How to Be Good at Art

Co-authored by Jeanine Hattas Wilson

Last Updated: April 5, 2023 References

Art is part craft, part creativity, and part business. To become a better artist, you need to both connect yourself to experts who can teach you advanced techniques, develop an original style, and figure out how to make the money necessary to support your art, if you want to become a professional artist. Once you get started, hopefully your art will become progressively better as your talents earn you the resources that will allow you to improve yourself further.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Perfecting Your Craft

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1
Find your art form. It is important to find a type of art that you enjoy. This can mean trying a few different varieties settling on the one you love best. Consider drawing, painting in oils, painting in watercolors, drawing with charcoal, sculpting, making installations, and wood carving. Be open to experimenting with different styles of art.
- You might find that a trip to the art store will make your choice for you. Certain art media are more expensive than others. Consider starting off with something like drawing, which does not require expensive materials, and then moving on to other forms of art once you have the skills and resources to support them.^{[1]
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- You might also find that as your skills evolve, you will move on to more complicated forms of art. After you develop the ability to replicate shapes in drawing, you might want to introduce colors and move on to painting.^{[2]
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Go to the art store. It's hard to be a good artist without the right gear. Think about the basics first, to keep it affordable to allow you to experiment. Once you're happy with the art form you've chosen, start to expand your art kit and add more advanced items until you have a decent amount of tools at your disposal.^{[3]
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- If you can't afford the items, look online for locals selling their art equipment.
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3
Find a teacher. Go to art shows or look online for local artists. Once you find one who you like, talk to her/him about lessons. Remember, you don’t need to rediscover all of the artistic techniques that have been developed over the past two thousand years. There are people who can teach you these methods.^{[4]
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- Professional feedback can also be very helpful for your development. Learning from your mistakes is vital and usually requires someone else who can see your work objectively.
4
Go to school. Usually art school is the best way to master your craft. But, if you’re having trouble getting into a good art school or don’t believe that a four year degree fits your schedule, there are other options. Most community colleges offer art class that you can take individually. These are usually cheap and can even help you develop the skills to get into a better school.^{[5]
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- Fear not. Although art school can be a great way to improve your skills, there are few fields where your degree matters less than in art. Ultimately, you will be judged on the basis of what you produce.^{[6]
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There is always room to learn new techniques and styles. While the internet has some of these resources, you will find the most comprehensive treatment of these subjects in full length books. Start with the art books that you can find in your local library and then look online for the best reviewed books.
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Practice. If you don't practice, you won't get better. You should make practice a habit. Allot a specific amount of time per day to practicing—even better allot a specific period in the day to practice. Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself and try new things when you practice.
- Try things that you know that you can’t do. You can learn a lot more by grappling with things you don’t know than by repeating things you’re already good at.
- Don’t worry about how good what you’re doing is. The only way to learn new things is to experiment.^{[7]
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- Try a master study. A master study a type of practice wherein you take a great work of art and replicate it. It probably won’t be perfect. But you will be learning from the best.^{[8]
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Give yourself time to improve. Give yourself plenty of time to improve and test the direction your art is taking. This means being patient and giving yourself time to stand back and obtain a bigger perspective of where you're headed. Most importantly, keep at it.
- Personal style takes time to develop. Don't expect it to be innate. It is like the sculptor chiseling away at the rock; what you're capable of can take years to be revealed.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Finding Your Creativity

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Vanderbilt psychologists have found that people who are a bit weird are more creative.^{[9]
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Research source} Art that is unique generally sells better than art that simply shows a high level of skill. Having a distinctive style of living is often part of an artists’ trademark. In other words, bucking norms might help you become a more original artist, and, even if it doesn’t, it certainly makes for better marketing.^{[10]
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Get out of here. Art is about recreating personal experience in an original way.^{[11]
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Research source} In order to do that, you need to have experience doing something other than looking at a computer screen. Get out of the house and go see the world.
- A walk through nature, like a walk through woods or along the beach, is thought to increase creativity. These sort of walks allow us time to be alone with our thoughts and introduce us to experiences that we don’t encounter in our everyday life.^{[12]
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- Travelling to another country can introduce you to a new culture and unfamiliar experiences. A lot of studies have indicated that spending time abroad can improve creativity. Even thinking back to a time when you were out of the country can cause a temporary burst of creativity.^{[13]
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It is common for great works of art to pull on the work of other artists. It is also, however, easy to replicate other people’s work without realizing it. A particularly impressive image can be engraved in your memory so that you unconsciously recreate it while searching for something new. Expose yourself to a lot of influences and, when you create something, ask yourself how if it too closely resembles the work of someone else.
Keep things fresh and be prepared to pursue new paths as you grow as an artist. Even if you have developed a signature style, you might find that it gets old with time. Experimentation does not necessarily mean giving up what you have done before, just developing a wider repertoire.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Building a Career

