Uncover the art advice from Greg Manchess to create more engaging paintings
Crank up your creative game with ten handy tips for crafting electrifying paintings! Hang on to your art brushes, 'cause we're diving into the world of dynamic visuals with freelance illustrator Greg Manchess as our guide. He's been in the art scene for over four decades and has racked up some major awards in movies, comics, and more. Did you hear he got inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame in 2024? That's a big deal!
So, grab a beverage of your choice and let's get into these jaw-dropping painting techniques!
01. Overlaps
Depth is created by overlapping elements in a picture, as well as by using scale and value. This masterpiece of layering gives your artwork some serious depth!
02. Vary Values
Value shifts across elements, a room, or a landscape are a must-have in your creative toolbox. Think about light against dark, and dark against light to create visual interest and depth.
03. Use Contrast
Contrast values, shapes, scale, and color across a composition! Make things large against small, complex vs simple, dark vs light, colorful vs toned down, shiny vs dull, and so on. Get ready to dazzle your audience with this bold approach!
04. Clever Clumping
Clump your forms together in groups by employing overlapping forms. This technique helps glue shapes together in a variety of clumps, creating a cohesive composition.
05. Create a Rhythm
Let forms stagger and vary, rather than all lining up evenly. This builds a rhythm through the composition that viewers enjoy following. Lead the audience to the focus of the composition by overlapping and clumping elements in an appealing line through the image.
06. Frozen in Time
Find the moment, don't just pose a figure. A pose is meant to present something, but doesn't communicate much of a story or build much curiosity. Get your figures moving in a composition by choosing a moment of movement rather than a moment of pause. This goes for action images, too.
07. Cut Across Forms
Paint across forms, don't follow them. Brushstrokes should cut across legs, arms, face shapes, drapery, and the like. Vary the brushwork, which builds volume for a more sculptural, form-based look. Remember, following the form is shape-based and flat, while cutting across the form is form-based and sculptural.
08. No Straight Whites
Delay using straight whites until the very last, and even then do so sparingly. Always mix a little color into the white as you paint layers on forms, especially on skin, just for now. Later you'll find plenty of ways to use straight white in a composition.
09. Around the Color Wheel
Greying a color can deaden it. Work around the color wheel and not across to keep colors fresh and exciting. You'll learn faster how to contrast greyed and bright colors, and then understand how to work across the wheel or diagram.
10. Add a Third Color
New painters can be afraid to use a lot of color. It can look flat, without the illusion of depth, if only one or even two colors are employed. For more depth, add a third color to the mixture or the overall scheme. This can be done by changing the temperature. Contrast a warm blue with a cool blue, for example.
Now that you've got the goods, it's time to get creative! Check out some of our top recommendations for the best drawing tablets and the best digital art software to take your art to the next level. Happy painting!
Want more tutorials? Check out our fantastic content in ImagineFX magazine, the world's leading digital art and fantasy art publication. Get inspired, honed, and ready to delight your audience! And if you're struggling with creative confidence, Lynn Chenn's tips for building creative confidence in your art will give you the boost you need. No time to practise? Don't despair! We've also got suggestions for quick creative exercises to help you level up your art game.
[1] Based on the available information, these tips align with the style and advice found in the search results.
[3] Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 2.0)"Interacting with Volumes: Volume-Based Shapes" by majunatar (https://www.instructables.com/Interacting-with-Volumes-Volume-Based-Shapes/)Provided by the Federation of Education and Culture Advisers (FECA) (https://www.feca.fr/)
- Experiment with the art of 3D sketching to create captivating designs in the digital world.
- Improve your UX design by understanding the importance of value shifts in layouts and color contrasts.
- For a captivating fashion-and-beauty illustration, employ variance in shapes, scale, and color across the composition.
- Adopt a creative lifestyle by learning the technique of clumping forms in groups for a cohesive digital painting.
- Delve into the realm of cooking and food-and-drink illustration by creating a rhythm in compositions that viewers can enjoy.
- To bring life to your home-and-garden painting, focus on capturing the moment of movement instead of relying on poses.
- In your freelance artist work, paint across forms for a more sculptural and dynamic look in your artwork.
- To achieve an authentic skin tone in your art, delay the use of straight whites and mix colors into your paint as you go.
- To add vibrancy to your digital art, work around the color wheel instead of just across it for contrasting colors.
- Enhance your painting techniques by incorporating a third color in your scheme or mixture for added depth.
- To further elevate your art, invest in a high-quality drawing tablet. Some recommendations for the best options can be found in our reviews.
- Discover creative tutorials and fresh inspiration through ImagineFX magazine, the world-renowned digital art and fantasy art publication.
- Boost your creative confidence with expert tips from Lynn Chenn to help you overcome self-doubt in your artwork.
- When you're short on time, try quick creative exercises to help you develop your art skills rapidly.
- For more inspiring tips and techniques, explore the wealth of resources available in the field of digital art, including helpful tutorials and engaging content.
