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This was the highlight of my Christmas projects. I can’t tell you how fun it was painting a portrait of this precious little girl, while expecting my own baby. This little jewel is MacKenzie, and her little sleeping self is sure to warm your heart as she did mine.

The reference photograph was taken by the extremely talented Kahlia of J. K. Mitchell Photography. If you think that this photo of MacKenzie is gorgeously cute, than you will love all the other work by Kahlia. From the beginning of memory photos in maternity moments to your infant to your children’s happy moments to the whole entire family, Kahlia is diversely skilled in documenting all the different and precious stages of your life. You can check out the variety of her amazing work HERE.

I’m honestly super picky about canvases, therefore, I result in making my own. With the help of my wonderful husband, we got this tightly stretched and extremely smooth canvas surface.

After making my own crop of the reference, I sketched the painting out in charcoal. The charcoal properties won’t bleed to the surface of the painting like pencil will overtime, preserving the quality of the painting.

This is the first layer of paint with the second layer going on the background. I mapped out the colors and shapes of the baby, hat, and ribbon. Don’t you love those lips?

As the second layer is applied, I focus on the gradation of colors and detail of the hat. The ribbon begins to shine. I try to paint as much detail as possible, without overworking the paint.

Portrait finished! The third layer of paint and such creamy skin. The eye lash, lips, hat, and ribbon detailed are set in place. Don’t you want to touch those cheeks? I’m so happy with how this painting turned out! This commissioned portrait was a Christmas gift for MacKenzie’s family. Thank you, Kirsten, for believing in me and letting me be apart of this special time!  Here are some close ups for you to enjoy.

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As the new year has begun, I hope it’s living up to all of your hopes and expectations this first week of 2012. I know for myself, it comes with much welcome and relief. Something about a fresh year and a clean calendar to help start a new creative mood. Speaking of new…

The Weather Man

This new graphite drawing is of a  particular cyborg character that came from the depths of the story I’m writing. I couldn’t wait to get his face on paper. His title has so much meaning to the role he has to play.  Although a sub character, the Weather Man’s part is crucial. His personality is far from charming but entirely mysterious, and as you’ve probably noticed,  he is a little more than slightly disgruntled. So what do you think? I’ve been contemplating on adding some digital spice and color. Perhaps the gray is perfect for his droll mood, but maybe with a touch of color in his life, we just might see him smile.

Hmmmm, many smiles is what I definitely hope for this new year. What aspirations do you have for 2012? To be completely honest, I’m not the person who will make a list of all my new year’s resolutions. Life changes so much, and a person can change, I never put expectations on something, like time, that you can’t rely on. That’s just me. I do have a mission though with my art this year — to be as creative as possible, while learning to be a mom. I think that’s enough for to fill up anyone’s plate for a whole entire calendar, don’t you?

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My relationship with the Milton family goes all the way back to when I was six and younger. We were living in Bremerton, Washington, at the time, and they were a family who attended our church. Since I was so young, the memories are foggy, but I know they were good, fun, and wholesome times with the wonderful, loving family. Several occasions us Kettell children even had the exciting time of staying over at their house while my parents were packing for our move to Connecticut. It wasn’t until my wedding in 2010 that I was so excited to be reunited with them again!

Ever since, Mr. Milton had his mind set on commissioning me to make art for him. But when he came to me this past summer, he had the whole plan ready and knew exactly what he wanted. From a portrait of him and his wife, the idea turned into a whole family treasure for his wife’s wedding anniversary present.

This is the photograph he sent me. For a better composition, I moved the family around into a close knit arrangement. Mr. Milton had also mentioned having artsy foliage in the background, and I put it in suggestively.

Stage One – The painting is 18″ x 24″ and it was an interesting task fitting seven people into those dimensions without making the everyone too small.

Stage Two – I feel like how one would write on paper from left to right, up to down, is how I paint a pastel. I work from the top left and over because I’m right handed. Also, the pastel is delicate and this allows me to keep the pastel from spreading around too much.

