Art Painting Tips - Four Things that Really Help

Using a Mirror, Squinting, Getting Away from the Art Work and Turning the Painting Upside Down Can Really Help Artists "see" Their Own Artwork Better

It is so helpful to be able to take an art class and have the benefit of a wonderful art teacher. The teacher can look at our paintings with an objective eye and tell us what needs to be fixed. However, the teacher doesn't come home with us and so it is nice to have tools to use where we can be our own teacher. These following tips help to quiet our ever-present left brain and let the artistic right brain do its thing.

1. Use a mirror. This is probably the greatest aid that we can have when we draw and paint. Take a hand mirror and, like Annie Oakley the sharpshooter, look over your shoulder backwards at your artwork. This allows us to see our work from a different point of view. If there is anything amiss - it will really stand out. I use my mirror constantly to check on angles that might not be angled enough, to see negative spaces (spaces around objects) correctly and to see if anything jumps out at me. This is a great perspective tool. I can really see when something is not quite right. If I don't see anything out of order - I sign my painting.

2. Squint your eyes. This sounds strange but, by squinting our eyes when we look at our art work and then at our subject matter, we can really see the darkest darks and the lightest lights pop out. Squinting blurs the details and lets us see the important values (darks and lights) of our work. I often find that my students do not make their darks dark enough - so squinting really helps to see this. I use it constantly in my own work especially where I need good contrast.