Martina's Drawing and Painting Tips

There are hundreds of things an artist is automatically checking while drawing or painting. Learn one hint at a time!

Learning to draw and paint is a life-long journey. Most people don't realise the sheer number of aspects it necessitates to form a good work of art. You need to know how each form reacts similar to light, how tonal values make or break a painting and how to create atmospheric perspective, that is depth into a creative 2 dimensional work and make it stand out as 3 dimensional. And these are just a few of the many varied skills that can be developed in time.

I strongly advise approaching these hints by going through each point to check whether you understand the principle or not. If you find any aspect you are not familiar with, talk to your art teacher if you have one. If you don't have any person to  person tuition, check the internet for each point or think about joining a local art teacher, or online classes. 

Painting & Drawing Tips

As you learn new hints, you will find that there are so many facets that it can be overwhelming. I therefore suggest applying one point at a time and to get the information into your lovely brain.

​Don't rush! 

The main mistake most students make is wanting to know it all at once, not realising that they will forget most of it and never really get to apply to any work. Only little information are taken in each time because our brain can only digest so much. So slow down and work through the list with a great deal of patience.

Crucial Fundamental Basics

Line Contour Variation.  001

When drawing outlines to indicate forms, they have to vary. Do not draw them with a single thickness. Start heavier in corner and changes of direction, and slowly thin them out to get a fluid result. If you do not apply this principle, your work will look stiff and childish. 

Measure Proportions the Right Way.  002

A beginner will only pick up certain measurements and miss others. I have detected over the many years of teaching that all students make the same mistakes. In fact, I have a drawing that all students have to draw in one of my classes, only to show that everyone will have missed one particular point in the drawing. All miscalculate the same area by almost 1 to 2 centimetres. The interesting component is that I do not have to tell them how to correct it. All I have to do is  show them two points on the drawing they have neglected, and voilà, they immediately see what is wrong. The main hint is to draw one item of the drawing as correct as possible, and then compare everything that follows to the first object and then to the next and so on. You constantly create lines from one point to another.

Apply Atmospheric Perspective.  003

Atmospheric or aerial perspective is the agent that creates depth into a work. It clarifies that some objects are close and others are further away. Objects that are close are always darker and have clearer outlines, whereas further away they lighten and become fussy. Colour also changes dramatically when seen close up or further away. They are bright in the front and weaker in the back. Ask your teacher how to naturally dull a colour and then add a tint, that is white, to weaken the intensity towards the distant planes. 

Correct Shading Is Vital.  004

I could write a long and extensive chapter on this one subject alone, but will point to the most important issues students seem to encounter. 

Every form reacts the same to light and shade, so once you understand these principles, you are fine with any form or shape. 

I first establish a clear distinction between the light and shadow areas.  Between the light the shading area we find the terminator line or core shadow, which is always a little darker than the shadow area in itself. In fact, understanding this particular shadow is the breakthrough for most artists. So make sure you learn about it's specifics. You also have to understand that light and shade reacts to flatness and curves. The rounder a curve is, the firmer we draw the line between dark and light. The flatter a curve, the softer a shadow slowly fades into the light. I am not talking about the cast shadow, but the area of an object where the light can't go.

The cast shadow is a shadow casted by an object. The basic rule is that the cast shadow is in most cases darker than the shadow. 

Tonal Value  005

Composition can make or break a painting. An artist has great power to manipulate the viewer to either walk out of the painting fast or remain a little longer. This is done in the same way advertising speaks to us. If we find an Ad in the papers, and it is nothing but small plain text, no one will look at it. But if there is a lot of quiet space with a large, bold heading that speaks to us, people will be intrigued to see more. 

Our painting must contain elements that draw people to our art. If we fail, we are missing a vital part to reach and engage our viewers. 

The most common mistakes I encounter is useless busyness. Every painting needs its quiet space, at least one third of the whole painting should be calmer as the danger to overwhelm the viewer is large. There are so many examples I have seen in which an artist spends hours and hours of work, only for people to bypass their immense work due to an intense amount of information the brain cannot easily digest.  

But the problem of composition is so manifold, that it requires a lot of explaining. There is the issue of asymmetry vs symmetry, and as in Ikebana flower arrangements, asymmetric is preferred by us humans. One, three or five flowers rather than two, four, or six. 

There is clear research data that tells us exactly what we people like and dislike. So study this issue well. 

Composition  006

Composition can make or break a painting. An artist has great power to manipulate the viewer to either walk out of the painting fast or remain a little longer. This is done in the same way advertising speaks to us. If we find an Ad in the papers, and it is nothing but small plain text, no one will look at it. But if there is a lot of quiet space with a large, bold heading that speaks to us, people will be intrigued to see more. 

Our painting must contain elements that draw people to our art. If we fail, we are missing a vital part to reach and engage our viewers. 

The most common mistakes I encounter is useless busyness. Every painting needs its quiet space, at least one third of the whole painting should be calmer as the danger to overwhelm the viewer is large. There are so many examples I have seen in which an artist spends hours and hours of work, only for people to bypass their immense work due to an intense amount of information the brain cannot easily digest.  

But the problem of composition is so manifold, that it needs a lot of explaining. There is the issue of asymmetry vs symmetry, and as in Ikebana flower arrangements, asymmetric is preferred by us humans. One, three or five flowers rather than two, four or six. 

There is clear research data that tells us exactly what we people like and dislike. So study this issue well.