Stage Three – First facial hair I put on a painting! And the glasses are always an interesting whammy as I try to smooth the face and not wash out the glasses.

Stage Four – Many of those who know how I work also know that I love using my fingers to smooth and blend the pastel. This is one of the few mediums where I really get dirty!

Stage Five - Almost there! What do I have to finish besides the last subject? The background and my sig go on last.

Finished! I love the way it turned out and am so excited how they all came together as family in the photograph and I still have that unity and love portrayed into the portrait. That is how I know I was successful.

This was my work area once the portrait was completed. Because of how I like to keep my art supplies organized (it always makes it easier when you have to go back and look for something), I had to put all of those pencils back in the exact spot they came in. And yes, if the pencil was out of its slot I used it in the portrait. So many colors…still boggles my mind on how many colors go into my colored pieces.

Mr. Milton very cleverly setup the surprise by telling Mrs. Milton that they were coming to a place to get an oar for their daughter (the one in the bottom left corner), and coming to the Kettell farm was a huge surprise. Yet on top of that when I brought the portrait up to her, that just put her through the roof with excitement! Happy anniversary, Mr. and Mrs. Milton, and thank you for letting me be apart of this very special time of your life! I’ll always be honored as friends, family, and patrons give me the chance to be apart of their lives. It’s what makes the artwork I do have so much meaning.

Have any questions about the process? I’d love to answer them!

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I’d call it ironic or God’s given path that when I was at the age of six, a close family friend came to visit my family in Washington and brought along two presents for me and my older brother. Our friend did the delightful task of bringing us presents. It wasn’t shocking that I received the giant book titled Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, while my brother was given the book called Dinotopia. The Beauty and the Beast book had a story that was entirely familiar to me with vibrant full-page illustrations with recognizable scenes. While I could decently read at the time, I would usually skip the words to look at every inch of the drawings. But when I eventually sat down with my brother’s new book, it became a different experience entirely, as would any first time experience. Again, I’d ignore the words while I studied all of the detailed illustrations. The imagination and new world that Dinotopia had/has to offer was completely captivating to my little mind. I didn’t have a clue that someday I’d be looking up to James Gurney‘s abundance of talent, and drawing on him as my inspiration to start illustrating.

No words can bring Dinotopia justice. For that, I have to show you.

In a post from Mr. Gurney’s blog, he talks about the mentoring relationship he had under the imagination master, Frank Frazetta. It was Mr. Frazetta who opened the doors for Gurney’s journey into fantasy. As quoted from Mr. Gurney:

Working with Frank Frazetta gave me my first real exposure to fantasy as a genre of art and storytelling. As a result of seeing Frazetta’s paperback covers, I started to think about covers as a career option, which had never occurred to me in art school. When the movie work finished, I began illustrating covers for science fiction and fantasy novels.

Sometimes it’s only that one little spark we need to get the fire going, whether it’s a day, month, or even years later. But it’s still interesting to me how even a master of fantasy like Mr. Gurney, still had his moment of time of revelation and inspiration to lead him down the path where he is today (which is basically a highly esteemed illustrator of fantasy of many other books, covers, and character design). It didn’t just necessarily happen to him magicly, but he was given a situation to grow and learn through. Aside from already starting out as an amazing artist, Mr. Gurney turned into a master illustrator as well.

Little did I know when I was a wee little person, that Mr. Gurney’s work would be what some might consider my first “real exposure” to the art of fantasy. That is a memory I’ll always carry with me through my own little art journey.

What kind of spark did it take to get you moving in the direction you are today? I’d love to hear your story!

All images of Dinotopia are © and ™ James Gurney 1992-2011. All rights reserved. Please read the stated Permissions Use at the bottom of the sidebar on James Gurney’s Blog.

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For your own purposes, you are so welcome to disagree with me. For the clarity and purpose of this blog, I need to establish what it means to be a self-taught artist for anyone following these posts and future posts.

So what does it mean?

