When Prince Siddhartha Gautama decided to renounce his privileged position and search for enlightenment, he started by attempting to starve himself to his goal. When that didn’t work out, He changed tack. He tried the middle way, neither self-indulgence nor self-mortification, and achieved nirvana. Personally, I know next to nothing about Buddhism, despite being attracted
How to get better at colour design
Of all the aspects of colour, design is the one that is generally assumed to be something you have, or you don’t. Personally, I’ve never accepted that point of view about anything. Any skill can be learned, can be taught and can be practised. Including Colour design. But how? Perhaps the best known treatise on
Why I abandoned this painting! (and what I’m going to do about it)
Here’s a quick video I recorded live on facebook earlier this week. It’s 16 minutes long, and it’s all about why I’ve decided to abandon the painting I’ve been working in this week. I’m sharing this because I think it’s useful to know that this happens to all of us sometimes. Mostly artists just share
The Secret Ingredient of Beautiful Compositions: Hidden Connections and Implied Lines
Beautiful composition affects you, even when you don’t know how it’s been done. I’m going to describe for you a very practical technique for improving your compositions that you can start applying right away. Today, if you want. And I believe it’s relevant to you no matter what kind of art you create, from intricate,
Hidden Patterns: How to design pictures like Veronese
Whether you like Veronese’s pictures or not, there’s no arguing with the fact that he designed beautiful compositions. I think you can feel that compositional beauty, even if you’re not aware of how it’s been created. I think you feel beauty in your soul. You resonate with it. And in a sense, it doesn’t matter
How to Make More Beautiful Compositions With Positive and Negative Space
For many of us, returning to art after a long period away can be daunting. Our appreciation of art outstrips our ability. Our work falls short of our expectations, and most of the time we don’t know why. Does that sound familiar to you? It might be that your art education was sorely lacking, neglecting
Three Uncommonly Effective Ways to Improve Your Compositions
Composition can make the difference between a technically skilled piece of work and a beautiful one. Design and composition is what allows us to take our visual impressions and make them into art. Composition is where you create, where your personality comes through the most clearly in your work. Good Composition is Rare So you’d
How To See Like an Artist
Artists see differently. Someone who sees in this special way that artists see can look at a collection of buildings and see a design, become entranced by a pattern of light and shadow. The greater your ability to see in this way, the more you will be able to look at something and see a
The Only Composition Rule You’ll Ever Need to Learn
Any fool can make a rule, and any fool will mind it. – Henry David Thoreau, author, poet, philosopher. Composition makes or breaks a picture, so we often hear. I wouldn’t disagree. The more I practice composition and the more I become sensitive to it, the more I realise the truth of that. But frankly,
Designing Nature: A Series of Composition Exercises – Part Two
“Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr, American poet and author. When we learn something new, our brains change. They physically change. Every time we practice, new connections are formed between neurons. Existing connections are strengthened. So we want to make sure we’re building