms of finding your voice. And I always think that there's room for growth and improvement. One way that I enjoy stylizing is focusing on the general feel that I get from the reference or the subject, and then trying to translate that feeling straight into my drawing or my study. Everything from how thick or thin your line weight is, your decision on the amount of detail, the choice to fill the eye pupils in or not, which on the sketch over on the left, you see I left blank, shading with a blending stump, completely the whole figure, and then going in with a pencil, finding out those different flowing shapes. All contributes to the stylization of your study. I'd love to remind you not to stress about style. The point is never to find it or to seek it. I think personally, the point is to keep your practice up, look at the little breakthroughs because it will reveal itself to you. And then when you share your work as well, if you feel comfortable, sometimes others may reveal it to you too. These drawings were also longer poses, which I spent a bit more time on. And while I was drawing, Tilda had a friend who visited her and he comes every day at 11 in the morning. He's pretty consistent, so I guess they're buddies now. It's been lovely practicing this week. And if you have a chance to lay out all your sketches so you can look at them all together as one, you'll be able to notice progress quicker and what was successful. So now that we've done some drawing together, let's finish the session strong with some gouache painting. And I want to share a practice that I like to do, which I call drawing with the brush. There was one reference that really struck my attention in the reference pack. You ever see something and it just grabs your attention and you must capture it? Well, sometimes inspiration hits from pictures and I was truly itching to paint this figure. I always make sure my workspace is nice and comfy before I begin. I've got my palette ready, my paint, my cup of water, and I'm ready to rock. My intention and focus for this piece is to lay out a light sketch with pencil that you'd barely see just so you have the placement. And the rest, I wanted to draw with the brush and let that reveal itself as I go on. I wanted a contrast between desaturated colors and saturated colors in the dress. But I had a goal to capture the body language and just the way that her figure is standing. I've always been inspired by artists such as Anders Zorn and Sargent. I'm going to really try some texture this time, loosening up the brush strokes, softening the edges, and simply slowing down. I'm starting by literally drawing out the values that I see with light strokes and adding deeper tones as I proceed with the painting. The bold strokes full of texture was just accompanied by the music I was listening to, which is also definitely part of my practice to just get lost in the zone and let my brush just dance on the paper. I see painting the same as drawing, except you're mixing color and using those strokes to basically draw with paint. I was absolutely in love with the dress and the facial expression. There was such pure mystery and beauty to this reference and I knew I just had to do my best to translate it in the final painting. We can be a bit less connected to some of the references that we're using to make studies, but I still like to pick a subject that I really connect to because that's sort of a reward for my practice. And as artists, I think when we feel just that one level more connected to something, it definitely translates and communicates in the final piece. As your paintings and creations come to life, take note of what's working in your practice and perhaps take note of what isn't. Don't be afraid to try bold textury marks. There was a time where I felt like I over blended certain areas and one little breakthrough for me has been to get some texture going. And after studying some beautiful paintings in museums and different art books, I began implementing it in my own way as well. I really truly love the way this painting came out and I surprised myself to be honest. I'm really grateful and happy to have made more time for my practice and even more grateful to be able to share it all with you. Thank you so much for watching and for your immense love and support. Stay creative, keep practicing, keep going. And till next time.