Red Rock Plein Air… Make a Checkoff List for Art Elements & Techniques

Bonnie Springs, Red Rock, Nevada 9″x12″ oil painting

Years ago, before I started taking workshops from nationally known artists, I thought I was a pretty good artist. Yes, I had some talents, but there was a lot of techniques missing. I had a wakeup call at a big art show when I wasn’t selling well. I took a serious look at my oil paintings and realized that I needed to learn more about art.

I never thought at the time that it would be so involving and time consuming. I found that the more I learned, the less I really knew. But, in reality, isn’t that the way it is with any profession. A person graduates from college, but it’s just the beginning of their career.

Anyway, it seemed that the more lessons I took, the more confused I became. There were so many things to consider in  painting. To help remember, reinforce and use some of the concepts that I was learning, I kept a checkoff list in my art studio. As I was painting and after (when I thought I was done) I would start going through the techniques to critique my work

• Values
• Bright, pure colors vs. grays , more
• Edges, soft & hard
• Brush stroke variety
• Variety of shapes and sizes.
• Composition

The list went on and on. It grows as you learn and understand more concepts and techniques.  But also some things become automatic after a while, so they are removed . You might try this to help you get through all those building blocks and to use them in your art.

What are some of the tricks that you use to critique your work?

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