According to Dictionary.com:

Assuming that “formal education” falls under definition number three, what kinds of education would the first two definitions be considered? Self-educate, informal education, self-taught? This would lead us to believe that the process of someone acquiring particular or general knowledge or an outside influence about a craft on their own can be self-taught.

The ONE Example…don’t complain. If I made more, this post would be TOO long.

For understanding sake, we’re going to assume that this person, named Artist, is without a formal education in the arts.

Now Artist had a bachelors in business and worked in management for a company. One day he figured out, while on his lunch breaks, that he enjoyed doodling on napkins. Bringing that interest home with him, Artist started doodling on spare paper around the house while watching tv or talking on the phone.

Later, Artist picked up some notebooks and pencils from an art supply shop. He read up on a few art blog posts, purchased some art magazines and art history books from the bookstore, and learned about art and other artists. After making several trips to some galleries and art museums, Artist continued drawing at home, improving his style.

Several months later, Artist looked into taking a 101 beginner’s drawing class at the local community college and started a summer workshop with a neighborhood artist. He still read and kept up with the art world online. He went through reading materials about other artists’ techniques, galleries, art directors, but at the end of the day he returned to his drawing pad and pencil.

A year goes by and Artist had notebooks after notebooks stacked around his den, the designated art studio which he filled with art materials. Photos of his favorite artists’ works were posted on the wall next to his own drawings that were tacked up as well. By this time he had taken several more workshops over the fall and spring.

Two years pass, two cruddy years at the office, when Artist got the guts to start sharing his artwork with others. He showed his favorite works off around the office and to his buddies at the bar. Some complimented while others teased, but Artist felt proud of his work and insecure in his potential.

Slowly, Artist started sharing his work online with some of the art communities. While some feedback was bland, others were helpful. Although Artist never let go of the judgement he held for his own work and was always his toughest critic. Late into the night, Artist was determined to become better.

The end.

Just kidding. So what do we learn from Artist. He took classes; purchased art supplies; read up on history, art techniques, and other artists; but who made him grow as an artist? Artist structured his on development and learning of the arts, as well as having the persistent and unfaltering desire to draw.

Now, I’m not saying, “Be a self-taught artist and ditch formal education!” That is NOT for everyone.  It won’t be. Some people will be called to the realm of formal education. There are too many people out there with numerous variables to their life for everyone to walk the same path. One glove won’t fit every hand. One hat won’t fit every head. One pair of pants won’t fit every….ok, you get the idea.

When Rob Morris of Digitalmash was interviewed by DESIGNM.AG about his company, they asked about his thoughts on education.

You have a Master’s in Internet Communication. What is your view on designers and formal education vs. being self taught?

Well everyone’s different, so it’d be silly to argue one way or the other. Some of my favourite designers (and this is especially true for web designers) never studied design formally. The common theme, however, is that they are all pretty switched on, culturally-literate people. So if you’re going to be a decent designer, it will pay to be able to string a sentence together and organise your thoughts clearly. Whether you get that from reading the newspaper every day or a degree in History is irrelevant.

Mr. Morris explains that being able to communicate clearly is one of the most valuable aspects in being an artist, regardless of what kind of education you have.

What it DOES NOT mean to be a Self-Taught Artist?

Can you be self-taught while having a formal  art education? Again, for the sake of keeping things clear on the blog, we’re going to say no. Art college is in no means bad, and by no means am I against it, but again, it is what we would call formal organized art learning. You have your art classes laid out for you. The structure is set in place. Your art lessons are formulated and available. When I talk about being self-taught, I’m talking about building your own structure of learning art, whichever way that may be.
However, it may still be possible to do some self-teaching while being under the formal art structure, but no matter what, you’re still under the formal art structure. If you’re going to college and not taking part in whatsoever, yet you’re teaching your art own your own and forming your own art education, that’s another story. But I’m sorry, for clarity sake, we’re going to leave this black and white.

I thought a self-taught artist was someone who developed their art without any outside influence, even those such as workshops, reading, art galleries, and such.  Aren’t they the one’s who develop their mastery in a basement?

