Why You Need To See Like An Artist To Paint Like One

So often people that aspire to be artistic painters give up after their first awkward attempts. A lack of perceived talent is one of the commonly stated reasons for quitting. However, the real problem is that they have just never been trained to see like an artist.

Most of us non-artistic types, (or those that have yet to be trained), have a natural tendency to look at the subject of a drawing without paying attention to what is literally there. One reason for this is that a typically dominant part of the brain translates visual images in an effort to give meaning to what we see. For example, while looking at a person’s head, that part of the artist’s brain wants to identify the face as a collection of icons; the nose, mouth, eyes, chin, hair, etc.

The problem with this translation process is that when it comes time to draw that person’s face on paper we begin pulling from memory a generic eye or nose instead of what is actually there. While the finished picture may look like a face, it will bare little resemblance to the original person.

An artist needs to be almost oblivious to what is being painted. Instead there should be a much greater focus on the raw visual data. What is literally being seen? Irregular lines and shapes? Are they dark, light or some shade in between? Where, exactly, do they intersect? When precise attention to these elements takes place an amazing likeness will begin to form.

So how do you shut off the dominant part of the brain and turn on the normally less dominant part that contains the artistic eye? Here is a simple trick that works amazingly well. Rip a large face photograph from a magazine then sketch it as best you can. If you are new to art there is a good chance it will look amateurish or even goofy. Don’t worry about the results, just draw.

Now flip the photograph upside-down and try again. This time just concentrate the relationships of the intersecting lines and shapes. In most cases, the upside-down drawing, when righted, will often surprise even the most untalented beginner artist with a likeness that is far superior to the right-side-up version.

So what happened? Did you suddenly acquire artistic talent by drawing the subject upside-down? No, not at all. You simply shut down the usually dominant side of the brain by presenting a confusing and therefore unrecognizable image. It is as if that side of the brain couldn’t make sense of the photo so it turned the job over to the less dominant but artistic side. Amazing stuff.

If this crucial visual skill is not learned first then all of the other artist skills, like brush technique or color theory will be rendered useless. The best craftsmanship in the world will not help produce a great painting if you haven’t learned to see. You might as well put on a blindfold when painting.

The great news is that artistic visual skills are learnable even by students with limited talent. Any competent painting instructor, whether live or from one of the top video courses, will be able to demonstrate this concept. As a student progresses with a painting or drawing course they will learn to automatically see like an artist with out depending as heavily on a set of tricks.

  Learn & Master Painting Review 

First Place Rating of 9.8 out of 10

According to the publisher of the Learn And Master Painting course, it is designed to be the most thorough, logical and easy to understand way to learn oil, acrylic and water mixable oil painting no matter your present  level of skills or talent. During this course, the student will create several complete paintings from start to finish.

Who Will Benefit Most From This Painting Course?

This dvd lesson set is geared for rank beginners with no experience or formal training through accomplished painters that wish to round out their knowledge base and benefit from the advanced lessons.

Also, children starting at an age of 8 to 10 years old, with a little set-up help from an adult, should be able to learn from the dvd set on their own.

About The Instructor Gayle Levee (Pronounced Le Vay)

Gayle was born into a family of artists and knew from the young age of five years old that she wanted to draw. This award winning artist was formally educated at....more

For For the rest of this review that covers the positives, negatives, lesson topics, painting styles and price please click here  Learn & Master Painting full review

Or...If you would like even more details, testimonials, a sample video lesson or to purchase please click on this link: Learn And Master Painting 

DISCLOSURE: We are paid by the companies who's products we review. Each product reviewed has been thoroughly tested by us. The opinions offered here are all our own and all information was verified as accurate at the time of the review.

 A1