HOW I GOT BETTER AT ART? BEING SURROUNDED BY BEAUTY DID NOT HURT BUT....

 While I was applying acrylic varnish to my commissioned painting, I realized that I will actually miss having it around. Pondering about why is that so made me think about my art journey. Sure, living in two absolutely gorgeous countries helped  feed my artistic soul, but there were some steps I needed to take to step from observing beauty to creating beauty. Today I'll share three things with you that have helped me improve my art skills significantly. I shared my art tips before, but today I want to share some basic things that really made a difference for me both in developing my art skills and my confidence.  



1. I TOOK ART COURSES (SEVEN OF THEM UP TO DATE)

Taking an art course was definitely a turning point that made me take art more seriously. I've taken seven courses up to date and I plan to take more. Learning from people who teach art for living and are often accomplished artists themselves is something anyone can benefit from (no matter your skill level). Not only did taking art courses helped me become a better artist, it was also a great motivation. It was always so satisfying graduating those art courses and participating in the joint amateur artist exhibitions afterwards. That little 'diploma' ceremony and exhibition we had at the end of every art course at Michelangelo gallery was so satisfying and uplifting. 



2. I USED DIFFERENT REFERENCES (PHOTOGRAPHS AND ART FROM THE MASTERS)

Painting from imagination is and can be a great practice, but using a reference is important skill as well. There are different references you can use, from nature itself (en plain air), to live models, photographs and artworks of old masters. We can all learn a lot from the old masters!






3. I INVESTED  A LOT OF TIME AND EFFORT

I used to make art periodically and while sometimes I would invest effort, I was neither systematic nor consistent in developed my art skills.  On overall, the time and effort invest simply wasn't cutting it. For most of my life, I tried to make art without making that initial huge investment of time and effort that needed just to get the basics right. I would sometimes spend a lot of time on creating art but not in a systematic way. It simply wasn't enough. My art skills at my twenties were probably the same as when I was ten. Sure, I had some artistic talent as a kid, but I never developed my skills to any significant level. That's the case with most people. If you don't work on your art skills, they will forever stay on the level you achieved as a ten year old.  Looking back, I can see several milestones I have made and guess what? They all came after investing a lot of time and effort. Yes, you just have to invest a lot of time and effort just to start on your art journey. It does get easier when you reach a certain point and then you can get more creative and relax. Art is worth the time and effort!



Everything I'm wearing is shopped from my closet. The photographs were taken at Bunica recreational site near Mostar today.

Thank you for stopping by my blog. I wish you all the best in 2023!



Comments

  1. J.P. Alexander2 January 2023 at 16:27

    Me encantan tus pinturas. Te deseo una buena semana. Te mando un beso.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mica2 January 2023 at 21:47

    I like your cosy winter outfit and your art is beautiful! It's definitely something that takes practice but you have nailed it and your hard work has paid off.

    Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and you have a great start to the new year!

    www.awayfromtheblue.blogspot.com.au

    ReplyDelete
  3. Vix2 January 2023 at 23:55

    Looking glam in your fabulous Winter outfit, Ivana.
    My friend Liz quit full-time employment to make her living as an artist during the pandemic and has never looked back. Like you, she's always learning and regularly enrols in online courses as well as attending real-life classes - and often hold her own workshops. She said the best thing she did was joining a local artist society, you learn so much from like-minded people even if their style isn't yours. xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ivana Split5 January 2023 at 01:13

      Thank you Vix. It's really true. One learns so much from fellow artists!

      Delete
  4. ellie3 January 2023 at 03:58

    Awesome inspiration! Thanks for the post. So glad you have been so creative and that you keep going. All the best to all the beauty you see. All the best with your fashion, too.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Polyester Princess3 January 2023 at 10:01

    I'm loving that final picture of you, Ivana, you're looking so elegant and the landscape is truly dreamy. I am in awe of your incredible talent and all the time and effort you are putting into getting even better! xxx

    ReplyDelete
  6. Joni James3 January 2023 at 13:47

    Beautiful outfit you're wearing today! I agree on all your points about art. Whenever I take a class whether it's on line or in person, I always feel more myself then any other time.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

All your comments mean a lot to me, even the criticism. Naravno da mi puno znači što ste uzeli vrijeme da nešto napišete, pa makar to bila i kritika. Per me le vostre parole sono sempre preziose anche quando si tratta di critiche.