Crap, I knew someone was going to bring this up.  First off, it can prove true that people can have this innate sense to create without influence from another person. But what inspired or influenced the drawings? Something around them, something environmental?  As the ancient arts developed, the artists observed, they studied in their own way. We won’t always need a human presence to learn how to paint. The things around us can inspire us too.

A blog post by Another Bouncing Ball talks about artists who claim that there is no such thing and/or no ability to be a self-taught artist.  Well, it depends on how you define self-taught artist.  We defined what it means to be a self-taught artist on this blog ^up there^ but some people will claim that it is impossible to be “self-taught”.

But if self-taught means to learn your craft entirely without any influence while hidden in a dark box, no light, no air, and somehow, with much thought and practice, you come out with this love for making pancakes, than yes, we’ll agree that there is no such thing as a self-taught human being.

If you read further in Another Bouncing Ball’s blog post, you’ll find that they mention other artists who insist to be self-taught with no human influence. I would like to claim that even the architecture (which is human influence!), nature, and other objects (more human influence!) of this world, no matter which country you’re from, are enough to inspire and teach you to create. It’s the artists’ observations of what is around them, learning from it, and deciding to pursue something creative with it.

So even if these artists who are mentioned had no human tainting of outside influence of  making art on their own, they can look to their environment, the streets they’re walking on, and decide to put something together anyway they want. And according to this blog, that makes them “self-taught” artists!

Self-taught does not mean you have no influence whatsoever with learning or creating your art.

So happy to have that settled.

Recap, please!!!

What does it mean to be a self-taught artist again??? Outside of the realm of the “formal education,” it’s making your own structure of learning, pursuing the art that you want to create, finding your own ways to educate yourself. No recipe of information. No formal structure. No hiding in a box and emerging without influence. And while you might gain knowledge from books or from your fellow artists about art, you’re the one who diligently works to improve your style, technique, and art. You’re not “paying” to be an artist; you are living to create.

For your own blog or purposes, you are so welcome to disagree with me. But again for the clarity and purpose of this blog, I need to establish what it means to be a self-taught artist.

I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world. – Albert Einstein

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So, the plan is that John and I are going to save up money to buy a fifth-wheel and a F450, quad cab, diesel, four-wheel truck to pull the fifth-wheel. How are we going to do this? By living in my very wonderful parents’ spare bedroom/basement for the next six to twelve months. Sound like crazy fun? Yea. Actually, the adventure starts the first week of May when we pack and move everything over there. Talk about down-sizing, right? Salvation Army is going to LOVE us.

Where do we plan to go with a fifth-wheel? All across America. We’re pursuing this option because we don’t want our creativity, or John Robert’s camera for that matter, to be limited to one place, such as Virginia…where we live now. As much as we love the east coast, the west is calling our names….I hear it as I write. Now why do we need to buy a fifth-wheel and truck to travel America? Because with all of the beautiful places that the US has to offer, we cannot afford to visit all of them, but we could buy a five fifth-wheels with the money we would put into hotels, rentals, tickets, food. So, why not buy one fifth wheel? Believe me, we thought this through.

And when I say we thought this through, we thought ALL of it through. From making a living, diesel prices, health insurance, food, internet, art studio (hmmmm, maybe that’s why I decided to go digital?), we thought about it all. Mail? Yea. We know what we’re doing about that too.

I’ll keep you all posted as we work through the long process. Did I mention that I CANNOT wait?

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Several years ago, I would have told you that I’d never do any digital painting. Not in Adobe Photoshop, or Painter, or Sketchbook. That wasn’t even an option. I strongly believed in traditional art and materials. They were what I knew and what was most comfortable. I’d probably even admit that back then.

When I started talking to my friend, who is now my husband, he teased me about doing digital painting. He told me I’d like it and that I’d be surprised. Puh-lease! I told him I was not going to go there. Not a chance. If you were going to be a classical portrait artist, then why would you need to digital paint?

