Tiny Tutorial: DIY Minimalistic Art

Have you noticed how as the world gets bigger, a lot of things are only getting smaller? Think of it: mobile phones, houses, minds….I jest. Similarly, we have also seen a rise of what’s starting to be known as Minimalistic Art.

Simply put, minimalism is a style that captures only the most important elements of an image or a set-up, and includes a lot of negative (or blank) space. This creates an appearance of very neat, clean lines. Minimalistic desks always look so organised, it’s a type-A person’s dream!

So here’s a super quick tutorial on how to create your very own minimalistic art, so you can join in on all the clean fun!

Today I’m going to show you how I created a little painting which literally took me about 15 minutes (not counting drying time).

First, start by picking your tools of the trade. I chose watercolours because I have been obsessed with them recently, but feel free to use anything at all. If it can stain paper, it works!

Now for my subject, I chose the magnificent, adorable Hulk. Why? Because who doesn’t love the Hulk?!

1.  Begin by painting a strange shape, somewhere between a circle and a rectangle, for the head. Now of course this would be closer to a circle for most other human(ish) characters, but the Hulk has a very strong jaw!Add some cloud-like bumps on either side of the head, to create an outline  for the shoulders and upper arms, as shown above.

   

   Side note teeheee

    

2.  Paint the body in however/ as much as you like. I chose harsh vertical strokes because I wanted it to look quite raw and imperfect. Allow this to dry completely if you’re using paints like I did!
3. For the final step, paint in a few quick details using a darker green. You can do as much or as little as you like, I mostly used this step to define some of the outlines and to separate the head from the body.
   Add in some hair without worrying too much about the dimensions.

And you’re done! That’s my finished piece, and I quite like how the accidental deposits of the light green gave his face a spherical appearance. Happy accidents, as Bob Ross always says!

Another cool way to create minimal art is to use white space to create false dimension, like I did with the painting of Natasha Romanoff below.

The white of the paper acts as a placeholder for highlights, making the entire shape appear a bit more three-dimensional.

Now, of course, these techniques can be applied to any other piece, and it would look just as good, if not better!

So what are your thoughts on minimalism?

As always, remember to follow this blog for more fun tutorials, and like this post so I know to make more of these! Perhaps drop a comment below to tell me what you think? 🙂

Thank you so much for reading, and have a splendid week!

S.

6 Life Lessons From Abstract Painting

Here’s the great thing about abstract painting: there are no rules.

Abstract art is not bound to or defined by a subject, a scale, or a medium. An abstract piece of work is, in essence, a snapshot of the artist’s mind: and oh what a wonderful place that is! Being completely open to interpretation, it holds a lot of meaning to a lot of different people.

However, abstract art isn’t just nice to look at and understand. To the artist/creator, working solely with colours and textures often rids the mind of inhibitions and structure, and allow creativity to flow unrestricted.

Here are the 6 most important lessons that I have learnt from abstract painting.

 

1. A blank canvas isn’t always white.

Not all your work has to be bright and sunshine-y. Sometimes, a haunting darkness is just what you need, to let the mind wander.

Now I’m not trying to advocate or romanticize sadness or difficult times, there is nothing pretty about them. However, waiting for the “right” frame of mind to create something could mean you wait for a long, long time.

Sometimes, it’s okay to channel your inner goth (I know everyone has one, so don’t even pretend!) and put it on a page.

2. Start small, and you’ll have nothing to lose.

You’ve heard the old saying “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” and I’ll say it again. A lot of the times, we put an unnecessary amount of pressure on ourselves to know exactly where we’re going and what we’re doing, right from the start.

Here’s the thing though: if you already knew the outcome of an event, why would you go through it in the first place?

The whole point of life, to me, is discovering new things about the world around us and, ultimately, discovering new things about ourselves; which leads us to our next point:

3. Experiment. A lot.

I’ve always been a textbook person: I’ve always been terrified to take risks, and as a result, have very few memories of an extraordinary childhood. Ask me to tell you about my past, and I’ll almost certainly repeat a story of wake up, school, come back, dinner, bed.

Only recently have I realised just how important it is to put yourself out there. Dye your hair a crazy colour. Learn how to play a crazy instrument. Teach yourself a new sport. Move to a different country. Make memories that can only be communicated through pictures, and I promise you, there won’t be a day you regret how everything turned out!

4. Let your personality explode!

A lot of the times, we try to define ourselves based on how other people define us. What we fail to realise is that their perception of us is often affected by their perception of themselves.

For instance, as a creative person myself, I’m inclined to categorize people into “creative” and “non-creative”  types; someone obsessed with healthy living would categorize others as “healthy” or “unhealthy”, and it goes on.

So how do I find out what my personality is really like?

It’s actually quite simple. What makes you happy? Where do you like to shop, and why? What do you love learning about every single day?

