The 6 fundamentals of art every good artist must learn

Art can look so mystical and soft as if painted by a magic wand on a canvas. But every highly talented person uses some basic principles in their work. Good paintings in art have to be explained and there is a way of painting if one has to achieve beautiful and meaningful results. The following is what every aspiring artist should learn; read on to find out more about it.

The 6 fundamentals of art every good artist must learn

1. Line

Constructs that form the main building blocks of visual art include lines which can be thin or thick, short or long, smooth or jagged, straight or curved, etc. Linework skills can be useful for the artist to draw perfect shapes and figures on the objects. It also enables the creation of more deliberate, well-articulated pieces instead of rushed ones.

Key line techniques:
- Shading – This is a method of drawing that involves outlining the form’s shape.
- Gesture lines – rapid and sketchy line work depicting the movement and/or emotion.
- Double contour lines – Continues across the forms, indicating depth and surrounding or enveloping forms.
- Implied lines – The absence of the actual line but a line drawn around the shape and based on some reference point.

Participate in line exercises, such as blind contours, gestural drawing, hatching, cross-hatching, and scribbling. Check the emotional quality of the lines to be said. New effects and designs can be put to curve, zigzag, dash, or taper lines.

2. Shape

Shapes are two-dimensional enclosed figures which are characterized by their perimeter known as the boundary. Some of them are geometric while others are organic. In this method, basic shapes such as circles, triangles, and rectangles are used as blueprints for creating other complicated shapes. Graphical interest is provided by some elements that overlap, vary, and recur in some way.

Notice and practice essential shape concepts like:
- Shapes of phrasing - Overall shape and adjunct shapes
- Figure-ground relationship – One shape in the composition is dominant and is differentiated from the other, the background
- Proximity - Grouping similar forms for organization and to create a repetition of pattern.

Try out making new animals, nature, and other objects using the basic shapes. In design, distinguish between positive space and negative space. Remember, when applying repetitive shapes, this must be done deliberately to produce specific effects.

3. Form

Shapes are flat, but forms employ value, as well as, shade to look like they are three-dimensional. Light is required to impact a form that determines its mass and volume. The value of highlight, core shadow, and reflected light are important to form accurate 3D images.

Key form techniques:
- Shading – Accurate build-up of both dark and bright values to make a form look three-dimensional.
- Scale - Depict form size/placements in their true ratio or scale.
- Perspective – This makes an impression of depth and space on a flat plane.

Start with exercises to create simple shapes such as spheres, cubes, and cylinders from clay. Complete sketches of still lifes to help strengthen the path between the eye and the hand. Once familiar with the square, a progression can be made to more challenging and natural shapes such as the figure.

4. Value

With value, one is talking of lights and darks. It assists in calling shapes into real forms and renders dramatic scenes. An important role belongs to value patterns that guide the viewer’s sight throughout an art piece. Each color is also associated with its particular lightness/darkness numerical values.

Core value skills include:
- Range of value – Definition of highlights and lowlights
- Value gradients – Sequential changes between black and white
The atmospheric perspective is subdivided into two; fading and blurring of distance forms.

Start with black and white and get down to doing realistic value studies. While paying attention to hard and soft edges. Look at values for simplicity often squint while evaluating. Once you feel at ease with value varieties in shades of black and white, investigate alternative color values.

5. Color

Wise use of color can take art to another level as it did to the artist. This work shows how color theory assists artists deal with combinations that meet their objectives. Such aspects as temperature, hue, intensity, and value are some of the strong tools that colors bring to the table.

Study key color topics like:
- Color wheel – Similarity of primary, secondary, and tertiary color
- Complementary colors – Collections of hues that are harmonious or have good interaction with one another
- Complementary colors – Another name is opponent colors that are on the opposite side of the wheel and make each other appear more vivid.
- Atmospheric perspective – The effect of lowering the temperature – warm colors move forward, cool colors go back

Create color wheels to help identify and comprehend the relations between different shades. Choose colors with the help of which you are going to practice the smooth blending of one color into another. Use limitations of the palette to work on the precision increase the same as in monochromatic, analogous, or complementary only. More work should be devoted to investigations that are aimed exclusively at conveying temperature or color harmony objectives.

6. Texture

Texture provides the gravitas of the haptic sense, the sense that calls for touch. Actual texture has physical attributes that allow the sense of touch while visual texture employs marks to make it look as if it has texture but does not contain surface differences that can be felt. Each affects the mix of elements in a piece of literature and the reader’s experience of it.

Notable texture teachings include:
- Real texture mediums – The impasto, the modeling paste, and the found objects.
- drawn work – Hatching and cross-hatching, Scumbling, stippling
- Outlined objects and areas – Apply tools described above to hint at realistic textures

Collect physical interesting materials for depiction such as the grain of the wood, plant leaves, and fur. They can practice writing like drawing to construct the semblance of texture such as water waves, stone, and fabric grain. Use textures selectively with form as well as light.

Wrapping Up the Fundamentals

The foundations form a good basis to create as an artist. : Start engaging them gradually, instead of approaching them at once. This is because skills are not learned within a short period and therefore one should not be too hard on himself/herself. These basics, however, when practiced daily and from personal discovery, should provide great flexibility and control.

Problems of one single principle should be used in exercises. Working from models or references or painting still lifes, self-portraits greatly help in speeding up the process of learning. Always remember not to rush through lessons, make sure you have a good basic grasp of each topic. Whether you are at this stage of development or a step above, dedicating some time frequently to the basics will greatly enhance your artistry.