15 Must Have Skills Every Art Student Should Master

“The most difficult step ever is the first step. It comes with doubts, uncertainties, and all sort of fears.
​If you defy all odds and do it, your confidence will replicate very fast and you'll become a master!”

There are as many opinions about “must have” skills for art students, as there are art instructors. However, my perspective comes as a long-time art instructor and judge of art shows and competitions. If you concentrate on these essential skills, you’ll be much better off in your art career in the long run from having mastered them.

The Making of a Great Artist

I believe there are certain core skills that set the great artists apart from the average or mediocre. Here are the skills you should master to become one of the great ones:

1. Line Weight or Line Contour Variation

If you study the work of any good drawer vs a beginners drawing, you will always find the beginner will use the same line weight in almost all contour or outlines. This is what creates the stiffness in amateur drawings. Professionals will vary the thickness of line in their drawings depending on the light source and other factors. We have the greatest success with our students both adults and children when this one rule to drawing is applied efficiently.  

2. Drawing and Painting from Real Life

It is OK to train students to imitate their work from pictures or photographs in the beginning, but one has eventually to work from real life. Students face challenges when drawing something from real life, in particular if it is a skill they have not mastered as yet and will find that it requires a completely different way of seeing. Schools that encourage real-life drawing skills help re-wire their student’s brains to think and draw in 3-D. And that’s a skill that only great artists possess!

3. Knowledge of Materials and Skillfulness in Their Use 

Successfully mastering the art of producing great sketches, drawings and paintings, is mainly about knowing which materials to use, and why. For instance, if the objective is to have a drawing that should last for a long time, you have to avoid acid-rich paper. If you use normal drawing paper to paint with watercolour, you won’t succeed; you need to use special watercolour paper instead. These subtle skills can make the difference between being a successful artist, and one who struggles to produce high-quality work.

4. Drawing and Painting Proportionally Correct

Some types of artwork, like drawing portraits, require far more attention to proportional correctness than others, like sketching flowers. Most newcomers to the field of art are challenged to understand and representing factual proportions, yet someone trained in these skills can quickly spot a disproportional work of art. Art teachers should very early explain to their students how a beginner is trying to find proportions and why that doesn't work and show them how an artist is searching for connection points and lines to scan an image thoroughly to find every single problem. 

5. Drawing and Painting Realistically

Learning how to draw and paint realistically is an indispensable skill for aspiring artists. When all is said and done, the level of skill highlighted by realistic ateliers outshines those learned practices by other types of art schools and colleges. I think the motto "You can take out learned skills, but you can't add what you don't know" says it all. So many students want to paint abstract because they are afraid of realism, but wished they could incorporate realistic skills to their work, at least now and then. It is always worth spending time on these skills and never waisted.  

6. Understanding Linear Perspective

​Just as a great Chemist must master the rules of Chemistry, so too young daring artists need to master the rules of perspective to become great artist. Nothing can reveal lack in skill than a realistic artwork with flaws in linear perspective. 

7. Atmospheric Perspective or Aerial Perspective. 

To draw and paint perfectly, you need to have firm grasp of the rules of background versus foreground perspective; aerial perspective, also called atmospheric perspective; multi-dimensional perspective. Sadly, some art schools don’t reinforce these skills amongst their students. The extra dimension an artwork receives by applying those rules is amazing and worth to be learned. Get a teacher who has really good grasp on those issues. 

8. Composition Awareness

The literal meaning of the word “composition” means “to create” or “to arrange”. Mastering the golden rules of composition will result in viewers being fixated on your drawings and paintings (…and of course, admiring them!) much longer than others. Composition has much to do with mastering the rules of rabatment, proportions, symmetry and guiding and locking a viewer’s gaze. These are ‘must learn’ rules for any student of art, but is a widely overlooked skill and few workshops and colleges focus on them today. Composition is an artists control over their viewers. One can lead people out of an artwork or greatly lead someone into it. An artist should know what it is that makes people tick and stay longer with an artwork. 

9. Understanding Typical Beginners Mistakes

Sometimes, as you watch online art videos teaching some of these core skills, even you (as a relatively newcomer into the field) may be left aghast at the amateurism. You may see “trainers” use blunt pencils, or even create works full of smudges and smears. A good art school should not only point out your shortcomings, but help turn those occurrences into learning opportunities. The advantage of a teacher doing his or her job for years is that they get to understand very well the most common mistakes that are made by beginners. To point those out you create an environment of good habits instead of bad ones. The earlier you will be taught those errors the faster you will improve. 

10. The Holy Grail of Drawing & Painting: Tonal Value

​The understanding and appreciation of tonal values, both in colour and greyscale renditions, is arguably a skill that’s even more critical than colour. Sadly, many art academies and online tutorials do not appreciate that fact, and often omit tonal value skills or glance over them at the end of a session. Mastering the skillful use of tone can make all the difference between producing an amateurish work or impressively producing a 3-dimensional piece of art! Arts Academies and Ateliers of highest standard agree that tonal value is the hardest of all skills and it is crucial for your art teacher to create over and over an awareness of its importance.      

11. Strong Understanding of Colour Practice & Theory

​A strong foundation of colour theory, and a firm understanding of colour mixing, tints and hues, is indispensable to your future as an artist. Sadly, the number of art students I personally encounter that lack such skills, who have learned their basic skills online or at other art schools, is staggering! The ability to produce any colour you want with only the primary colours plus white, or to naturally dull or darken colours, to create bright and clean colours, and use knowledge of creating shadows with colours, is all part of the core skills that budding artists must master.

12. Laws of Light & Shadows

​Different materials react differently to light and with shading. The proper use of light and shadows can bring about the precise effect that an artist wishes. For example, the use of clear core shadows on a portrait can produce a further dimension into stunning 3D effects, which can't be achieved without this knowledge. Or that a shadow contains a different colour depending on the incoming light is crucial. Knowing that a vertical cast shadows reacts differently to a horizontal one can produce a greater ambiance in your drawings. Without the knowledge or understanding of these laws, students are unable to produce high-quality, real-life-like drawings and paintings.

13. Mastering Pencil & Brush Strokes

Contrary to what many new art students might think, the results of similar strokes from brushes and pencils aren’t alike! Just as a master carpenter knows which type of saws and files to use on what types of wood, so too must art students learn and understand which types of strokes, from pencils or brushes, create what types of end results.      

14. Seeing Lost and Found Edges

Most art students are unaware that, in order to create high-quality drawings or paintings, the edges between two shapes or two different colours need special attention.  The skill to accentuate or de-emphasize soft and hard edges oftentimes spells the difference between works that look childlike or the ones that are picture-perfect! This skill will make or break a master piece. 

15. Knowledge of Anatomy 

If you want to master drawing and painting faces and human figures, then you need to master anatomy and understand what the human body comprises of, and what lays under the skin. Your knowledge of the proportions and characteristics of the head, facial expressions and other aspects of the human body, are vital for you to be able to draw, sketch and paint realistic human portraits and figures. 

Putting it all together

Make no mistake: To become a great artist, you must understand and master all of these skills. And to do that, you have two options, you draw, draw and draw on your own until you master everything or you get the proper guidance and instruction from professionals which makes the process much faster. Many will give up along the way, as we are naturally avoid problems.  Through professional direction and encouragement you’ll be able to put all of these skills together into your repertoire of artistry skills.

I understand that every student learns differently and you will make mistakes, so get the best help you can get so that you learn from it fast.

If you live in our area, contact us to see how we can help you to achieve your artistic dreams, be it as a hobby or making a career from your passion. 

​Martina Pook