{"id":37825,"date":"2025-01-20T09:35:49","date_gmt":"2025-01-20T09:35:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/entertainment\/art\/navigating-trouble-zones-artists-network\/"},"modified":"2025-01-20T09:35:49","modified_gmt":"2025-01-20T09:35:49","slug":"navigating-trouble-zones-artists-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=37825","title":{"rendered":"Navigating Trouble Zones | Artists Network"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\u2713<\/span>Showcase your talent and win big in Artists Network prestigious art competitions! Discover competitions in a variety of media and enter for your chance to win cash prizes, publication in leading art magazines, global exposure, and rewards for your hard work. Plus, gain valuable feedback from renowned jurors. Let your passion shine through – enter an art competition<\/a> today!<\/span><\/div>\n\n

Marla Baggetta<\/strong> shares her strategy for kicking common bad habits that create road blocks in the painting process.<\/h3>\n

We all have times when the painting process isn\u2019t going smoothly\u2014when we hit those rough patches. It simply comes with being an artist. While we know that not every work can be a masterpiece, we still hope to improve our skills with each painting\u2014and to make a great one every now and then. The good news is that if you\u2019re able to identify the mistakes that you\u2019ve made in a painting, you can begin to address them and make positive changes to improve your technique.<\/p>\n

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Comfort and Light<\/em> (pastel on paper)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Identify Bad Habits<\/h4>\n

Make a list of your bad painting habits. We all have them. Here are some of the most common ones:<\/p>\n

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Not having a clear concept or understanding of why you\u2019re painting a subject or scene<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Mark-making just for the sake of it<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Overworking the same areas<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Placing objects in the exact center of the composition<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Using the same color palette over and over<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Making a muddy mess of your colors<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Lacking the confidence to push forward in a piece<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Most of the mistakes I see my students make arise from a lack of planning, from quitting too soon or from taking a timid approach to a painting out of fear they\u2019ll ruin it.<\/p>\n

Know Your Why<\/h4>\n

One of the biggest reasons a painting can fail is because the artist doesn\u2019t have a compelling reason for painting the subject in the first place. First and foremost: Figure out what your story is. What intrigues you about the subject or scene? What initially grabbed your attention? Think about what you\u2019re trying to communicate to the viewer.<\/p>\n

Stay focused on your \u201cwhy\u201d throughout the painting process, but especially in the beginning stages. Make sure you\u2019re doing everything you can to serve your story or concept when making choices about size, proportion, composition, color scheme, mark-making\u2014everything. Of course, this doesn\u2019t mean that you need to be 100 percent certain about what you\u2019re trying to say when you start a piece, or that the creative process shouldn\u2019t lead you in another direction at some point\u2013\u2013but having a clear understanding of your \u201cwhy\u201d when beginning a painting helps you navigate when things get dicey. And they will get dicey!<\/p>\n

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Take advantage of all the tools at your disposal to get the most out of your reference. Proportion scales and viewfinders will help you work out a strong composition and placement of key elements.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Make a Plan<\/h4>\n

You must construct a solid foundation for your painting, otherwise you\u2019ll end up in an unruly and messy place. That\u2019s not to say that rules can\u2019t be broken or that you can\u2019t have fun, but the process works better (and can be even more fun) when there are a few constraints in place. I can\u2019t stress enough the importance of using all the tools at your disposal to help construct your piece, including thumbnails, color studies, value scales, viewfinders and proportion wheels.<\/p>\n

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A thumbnail should pin down the dominant shapes and value masses in an arrangement that will help you best convey your idea. A color study can also be a useful tool, helping you work out colors in advance, so you can avoid unnecessary layers that lead to mud.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

See It Through<\/h4>\n

I can\u2019t tell you how many times I\u2019ve walked up to a student, only to find them about to give up on a piece that I think is just getting going. The lesson is that you must be patient and let the piece come together. You don\u2019t have to believe that every painting is going to turn out great, but you should trust in the process you\u2019ve put in place for yourself. With practice, you\u2019ll gain more and more confidence and be able to see the pathway to the finish more clearly with each new painting.<\/p>\n

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I like to picture my work organized in buckets, with each bucket representing a different category. There\u2019s the Duds bucket (also known as the trash can), the Mediocre bucket (work that might be possible to save), the Good bucket (victory laps) and the Magical bucket (for those rare perfect pieces that seem to turn out as if by magic).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Make it Sing<\/h4>\n

Don\u2019t be precious with the work or overly attached to certain sections of a painting. Sometimes you have to sacrifice parts of the piece to make it work as a unified whole. Don\u2019t be afraid to really punch up areas at the end. Even if you\u2019ve carefully applied thin layer after thin layer, there comes a moment when a stronger commitment is needed\u2014so go ahead and press hard into the paper with light highlights and dark accents.<\/p>\n

With a little inquiry, structure and effort, you\u2019ll be able to identify your trouble zones and navigate through them to create more successful artwork.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Close to Home<\/em> (pastel on paper)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

About the Artist<\/h4>\n

Marla Baggetta is the author of Step-by-Step Pastel<\/em>. Her award-winning paintings can be found in numerous public and private collections throughout the country.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2713Showcase your talent and win big in Artists Network prestigious art competitions! Discover competitions in a variety of media and enter for your chance to win cash prizes, publication in leading art magazines, global exposure, and rewards for your hard work. Plus, gain valuable feedback from renowned jurors. Let your passion shine through – enter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37826,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100],"tags":[7742,10977,9809,24126,3386],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-37825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","tag-artists","tag-navigating","tag-network","tag-trouble","tag-zones"],"yoast_head":"\nNavigating Trouble Zones | Artists Network - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=37825\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Navigating Trouble Zones | Artists Network - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u2713Showcase your talent and win big in Artists Network prestigious art competitions! 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