You Can Learn How to Paint Good Art

Painting good art usually comes down to mastering the fundamentals of art.

This page will walk through the "Big Three" fundamentals of art; composition (including a focal point), color, and values. We will use one of my paintings for the examples.

Included is a 3-point checklist for assessing your paintings.

Brand new to painting? Start with the Beginner’s Guide, then come back here to refine your fundamentals.

Learn how to paint good art for beginners and developing artists.

You can paint good art!

How to Paint Good Art

Painting takes practice and I have been practicing/painting for about forty years.

Seascapes are one of my favorite subjects and I used one for the examples on this page. Read more about the artist Carol May.

During planning and painting, I check my artwork for the Big Three:

Composition: Paint an inviting composition that includes a focal point in a variety of 3 sizes.
Color: Good use of color - use 3 colors in different amounts (mix any additional colors).
Values: Paint 3 main values, (light, medium, and dark) each covering a different amount of space. Use high contrast values in the focal area.

Create an Inviting Composition with a Focal Point

Good art attracts people and draws them in for a deeper look at your artwork.

Focus on clear shapes with a variety of sizes, so the eye moves naturally through the painting. Use three main areas; large, medium, and small.

Good composition has a variety of sizes.

Each area of the composition is a different size.

Paint the composition with three parts.

One part of the painting will cover a large area. The land and ocean are the largest part in this painting.
The sky without the lighthouse, takes up less space.
The lighthouse (the focal point in this painting) covers the smallest area.

We are looking for a variety of sizes to keep the viewers interested.

Once you start seeing your paintings as arrangements of big shapes/areas, you’ll notice opportunities to make small changes that have a big impact.

Our compositions become even stronger when you understand the principles and elements of art and how they guide the use of shapes, movement, balance, and emphasis.

The next step is deciding where you want people to look first.

Include a Focal Point

The first thing we want people to notice in our paintings is the focal point.

Strong paintings rarely give equal attention to everything. Instead, they gently insist - Look at the main subject first, then explore the rest of the painting.

The composition brings the viewer to the focal point.

Everything leads to the focal point.

We make a strong focal point by:

Use high contrasting values or colors.
Position the subject in an interesting composition. The rule of thirds makes composition easy.
Provide leading lines or shapes pointing toward the subject.
Reduce the competing details, so the focal area stands out.

Get more details about how to create a focal point in your paintings.

Glorious Color!

Color is often what first attracts people to a painting. Where would we be without color? A colorless world would be rather dull.

Think in threes. - Use three colors in 3 different amounts.

Use the 3 main colors of the painting in different amounts.

Each color covers a different sized area.

In this painting red is used in a small amount in the clouds.
Blue takes up the medium space in the sky and parts of the water.
The greens in the land and much of the water take up the largest area.

The key to painting good art is variety. Painting each color in different amounts keeps the artwork interesting.

Mix additional colors from the original three colors - that maintains color harmony. Find out more about how to mix colors.

Using Values in Artwork

Values are the relative light and dark. They create form and depth.

Paint three different groups of values; light, middle, and dark.

A good painting will have dark, light and medium values.

Paint the values different sizes.

Avoid a flat result by covering a different sized area with each value group.

Light values - clouds, lighthouse, and ocean spray cover a medium amount of space.
Medium values - the land, ocean and blue sky fill the largest area.
Dark values of the rocks cover the smallest area.

Think three values - in 3 sizes.

There will be other in-between values taking up small amounts of space.

Values: the light/dark foundation

More Examples

Let's look at some additional painting examples.

Composition

Composition makes the painting feel balanced and invites the viewers in.

Variety is interesting.

Once again, this painting has three main areas, each a different size.

The horse covers the largest area.
The background is middle-sized.
The foreground is the smallest space.

Should we center the subject?

Notice the horse is not exactly in the center. He has more space in front of him than behind.

We rarely put the subject in the exact middle of a painting.

See the essential techniques of good composition in paintings.

Additional Color Tips

Instead of another color example - Let's look at another aspect of color.

How can we avoid mixing muddy colors?

Mix natural looking colors.

There are a couple of reasons our mixed colors may turn out dull looking.

Using more than two colors in the mixture. We get cleaner colors by mixing only two colors.
Not using single pigment colors. If a color contains two pigments and we mix it with a third color, that's three colors in one mix. That often makes mud.

How do we mix natural looking colors?

Mix together a cool bias and warm bias color. The mixture will be life-like, instead of looking artificial.

Use color bias to avoid mixing muddy colors.

More About Values

Once again, we paint the 3 values in three different amounts.

Use a variety of values for interesting artwork.

Variety is interesting.

The flowers and vase are the largest and lightest.
The background is a middle-sized, medium value.
The table is the smallest and the darkest value.

Values can create distance.

Values look lighter and colors appear cooler in the distance in the distance because the particles in the air block our view.

In this painting: The background is cooler than the flowers, that pushes it into the distance.

Learn more about creating distance in a painting.

A good contrast between light and dark values is so important! Even small improvements in values can improve our paintings.

When we combine stronger values with thoughtful composition and color choices, everything starts to work together.

Summary: Painting Checklist

We've seen the Big Three fundamentals individually, let's bring them together.

Composition: Paint the 3 areas of a painting in different sizes.
Color: Use 3 colors in different amounts (mix additional colors).
Values: We want 3 main values, (light, medium, and dark) each value covers a different amount of space.

When you improve even one fundamental, you’ll see a difference in your paintings.

You don’t need to master everything at once. Things will start to change as you use the fundamentals in your own paintings.

We all have an innate knowing of what looks good. Tune in and listen to your inner artist voice and start painting ---

The Fundamentals Create Good Art!

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