Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Articles of Art (first batch)

Talent is the ability to persist until you get it right. This is completely true. However, you also need to have an eye to be able to know what is right. Many designers over-design a project without knowing that they reached the best solution but kept going.

If it doesn’t communicate, it ain’t art [design]; any fool can make a mark.
Maybe the truest statement here. The purpose of design/art is to communicate whatever it is you’re supposed to communicate. If you don’t do that, it doesn’t matter how beautiful, hip, edgy, smart it is. It HAS to communicate.

Decide what you want to say and say it.
I love this one. So many designers start something without knowing exactly what they are doing and end up somewhere they never intended. It’s so important to always keep in mind the purpose of what you are doing.

Draw what you know, not what you think you see, until the day you know what you are seeing and then draw it.
This is more of a drawing principle, but very important. We so often draw what’s in our mind rather than what’s right in front of us. The relationships of negative/positive space, colors, contrasts, dark/light shading, lines, and textures in actuality are much different than what we perceive them to be.


To do a good drawing sooner or later you are going to have to look at it.
When drawing or designing it’s so easy to be so focused on the details that you don’t take the time to stand back and see the big picture, see the context.

If it looks dumb, don’t draw it.
Too often someone will draw something because it’s there. We are under no obligation to draw everything we see. This isn’t photography. See next.

When something looks out of place, remove it or add more of it.
One of my favorites. I’ve seen a lot of designs that would have sucked if this principle hadn’t been applied.

If you live by the sword, you die by the sword (if you are going to do something, do it all the way).
It’s almost always apparent when someone does a half-effort job. Even a bad idea can work if pushed to an extreme (unless it’s an extremity in badness).

I didn't include every Article of Art here as given by the great art Professor Leon Parson but there are a few soundbites and some additional info from a fellow artist. Hope you enjoy the silly photos from the silly lens features of the silly electronic devises we carry around and don't do enough with!

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