I should have just shoved my foot up my mouth and chewed off my toes, because the other day I started my first digital painting. This was no easy feet to conquer, and pun quite intended (to be so clichéd). A lot of mental preparation took place to even get me going in that direction, as well as figuring out the tools I would need.

That is when I bought the Intuos 4 Wacom tablet since you need digital tools to work on a digital painting. Secondly was the program that I would use to paint. Fortunately with having to use Photoshop for my photos that I used in my other artwork (talk about being traditional…goodness), I already had the program thanks to my husband. Yippee.

Ok, I had the materials, but what then? I looked at other artists work. Read magazines, blogs. (Yes, I’m doing this self-taught.) And I still….waited. Procrastination? Maybe, but I think a lot of it was fear. What if I don’t live up to the realism and high standards I have for my traditional work? What if it stunk? I wouldn’t know until I tried. But I really didn’t know what to start painting on my computer. What would be a good basic idea to get going with digital painting?

Five years ago I developed a fantasy species (drawing on left), and I have been incorporating this species into my book. Last week I revisited drawing this character (drawing on right).

While taking the second drawing (above) as my foundation (something I’ll probably enjoy doing the most when working digital), I started the digital painting. And would you know it? Digital painting is better than I ever imagined.  I could make the canvas bigger, smaller, making bigger ideas, adding backgrounds, foregrounds, details. I feel like I’m at the best roller coaster park ever.

Here’s a little preview of the digital artwork below. It’s only a segment of the work. It’s going to take me some getting used to. I feel so bashful, like I did when I first started drawing.

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I wonder why it seems too easy to be consumed by the responsibilities of life. Why is it that the things I don’t necessarily enjoy can so conveniently push what I really want to be doing aside? This often leads to frustration. (And these feelings also contribute to drawings like such below.) But why why why? Have you heard “procrastination is the killer of dreams?” Well, where does the desire to procrastinate come from? It has to derive from a foremost feeling. Could it be fear? Doubt? Both? Yes. Where do those feelings come from? Perhaps the thousands of successful artists who have dominated and set the bar for the art industry? Definitely. How could I ever break into that? I’d have to be good, motivated, different. How does that happen? Hard work? That’s everybody’s answer to anything. Work at it. You’ll get good eventually. Put in 10,000 hours? Be yourself? Huh? And how many times have I heard that the great artists or photographers don’t have a special solution. Well, duh. If there were a special recipe to become a popular, successful, collected artist then that process would be patented by now and selling like crazy.  Of course.

After spending a whole day studying the human facial muscles, I wanted to venture further on my own and make a face showing emotion. This was how I felt at the time, life throwing curveballs at me, and thus he is a screaming man. What else can I say. I'll talk more about this drawing and the facial muscles in my next post.

_____Ok, so there’s hard work. What else? That can’t just be it. Working away in your little apartment creating masterpieces and no one else knows about them. Networking. But you can’t just network with anybody. It has to be the right people. If you knew a whole bunch of weight lifters and you’re trying to break into the baby photography industry, that doesn’t seem like the greatest combo. Alright, moving on.
_____What about competitions? What about art communities? Hmmm…. innumerable websites to post your work. Do people really find you? How do you stand out from the thousands of other artists who post their work? Does it come back to being the best? Does it come back to the persistent effort into the quality of your art? What about an idea? Isn’t that the most powerful of all seeds? Can’t even the dumbest ideas transform into something that appears entirely pure genius?
_____And then there is orginality. How does someone come up with something entirely new? The world seems so satruated with ideas and new this and new that already. Someone always has a new book, a new technique, a new style of photographs. NO WAY. Someone out there has thought of the same thing already. This is a painful reminder as I write my book.