So many of us are unconsciously obsessed with labels, which is fair enough – it’s instinctual to try and categorize people and situations. But these labels also bring with them a lot of restrictions that we impose upon ourselves unknowingly. Break through those, and you’ll finally learn exactly who you are!

(P.S. I’m still in the process of doing this…)

5. Sometimes, it’s okay to cut back a little.

As an introvert, I find it mentally exhausting to have to be “on” all the time. In a crowded room, my mind is constantly switching between “I need to project the best version of me that I can” and “why couldn’t this just have been a night in with Netflix and popcorn?”

However, in order to not appear to be an unsocial hermit, we often bite off more than we can chew, and hit “Going” on that event we know we’re not going to enjoy. And invariably,  all of this stress leads to physical illness, which then leads to more stress cause really, I can’t make it to a 9 am lecture with aching bones!

One of the most valuable lessons I’ve had to learn is to stop when I feel the need to. It may disappoint people if you’ve promised to be somewhere and don’t show up, but they’re much more likely to be forgiving than your own body is. Sometimes, it’s okay to take the time off and recuperate.

Bonus: the next time you go out, you’re going to look and feel a whole lot more alive!

6. Finally, don’t be afraid to change your mind completely!

Change is the only constant in this world, and oftentimes, it leads to much greater, grander outcomes than you’d anticipated.

Be it your personal style, a career choice, or even the interiors of your home. If something doesn’t look/feel right, you’re probably going to end up resenting it one day. So change it now, while you still can!

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‘Space Bound’
Corel Painter and Wacom Intuos DRAW.

I’ve made prints available for this piece here: http://fav.me/daild6z

Go grab yourself one! 🙂

I hope this article has been helpful, and I’m so very grateful you’ve taken the time out to read it!

Thanks for being here, and have a lovely week!

S. xx

Your turn: What are the most important lessons you’ve learnt growing up? Tell us in the comments below!

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3 Ways To Grow Your Art Portfolio Quickly

Starting out as an artist can be incredibly daunting, especially if you’re self-taught like I am. You don’t usually know where to begin, and should you bring up your passion for art, the first thing people want to see is a body of work that they assume you’ve already built.

Many new artists often take a while to amass enough work to show off, and often lose potential opportunities (competitions, commissions, placements etc), purely because there isn’t enough tangible evidence of their skill!

Tendril – A Digital Speed-Painting Video

Last week, I finally moved back to University and managed to unpack and settle down within three days (which, honestly, is a Herculean feat).

An Artist’s Guide To Social Media

Social media is all the rage today, and has been for a good number of years. People love sharing their lives with friends and complete strangers alike, and rightly so, for social media gives us the satisfaction of knowing that our lives haven’t gone unnoticed.

Tutorial: How To Paint Loose Curls In 12 Easy Steps!

Artists hate curls. It’s a simple fact.

Ask anyone who has ever painted hair, and they’ll almost always say they prefer to render straight or wavy hair. It’s so much easier, and doesn’t make you want to pull your own hair out!  (See what I did there? Do ya???)

My Top 5 Holy Grail Art Products: Drawing

Disclaimer: None of the products mentioned in this post are sponsored. All recommendations are my own, and none of the links are affiliate links.

Among the top 5 most frequently asked questions I get is this: What art materials do you use, so I can get better at drawing like you are?

5 Best Pieces Of Art Advice I’ve Ever Received

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For years now, I’ve always had people drop me messages, asking if I had any advice for budding artists and how they should go about getting better at what they do. Most of the times, I have a look at their work and give them feedback based on their own style, but there are only so many people I can do this for. So today, I want to share a general set of the best advice I’ve ever received or read, and how I like to implement it into my own artwork.

10 Things To NEVER Say To An Artist

As an artist and a freelancer (really hit the double-whammy of socially accepted talents there, Srish!) I have received or seen my peers receive all of the following quotes multiple times. I’m sure most other freelancers/artists can relate.

Late Summer Art Round-Up

Happy Sunday, folks!

As we come to the end of summer, things are starting to get a wee bit busier for me, with wrapping everything up and visiting family to say goodbye. It’s about three and a half weeks before I pack my life into a suitcase and fly off again!

Getting Inspired: Why you should observe other artists’ work.

When a lot of people talk about “seeking inspiration”, they often have completely different definitions for the term. To some, it’s the way nature creates the most beautiful scenes through apparent co-incidence. To others, it may be a particular book, movie or piece of music that makes their spidey senses tingle.

Aesthetics Matter: How I Edit My Art

When I first started uploading my art to online galleries and social media, I have to say I thought they looked great! Despite not having a great camera or amazing lighting, I assumed people would see through that and appreciate my skill.

I was right about that….to an extent. Truth is, they looked something like this: