How to See Your Art in a New Light
Art always has room to grow and explore. Artists frequently reflect on their completed work and consider ways to elevate it. This is where reimagining your work shows its strength. When you rework and refine, you can tap into hidden potential, give your art new life, and test the limits of your creativity. In this blog post, I'll walk you through a step-by-step method to help you reimagine your artwork and start a journey that will change your work.
Step 1: Look Back at Finished Pieces
Look over the artwork you've finished and pick out pieces that could use a new angle. Find ones you wish you'd done differently or think have more potential.
Step 2: Have Your Thumbnail Sketches Ready
Thumbnail sketches are small, quick drawings that capture an idea's core. They act as visual notes to help you explore multiple avenues in your visual communication. Keep your collection of thumbnail sketches close by so you can check them when you're redesigning your work.
Step 3: Spot Areas for Improve
Review your original artwork and make a list of improvements. This could encompass the arrangement of specific elements, the choice of colors, or the overall aesthetic. This step helps you spot areas in your piece that might need some work.
Step 4: Welcome Changes and Try New Things
When you're redoing your art, be ready to make changes and try new ways of doing things. Think about changing certain details in the new version, like taking out or putting in elements, tweaking the style, or exploring different methods.
Step 5: Keep Working and Fine-Tune
As you rethink your work, you could try multiple versions of your piece, or if you work digitally, you could have separate layers for various things you would like to try. Look at the small changes in each of your versions and how those changes affect the overall look.
Step 6: Use Reference Material
When you're rethinking your work, learn to pick your reference materials. Don't rely too heavily on single references. Make sure to pick and choose from multiple sources and, most importantly, add from your imagination.
This step-by-step approach allows you to refresh existing work. Many times the initial idea was great, but the execution could take some additional work, allowing for past work to maybe even make it into your portfolio.
The act of rethinking your work serves as a key asset in your artistic toolkit. It gives you a chance to look at finished works again, try out new ways to express yourself, and keep growing as an artist.
If you would like more tips and tricks to help you in your art journey, look into “Treasure Found: An Art Journey.” "Treasure Found: An Art Journey" offers an abundance of activities designed to structure your art process, enabling you to improve both your older and newer works.