“enjoy what you want rather than what you think you need” Time is so valuable that we all want to make the most of it, often forgetting about the fun part of the creative process and focusing too much on becoming technically “better” . Thanks for sharing this. Reply
An Idea for Finding “Your” Approach with Your Art
These last few terms I have been teaching students to prepare their portfolios for the professional direction they are interested in pursuing. Because they have been developing their skills in a figurative school, they assume they need to stick with the realism they have been training to achieve. Contrary to the realism they have been learning, they need to forget about it and reach for a desired goal, whether it be children’s books, animation, character design, or whatever else intrigues them, and learn to identify with the skill sets required.
I teach them to break down their favorite artists into specific design categories, so they can understand the lens of distortion and technique these artists are using to define their own work. It doesn’t get into the psychology of “why” they do what they do, rather, their work just is what it is and a body of it explains so much about process.
To also understand that representational or communicative art is developed within a very narrow set of graphic parameters, and once they identify with these tools they will have an easier time discovering their own design sensibilities and control their work without it looking or feeling confused (as much).
I have started a chart that plots out the different ways we see art in 2D space vs. the three types of 2D tools we use for pictorial symbol design whether graphic or illustrious. I am not finished with my own examples, so I have borrowed from the many great artists out there to help explain the gradients of design that is laid out in this chart.
The design tools we make pictures with are line, shape/Notan, and form/Chiaroscuro. This chart separates them from one another, but the fact is that all great representational pictures rendered share all three of these in the same pictorial space in a hierarchical triad. However, learning to recognize your own habits or what you gravitate towards when you draw is a fantastic place to first explore. And with a few touchstone artists broken down into a process is a great way to begin practicing.
The different ways we view art on a flat surface is as follows: graphic, stylized, or realistic, or, another way of thinking of each category respectively is to think of them drawn primitive or childlike or cartoony, subjective or through the artists personal interpretation, or photographic. Within each of these categories is another series of subcategories that stretch out the gradient even further. This chart is yet to be built since I am trying to make all the examples in my own hand and this first chart is still under construction. I will certainly share the end results as they are completed. I hope to have them done before this semester is completed.
Graphic Images tend to be more primitive or forward facing, Stylized is through the artist’s eyes and through their personal point of view, and Realism is the illusion of reality, fooling the eye into believing the image was a genuine moment in time.
For now, here is a temporary chart and a few extra examples here in this post to help get you started with thinking how you would make art in your own hand, your own way, based upon what you love and not necessarily what you have learned. Oh, and be okay with what you choose, regardless of how far down the food chain you first perceive it to be positioned in your tool box of newly minted skills.
The hardest thing for some of these students to take is not using everything they have learned in the work they do. I have to tell them again and again it is not about doing realism in your own work, its that realism was a learning tool, a vehicle for them to learn the concepts of seeing, calculating, and translating visual space and translate that into something intelligible, legible, smart, and easy for anyone to see the meaning before seeing mistakes which pretty much anyone can see, or eventually see. And, if realism is the only means to super success and notoriety, then what’s up with Cory Loftis, Creaturebox, Miyazaki, Sienkiewicz, Niño, and the many others that are just as popular and well known?
Alex Niño in one of his many amazing stylistic approaches.
So, what was it that you really wanted to do with your art? Go do it and enjoy what you want rather than what you think you need. And if realism is you, then do it the best that you can and understand clarity of communication before technique so that you can convey the strongest and most emotive story image possible.
The Norman Rockwell of Cartooning, Cory Loftis.
Creaturebox is amazing even when doing other IP’s.
Bill Sienkiewvicz and one his many versatile approaches to making images.
And of course, Miyazaki and his beautiful fluid comic approach.
Posted by Ron Lemen | Saturday, May 19th, 2018
Ron Lemen
Ron Lemen is an illustrator/painter, educator, and designer. Ron’s career first took off in the Action Sports Industry working as a board graphic illustrator, layout artist, logo and product designer. From there he turned to sequential story telling as well as doing book covers, interior illustrations and the newly emerging market of concept design. During this time he went back to train, found and graduated from the Atelier System. He was also mentored by Sebastian Capella, Spanish portrait virtuoso. Ron has been a concept designer and art director in the video game and film industry for 15 years with dozens of clients including Harmony Gold, Amazon, Sony, Activision, Ubi Soft, Mattel and more. Now freelancing full-time, his clients include Upper Deck, Dragon lance, White Wolf, Time Warner, Wizards of the Coast, Image Comics, Birdhouse Projects, Ride Snowboards, Disney, and more. In addition to illustrating and Portrait Painting, Ron has been an art instructor for nearly 25 years, teaching for X-Train, LAAFA, CGMA, Gnomon, Studio 2nd Street, Park Blvd Studios, Sony, The Art Department, and Rev Art Academy.
December 21, 2022
What is your approach to learning painting?