The most original authors are not so because they advance what is new, but because they put what they have to say as if it had never been said before. -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

_____Yet people still surprise and invent something new and technology advances. How does art advance? Modern art has turned into something that is almost disposable. Rotting vegetables nailed to a board. Feces on a podium. Why does that remind me of a trash dump? Shock art? Work that is described as grotesque, violent, and sexual. I suppose that genre of art can appeal and inspire other people and artists. Everyone has their tastes. Just like some artists are engrossed in creating classical art and mimicking the Old Masters. That genre has always been more appealing and popular. Not surprising that artists who pursue that style end up having very similar looking work.
_____So many questions. Does asking questions help one discover the answer? Possibly. But the answer to what? What are you looking for, Grace? I have come up with several factors:

• Hard work
• Networking
• Originality
• Style/Theme/Genre/Niche

_____Factors of what? Successful artists? What defines a successful artists when artists themselves can’t even put a solid definition on what art is itself?

I think I’m leading myself in a circle. Wait. Is that it? Perhaps it’s not one long road and whoever reaches the end wins. What if it’s a race track. A never ending direction and whoever can last the longest, with each exhausting stride, for countless circles around the track, wins. But what is winning? No. There is no winning. The race never ends. The only thing that matters is if you’re the one to give up, not run as fast as the others, or sprinting faster than everyone else. Perseverance. What if that is the key? Meeting failure, doubt, fear, procrastination, yet being the one to never give up.  But what if giving up is sometimes the answer? That should be possible. Maybe you’re on the wrong race track? In the end, I’d rather be running on the artistry race track than looking and waiting around in life for the perfect track to run on. Maybe it’s better to be somewhere than nowhere at all.

Why does it sound like I’m obsessing over this? Because I don’t want to be at my part-time job the rest of my life. But the reason I also have a part time job is because I didn’t want my art to revolve around money. It was exhausting and depressing. I traded. We’ll see if it was for the best, but right now, I know that art and illustration is what I want to do. Only, before I was afraid of doing it, and am still working on conquering that fear.

Ok, no more thinking for you Grace. And goodness, this was supposed to be a post about facial muscles. I guess my mind was somewhere else.

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If I could only paint/draw one object/subject the rest of my life, it would be the human being.  From the details, subtle emotion, and boisterous, raw energy created by people, there is never a lack of surprises or intrigue.

But what I’ve really enjoyed is just drawing the human from memory and making up a person. From understanding the human anatomy, even in a simple form, the ability to redraw it from your mind and creating your own invention is more fulfilling than copying something the brain already sees.

Being able to recreate the human figure, from memory as my own invention, has been my focus of practice. I’ve picked up a very helpful DVD teacher, I must admit. I’m not magic woman doing this mysterious learning on my own. It has been nice to see how an other artists work, learn at my own pace, and change it up to fit my style.

Finding a way to learn, a way that suites your needs, is the best you can do for yourself and helping you advance in your skills.

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For a long time while I was taking art lessons, I was content with drawing cartoons or being a caricature artist. Nothing wrong with that, especially for those who find enjoyment and passion in that art field. When I was thirteen to fourteen years of age, I entered several contests at our local county fair art contests. One artist won every category over all of the other artists who entered. I was lucky to walk out with 4th place and an honorable mention. This artist specialized in realism. It was technically very good and advanced compared to the other youths’ work, but why was it that only the most realistic drawings and paintings were reviewed as the best artwork? Probably because of the county fair judges’ knowledge about the arts and commonly thinking that if something looks real, than of course it must be best.
_____(I think I’ll always be surprised though when it comes to winners of competitions. The large percentage of winners will be due to the judges and the judges’ taste in art, not necessarily if the art is good or not, because who can tell any artist what is good and what’s not when one can create anything out of something and get potential recognition for it. This will always be the big circle that my mind wraps around when I try to comprehend what makes art. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”)
_____Anyhow, that was a long tangent. During those moments, I decided to pursue the idea of realism, because if the artwork that won first place in every category as well as best of show for the little county fair art exhibition, then it must be the type of art to pursue. I was young and still learning, but that is how the idea got nestled into my head. I started working on the realism concept with my art teachers, and it definitely didn’t happen over night. I practiced and practiced. It took me nearly three years before I adapted the concept of “seeing and applying.” The idea of taking what your brain sees and translating it onto paper through your hand.
_____One morning after I read an article in the Artist Magazine that featured the talented and young Raphaella Spence, I was astoundingly inspired by her massive talent and was entirely determined to sit down and create a realistic work of art on my own without help from anyone. I took my own photo and completed the waterlily in a week and a half, making it my very first artwork from it’s birth to completion. I sat at my little art table in the basement working so hard on this pastel painting. It was the first time I actually realized I wanted to see so bad, and I was going to sit there and draw the waterlily until it looked better than the photograph. I’ll always thank the inspiration of Spence for that little bit of sharing, because for some reason, I was never ready mentally for realism until after I read her article. But through it I discovered some of the very essential elements in the work that I use as a little recipe for myself pertaining to realism art.

