Why is it that some artists art never seems to change -
or worse - improve?
Some thoughts on improving your art:
1. Be critical of your work. To be good at something requires a passion, an unwillingness not to seek for the best, a willingness to take chances and experiment, not to be content with where you are today, never satisfied.
2. Don’t spend too much time trying make your art look like someone else's. Be influenced, but don’t be alike.
3. Stand back and look at your work objectively. Does it really work or is it stressed or contrived? The next point is closely related to this one.
4. Do you control your medium or does it control you? It has been said that without craft there can be no art.
5. Picture your piece on a wall in your living room or in a gallery some place. Does it work there, does it looks like it fits or belongs?
6. Collect the art of others you like, enjoy or respect. Everyone's art builds upon the art of those who went before. Picasso was greatly influenced by the art of Paul Cézanne and Henri Rousseau,
7. As Bagger Vance said we are each in search of finding your own true authentic swing.
8. Experiment, push, stretch, don’t accept that what you did today is good enough.
In the end, I believe there is always a different way, and there is always a better way. We each need to find ours for ourselves.
A short list of the artists I enjoy and try to follow are as follow. You will notice a heavy influence of color and the use of line in this group of artists. Tom Fritz, Ken Dallison, Sergio Toppi, Patrick Faulwetter, Mike Svob, Barry Rowe, Barron Storey, Kiah Kiean, Kathryn Stats, Mattias Adoffsson, and Bart Forbes just to name a few.