Popular posts from this blog

THE ISLAND OF THE MISSING TREES BY ELIF SHAFAK (BOOK REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATION)

Image
Today I shall review The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak. I was actually gifted this book. What a wonderful present it proved to be! Published in 2021, this postmodern  novel  follows two  story lines and uses framed narration.  The Island of Missing Trees  tells the life story of a Greek Turkish couple and their adolescent daughter.  This novel examines and explores a number of topics such as identity, migration, immigrant life, war trauma, memory, love and family. It's an ambitious novel that examines serious topics with due respect and sensitivity . I read it months ago, but I remember it vividly. Honestly, I cried a lot while reading this novel. It really moved me greatly. In fact, that is probably why it took me this long to finish this book review. I needed to emotionally process the story.   The Island of Missing Trees is   set in London and Cyprus. The narration isn't chronological .  The story jumps back and forth, following two main timelines, one set in moder
Read more

SUPPORTING LOCAL DESIGNERS IN MOSTAR: TRANSITIONAL AUTUMN STYLING WITH OZZ BRAND

Image
Hello readers and fellow bloggers! In this post, I'll share two transitional outfits featuring a lilac skirt from fashion designer Stanka Zovko. If you're a regular reader of this blog, you've probably seen this skirt before. Afterall, I'm really good at shopping my closet. I've been wearing this lilac skirt a lot in the past few months. It's also a great piece for transitional weather because it can be easily layered, or dressed up and down.  Supporting local designers and artisans is certainly something that pays off in the long run. If you want to own unique pieces and at the same time, support your local community, you should really explore shopping local, or commissioning local artisans and designers.  Sustainability in fashion is a big topic nowadays! However, sometimes I feel like people make it more complicated than it really is. We should go back to our origins. Explore vintage, second hand and local shopping. Learn how to stay away from the big shoppin
Read more

TRAVEL WITH MY ART #40, A VIEW FROM MARINE LUČICA SPLIT (CROATIA)

Image
Hello blog readers and fellow bloggers! It's time for another TRAVEL WITH MY ART post that is another posting in my art series. In this post, I'll share an acrylic painting inspired by a location in Split city, Croatia. I used one of my own photographs as a reference for this painting. The format of this painting is quite small, but I'm pretty content with how it turned out. Furthermore, I might do another version of this painting on a canvas. I will share more details about the location and the painting shortly, but first a few words about why and how I'm sharing it.  As you might know if you read my blog regularly, TRAVEL WITH MY ART is basically a regular feature on my blog where I post my art (paintings & illustration) inspired by different places. I will mostly illustrate and paint places I have visited, but sometimes I will paint based of a photograph a friend has sent me or one that caught my eye. Sometimes I will paint places I would like to visit as opposed
Read more

FASHION ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY WATERCOLOUR: LONG DRESSES AND DE PROFUNDIS QUOTES!

Image
 Hello dear readers and fellow bloggers! It's almost ten. I've had a long week and I'm quite tired and sleepy. However, I'll try to wrap this post up for you tonight. What kind of post? Well, a post about art. Fashion art to be more precise.  I've been on a roll lately with my art posts. After a period of not posting my art at all, due to a variety of reasons, I started posting my art in every post. I got back to my destination art series, and now it's time for another post in my fashion art series. Friday Fashion Illustration  is somewhat of a regular feature on my blog. Today I'll share two watercolour pencil fashion illustrations of mine. I sketched both of them this Summer in my A3 mixed media sketchbook. I sketched the long yellow dress first, and then the blue and read one. The medium for both of them is watercolour pencils on paper, the same brand I always use. I find watercolour pencils to be quite practical, especially for sketching. I often use the
Read more

THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER, A SHORT STORY BY W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM

Image
Hello dear readers and fellow bloggers! Welcome November! We'll welcome this new month with a blog review. In this post, I'll share my review for Maugham's short story titled T he Ant and the Grasshopper . This post will also be  a reading recommendation because I enjoyed this story a great deal. I've been reading Maugham's The Complete Short Stories for some time now. I've been taking my time with this collection, but I enjoyed it a lot. When I finish this book in its entirely, I'll share a review for all of his stories. Until then, I'll keep posting individual reviews of stories I liked the most. If you want to read Maugham yourself, you can find his collected works online (among other places  on project Gutenberg ) and read them for free.  W. Somerset Maugham is a writer whose subtle use of humour is delightful, but sometimes it's easy to miss it just because it's so subtle. He's wonderful at mixing the harsh realities of life with clever
Read more

MALTA HIKING TALES (PART FIVE) GHAJN TUFFIEFA AND QUARABBA BAY

Image
Hello dear readers and fellow bloggers! I'm back with another Malta themed post. Recently I posted a painting inspired by Malta. As some of you might remember, I visited Malta a few years ago, but I only blogged about it last April, when I published a series of post on Malta. My series about Malta isn't finished, though. In fact, today we're going to continue it. Considering my stay on Malta was two weeks long, it deserves more than a couple of posts. There is a lot to see and do on Malta. It's a small island, but one that's filled with so much life and beauty. Although Malta faces some problems caused by fast tourism, it remains an unique and magical island.  In this post, I'll take you to the bays I visited while hiking on Malta. One of them (Ghajn Tuffieha Bay) is the one I painted. You can visit that post by clicking on the link below: TRAVEL WITH MY ART #43, GHAJN TUFFIEHA BAY, MALTA LET'S START WITH THE GOLDEN BAY We actually didn't go all the way
Read more