1. Perspective — This is probably the least vital out of the four ingredients. Keeping the distance from one object to the other consistent with how close each object is to the viewer is important.  (Here’s a post with photos where the perspective is so distorted that it looks like someone is really touching the sun.) I used this in relation to one person standing behind the other. If I draw two babies, and the on in front is larger, than it makes the appearance of a giant baby. But if it was an adult in front, it would only appear to be a grown up with a baby behind him.  Simple enough.
2. Depth — The depth in a painting can sometimes be my biggest pet peeve, like if the entire painting is really soft and blurred or if everything in the painting are really sharp and almost outlined. There needs to be a balance if the brain is to find peace with the painting. Your eyes only focuses on one place at a time. If everything in a painting is in focus, the eye doesn’t rest and know where to look. If everything in a painting is blurred, your eyes get tired or the sense of realism itself in the painting diminishes.  Focal points are important to finding the depth. Perhaps, I have a portrait of three people. I want all three faces to be the focus, but perhaps their shirts and arms are not as necessary, or maybe they are and instead, the landscape behind the three people isn’t essential and can be blurred. Any objects near the people are not going to be as sharp as well.  Know where you want the viewers to focus.
3. Color — This doesn’t pertain to black and white realism paintings of course. But if your colors are off, from real life, in certain things that are very particular, such as skin tones and water, then the more noticeable something doesn’t match, in our minds. I will work on the color of a neck to the tones of the forehead, to give the proper sense of that individual. Babies have very pale skin, while children and adults have darker skin complexions. This also goes hand in hand with finding the proper cool and warm tones.  Of course it depends on the lighting situation to the substance of your main subject, so be selective if you’re going to pick up Paynes Grey or Yellow Ochre.
4. Value — Paintings or drawings that are stuck in the medium values without pop tend to feel more like a drawing or painting, less real. Our eyes are capable of seeing all the different variations of contrasts, so why can’t we paint them? Make your lights light, and make your darks dark. Throughout my first art years, I was told to never use pure black or white in an artwork. I didn’t listen. I use them all the time, and mainly mix then with other colors. But I’m not afraid of dark or light, and you shouldn’t be either. The combination of the two make for something mysterious for the viewer, and  also helps the depth, giving you a painting that looks so real you could reach in and touch it.
5. DON’T COPY! — You are the artist; you can make the decisions; you are not bound to the photograph or life model. Change it! Tweak it! Have fun. You’re creating, not copying. Make it come from you and put some of yourself in it. This is how you’ll always make the painting look and feel better. If you want to pump up the contrast, do it! If you want to remove some strands of hair or leaves from the viewers eye, then do it! Draw test samples if you’re not sure. This is your painting and act on your instincts. Don’t be a slave to your reference. (This was my biggest hump, and I’ve been there, stuck deeply. Don’t ever be a slave to your reference. Enjoy the freedom of being artistic as much as you can!)

I hope perchance this little recipe of artistic elements will help next time you sit down to paint. It does for me; I know I’m STILL (and hopefully always) learning more. I’m also enjoying using these elements as guidelines when I’m drawing things from my mind, like my villain, things that don’t even exist.