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Art isn’t necessarily about money. But it is a lot easier to devote the time to developing your craft when you don’t have to work a full time job at the same time. Think of the money you earn from art as liberating you to pursue what you love. A career can cascade; as you earn the money to support yourself, you can spend more time developing skill and a reputation as an artist.^{[14]
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Advertise. You should build a portfolio of your own work and then do everything you can so that other people find and purchase it. Today that is normally done online. Post your work on social media and build a website that features your best images.^{[15]
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- If you want to be old fashioned, find a coffee shop that looks like it needs some extra decoration. Bring your portfolio and show the owner your work. Ask if she would be willing to put it on display and refer interested customers to you. She will get a better the ambience out of the deal and you will get to advertise your work.
3
Network. Subscribe to local art papers and be aware of art shows, festivals, or seminars. When you attend events, be yourself and be sociable. Try to meet people who could connect you to clients or galleries where you can sell you work.
- Perfect an elevator speech. The principle of the elevator speech is that you can give it to someone on a short elevator ride and by the end they be interested in exchanging information with you. In a few sentences you should be able to tell someone what makes your work interesting. If it doesn’t seem to work, keep on revising it until you find something that grabs people.
- Bring a lot of business cards so that when you meet people who are interested in you work, you can easily share your contact information. Include a website that features your work on the business card. Keep track of all of the business cards you receive and set up appointments to meet with people after the event.^{[16]
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Join a community of artists. Become known in your art community as a supportive person with a genuine interest in the progress of your fellow artists. When you make comments, be constructive, not destructive. Help people to learn through guidance and constructive feedback. Use this community to get feedback on your work and meet potential clients.
- Don’t be jealous of other people. If you develop a reputation of helping out other artists, they, in turn, will help you.^{[17]
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- Consider forming a collective to pool your resources. You can rent out a space to display your art or even share the expenses of a studio collectively. In the end, you won’t just be saving money, you’ll be introducing one another to new customers.^{[18]
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Ultimately, most artists don’t make ends meet by doing just one thing. They have multiple sources of revenue so that when one disappears, backup jobs are still on the table. Sell works online, put others in galleries, look for public art contracts, apply for grants, and teach. Not only is this a good way to make ends meet, you’ll also learn about what the most lucrative business models are.^{[19]
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Expert Q&A

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Question

How can I find inspiration for my art?

Jeanine Hattas Wilson
Professional Painter
Jeanine Hattas Wilson is a Professional Painter and the President of Hattas Public Murals, Inc. With nearly 20 years of experience, Jeanine specializes in creating, overseeing, designing, and painting murals. Jeanine holds a BA in Advertising from Marquette University and a Studio Painting Minor from The Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design. She has studied at The Atelier Artien in Paris, France, Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art, and under renowned artists such as Robert Liberace, Michael Siegel, and William Cochran. To date, Hattas Public Murals has painted nearly 5,000 commissioned works of art in homes and commercial and public spaces.

Jeanine Hattas Wilson

Professional Painter

Expert Answer

Look for inspiration at museums. Study both historical and contemporary art. Also, try to have an interest in other things that are created, such as writing, cooking, and music, which can help you see things in a new way.

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Question

How do I figure out what my artistic style is?

Jeanine Hattas Wilson
Professional Painter
Jeanine Hattas Wilson is a Professional Painter and the President of Hattas Public Murals, Inc. With nearly 20 years of experience, Jeanine specializes in creating, overseeing, designing, and painting murals. Jeanine holds a BA in Advertising from Marquette University and a Studio Painting Minor from The Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design. She has studied at The Atelier Artien in Paris, France, Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art, and under renowned artists such as Robert Liberace, Michael Siegel, and William Cochran. To date, Hattas Public Murals has painted nearly 5,000 commissioned works of art in homes and commercial and public spaces.

Jeanine Hattas Wilson

Professional Painter

Expert Answer

I would recommend not trying to lock yourself into a specific style. It's one thing to go on a journey and develop a style, but actually go on that journey. Don't try to come up with a gimmick and then stick with it. Let yourself be taken through a journey so that you're growing.

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I am rubbish to start with. How can I ever be good at art?

Community Answer

Take lessons and don't think of yourself as rubbish, rather focus on proportion and colour. Also study what you're drawing and take notes. Art is both innate and skilled; you need to focus most on the skill, developing it and improving on it. Dedication is required, while saying you're rubbish is a form of distancing yourself from fear of failure. Give it a go, often.

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Tips

Try different media and practice often. Don't give up!

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As said earlier, you cannot improve overnight. Be patient, practice more and your art will improve overtime.

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Being "good" is subjective and objective. You may be brilliant in the eyes of others but never personally feel you've quite reached your pinnacle. Or, you may think what you're producing is good but few people agree. Try to keep things in perspective to see whether you have unrealistic expectations or whether you really are ahead of your time and are yet to be recognized for your unique contribution.

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