The atelier approach to art education has its roots in the guilds of the early Renaissance. For more than five hundred years, master artists transmitted a system of knowledge to their students. This tradition reached its zenith in the second half of the nineteenth century, when ateliers prepared thousands of accomplished artists to paint in dozens of different styles on countless subjects. Skill-based teaching in the nineteenth century was centered on observation of nature, sound artistic principles, and universal themes. Aspiring artists obtained the technical ability, personal commitment, and philosophical views needed to create great art. The impact of Enlightenment thinking, with its respect for human rights and equality before the law, allowed art to expose the evils of slavery and child labor as well as to promote women’s rights and other social issues. This new democratic way of thinking, in conjunction with unparalleled classical training, ignited the greatest period of creativity that the fine arts had ever seen.
With a shift in the aesthetics of art-world politics, affected in part by the horrors of World War I and World War II, cynicism, novelty, shock, and rebellion became the fashionable staples of art in the early twentieth century. Art that could be produced rapidly and yet be considered valuable became a dream come true. Modern art, although it may have had claim to a few artists with a sincere desire to experiment and rebel, soon became lost, for without standards or any need to communicate through universal themes, it was easily controlled by those who stood to make vast fortunes from this “new” quickly made art. Art became “art about art” not art about life.
Against all odds and facing ridicule, a handful of artists who were still academically trained managed to preserve the core technical knowledge of Western art and to continue the process of teaching another generation. There is now a growing movement of artists demanding to be taught the classical methods. They are part of a new Renaissance that has brought the atelier method full circle and back into the art world of today. In the ateliers of the twenty-first century, artists have once again lit the torch of inspiration with the desire to reunite the powers of masterly painting and humanistic subject matter. As long as humanity is permitted to compare and decide for itself what constitutes art, truth, beauty, and a commitment to excellence will prevail.
FRED ROSS
Chairman, Art Renewal Center
(From the book Classical Painting Atelier – Juliette Aristides)
Painting above by John Singer Sargent
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Not having any paywalls or charging for products gives me a global advantage over others teaching the art of composition. I can reach thousands of artists and photographers worldwide without asking them to open their wallets.
I’m not influenced by trends in marketing, I don’t shape the content of my articles and videos to sell products, and I make no money on the books or videos I promote. I only have one interest in mind. Learning as much as I can about art and design and sharing that knowledge with those that visit my website. All for free.
Ever since I got my first camera in 1982, I have been passionate about taking better photographs. Spending all of my teenage years in my father’s darkroom taught me a lot. I learned all of Ansel Adams’ techniques on the zone system and swiftly moved into street photography from there.
I was heavily influenced by photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson and Elliott Erwitt. And like many other amateur photographers, I wanted to learn how to shoot like the “masters.” But unfortunately, sometimes our passion is limited by our lack of knowledge and experience. In other words, I kept hitting a wall with my progress regardless of how many photobooks I purchased or how many hours I spent shooting. What was missing in all of my images? One thing. My understanding of design.
Unfortunately, throughout most of my photographic journey, there has been very little written on the topic of composition. In fact, when I say “very little,” I mean almost nothing. And sure, you could argue the fact that you can jump on any photography website and find a few cherry-picked concepts like the rule of thirds and the golden section. But this isn’t enough. Not even close.
One day, in an intense effort to research information on composition, I stumbled upon the Barnstone Studios DVDs. To say I was excited would be an understatement. I immediately purchased the ten disc set and watched them for over a decade. That’s where my true journey began.
From that point on, I have spent all my free time researching the art of composition. No easy task. Was this an obsession of mine? Sure, I would never argue that fact. But with everything in life, there are always unseen benefits when you set out to do something to improve yourself or your craft.
After spending many years studying design, I realized that other artists could benefit from the information I have discovered. In truth, my website The Art of Composition is a reflection of my passion and desire to learn. For those that have taken the time to visit my website, I want to thank you for stopping by. But more than that, I hope that you find the free books and videos beneficial and worth your time.
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The Art of Composition
A Simple Approach for Creating Masterful Designs
The Art of Composition: A Simple Approach for Creating Masterful Designs evolved from my personal and professional experience as a photographer, master level darkroom technician, and graphic designer. After years of applying the same “popular” rules of composition to my images and designs, I reached a point in my artistic career where I was no longer able to improve my portfolio regardless of how much time and money I invested in photography workshops, photography books, and high-end camera equipment.
Realizing I was getting nowhere with the Rule of Thirds, the Rule of Odds, the Rule of Space, and Leading Lines, I began an intensive search for any information I could find on real design principles. I read every art and design book I could get my hands on and spent endless days and nights analyzing over five thousand works of art. The Art of Composition: A Simple Approach for Creating Masterful Designs is a series of personal analytical notes that reflect this ten-year study.
By sharing this collection of analytical notes with other artists and photographers, I hope to save them years of frustration and wasted time as well as put them on the most productive path for improving their lifetime body of work. While other books written on composition tend to focus on incorporating complex design methods using overlapped Dynamic Symmetry root rectangles, this user’s guide takes a one grid approach to teaching that will make it easier for the artist and photographer to learn the art of composition at the quickest rate possible.
