7 TIPS FOR A

KILLER
PA IN TI N G
How to paint with impact,
improve your skills and get noticed
Hi, I’m Richard and thanks for stopping by! In
my checklist below I’d like to show you the top
7 painting principles I believe will get you the
furthest, fastest.

With so much art around these days, it’s hard to

make yours stand out, right?

You might be a weekend artist just starting out,

or maybe you’re a more experienced painter. You
might even be wanting to make a full time living
from your art like I do.

On my path to becoming a professional artist,

the thing I’ve found is this: skills matter. Skills
are what separate the “ok” painting from the
“wow” painting.

My philosophy is simple: get your skill level as

good as it can be. Then you can cut loose with
your unique style the world is just waiting to see.

Ok, here we go! I will be using my landscape

painting above to demonstrate each point.
1 DYNAMIC
CONTRAST
Have you ever looked at your painting and realized
nothing stands out? No fireworks? It could be a lack
of high contrast: an area of a light tone next to a dark
tone, or 2 contrasting colours like orange and green.
High contrast adds drama and creates a focal point.

In order for our high contrast area to pop, we also

need areas of low contrast. Example: two values that
are very close together or neighbouring colours on
the colour wheel such as yellow and yellow-orange.

We forget that a large part of the process is actually

playing down parts of the painting so the hero can
shine.
2 FOCAL
POINT(S)
How many times do you stand back from your painting
and find your eye has nowhere obvious to settle?
Contrast, saturation, detail… these are all ways to
build a focal point.

Avoid placing your focal point in the middle… try and

offset it a little. You’re in charge here, and you have
to tell your viewers where to look. Bonus tip: Don’t
forget there can be multiple focal points in the
same painting!
3 LEAD
IN LINES
Ever noticed how our eyes like to scan the curve of
a beach, follow the edge of a cool river… maybe
imagine ourselves travelling on that road towards a
pink sunset? Organic lines coming in from the edges
will get the viewer quickly into your painting.

When engineers erect complex buidings they first start

with the scaffolding. When spiders set up home they
start with a powerful, sticky web to snare their prey.
You can do the same!
4 3 DISTINCT TONAL
( VA L U E ) G R O U P S
The biggest problem I see at my painting workshops
is lack of tonal separation. Don’t forget: the eye
perceives tone before it perceives colour.

When blocking in, break down value into just dark,

mid and light. Start with a grayscale version of your
painting and avoid making everything “midtone”.
Make the decisions right from the get go about where
the 3 tonal groups will be placed. It’s tone that creates
light, shade and shape. Kill the tone and you kill the
light!
5 STRONG
SHAPES
Shapes are like the rocks that anchor the flow of your
painting. They create depth, connect your lead in lines
and define negative space. Aim for a strong sequence
of primary and secondary shapes, from large to small.

A large shape near the bottom of the canvas is a great

anchoring technique to use. How are you shaping up?
6 BRUSHSTROKE
VA R I AT I O N
Does your painting tend to look static? A bit “samey”?
Find yourself overworking large areas?

The solution is to mix up your brushes! I always keep

three on the go… large, medium and small, swapping
them around in my hand constantly. Don’t get stuck
with the one brush dance.

Ever looked closely at “Starry Night”? It’s like the sky

and stars are dancing to an incredible symphony. This
is called rhythm and Vincent was a master. Brushstroke
variation will dazzle your viewer with shapes, lines and
patterns.
7 IS THERE AN
ELEMENT OF RISK?
You’ve finished a piece. You know it’s good because
you’ve worked this formula a hundred times before.
But something’s still missing. You feel like your art
practice has stagnated.

Question: what have you done in this painting

that you haven’t attempted before?
Is there a wild, sweeping brushstroke? (see below) A
sequence of colours you’ve never used? A different
tool that has created an amazing new mark?

This is where the true artist begins to be defined. The

element of risk will push your work ahead faster than
anything else.
Question: does every painting have to have all 7
elements? Not at all! But it’s a handy checklist to go
through if you suspect your painting might be lacking
that “wow” factor. It could be that your painting is
missing just one or two of these crucial elements. So
why settle for good when you can have great!

SOME FINAL
THOUGHTS
There has never been a better time to be an artist.
The ability to learn online has rapidly accelerated our
learning curve beyond what was thought possible
even 20 years ago.

There are tools and techniques now that can get your
art noticed. I’d like to show you how. We don’t need
to be the best (although better is always worth striving
for). We just have to be good. In the words of the
great Steve Martin, “So good they can’t ignore you”.

In response to the growing demand for my

workshops, I am excited to be kicking off my online
school “The Skilled Artist”. I’m in the early stages
of preparing it right now. If you would like to grow
in your path as an artist, I look forward to updating
you with that and working alongside you in the
future.

FOLLOW ME AT
www.richardclaremont.com
@richard_claremont
www.facebook.com/richard.claremont