What skills?

#1

What should every painter know? What do YOU know?

Try to make a list of what you had to learn before you managed to paint properly. This includes form, anatomy, perspective, etc. How did you proceed to master this?

#2

Practice :wink:

#3

All right, now I know how you better your skills, but my main question remains; What did you have to learn beforehand? I really don’t think you possess a power that allows you to practice something you don’t know or understand.

#4

Drafting - askill most painters neglect but really shouldn’t
Composition - one of the most valuable skills
Color balance - knowing how colors interact and how to make a harmonic color palette
Light and shadow - another skill of major importance
underpainting - more important than it may seem, this has even extended into my 3D work
collage - by which I mean most artists work from photos, and combine elements from many seperate photos to get a pleasing composition - this includes compiling a very large image file over the years

All the skills are important to learn. You practice until you reach a point where you don’t have to think about color and composition any longer. You balance colors and composition by instinct, that’s when you just KNOW when something is right and looks good. THEN you start REALLY painting.

#5

All right, that sounds adequate. So, let’s see… I think my knowledge on color balance and composition is already decent, but it’s not automatized (I have been working with graphic design as a hobby for some years). On the other hand, I better pay some tutor for drafting, underpainting and light and shadow. I have read tutorials from books and magazines, but these never teach you how to paint. These tutorials only describe a process. When it comes to collage; I think tutorials and this forum will prove quite helpful when I have learned all those other skills.

Well, I have got a small list of skills, but to me, it only looks like sub-categories. What about, for instance, form and perspective?

EDIT: I also think somebody should make a sticky-thread on this topic… It could serve as an enlightening resource for most newbies (like me)…

EDIT 2: There should be a thread for both 3D and 2D artists…

#6

These are the exact topics covered by the Loomis books, which are in the sticky threads. Creative Illustration in particular covers all of this stuff.

#7

All right, I would have bought those skills if I wanted to learn those techniques and skills, but I’ll rather take a course. What I want is a list of skills (and, maybe, techniques). I wan’t to know WHAT to learn and not how to learn.

#8

Have you actually looked at the sticky threads? The Loomis books are free for download, and Loomis is one of the most respected teachers in the history of illustration. His books cover everything you’d ever need to know and more–they are like years of art school combined. Simply reading all the text and following the exercises in his books, you’ll become a kickass artist. Trust me, he knows far more than anyone in these forums can ever tell you, including me. I’d trust Loomis over anyone here.

#9

Nice, free books… Now, that’s even better than what I hoped for.

#10

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