Order & CHAOS
Artists & Illustrators|August 2020
A precise drawing can help less confident artists get started. However, as HASHIM AKIB explains, a chaotic start that you tidy up later can produce more satisfying results
HASHIM AKIB
Order & CHAOS

It’s important on so many creative levels to allow a little bit of chaos to reign over your artistic process. This is how you’ll discover the most innovative and engaging aspects of your art. The naivety that allows you to make random marks without inhibition is exactly what many artists strive for, and most children have in abundance.

We are generally corrupted in this aim by well-meaning instructions to perfect the mechanics or follow techniques in a very exacting manner. Yet fundamentally, great art needs a balance of chaotic innovation with a more orderly approach to technical mastery; make it too predictable and it looks dull, too chaotic and it leads to a complete mess. So, think of chaos as the mystery, the unexplainable. It does what it wants and doesn’t want to be understood, there’s no pattern or cycle, rhyme or reason.

Determining the sweet spot between order and chaos is subjective but finding it can be really exciting for both you and individuals viewing your art. I work on the basis that the first hour of the process is always the most chaotic before the logic of the scene catches up. The start of a painting is the most important as there’s nothing restraining you, no boundaries, no precious lines to mess up. You might be mentally apprehensive, but your blank canvas or paper is a clean slate.

As you start considering a new subject, sketching a few guidelines or defining the forms is where the restrictions start. Try instead, at least for the first half-hour, to avoid drawing outlines and simply look for larger marks and possibly richer colours.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August 2020 من Artists & Illustrators.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة August 2020 من Artists & Illustrators.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من ARTISTS & ILLUSTRATORS مشاهدة الكل
Still life IN 3 HOURS
Artists & Illustrators

Still life IN 3 HOURS

Former BP Portrait Award runner-up FELICIA FORTE guides you through a simple, structured approach to painting alla prima that tackles dark, average and light colours in turn

time-read
5 mins  |
March 2022
Movement in composition
Artists & Illustrators

Movement in composition

Through an analysis of three masterworks, landscape painter and noted author MITCHELL ALBALA shows how you can animate landscape composition with movement

time-read
6 mins  |
March 2022
Shane Berkery
Artists & Illustrators

Shane Berkery

The Irish-Japanese artist talks to REBECCA BRADBURY about the innovative concepts and original colour combinations he brings to his figurative oil paintings from his Dublin garden studio

time-read
7 mins  |
March 2022
The Working Artist
Artists & Illustrators

The Working Artist

Something old, something new... Our columnist LAURA BOSWELL has expert advice for balancing fresh ideas with completing half-finished work

time-read
2 mins  |
March 2022
Washes AND GLAZES
Artists & Illustrators

Washes AND GLAZES

Art Academy’s ROB PEPPER introduces an in-depth guide to incorporating various techniques into your next masterpiece. Artwork by STAN MILLER, CHRIS ROBINSON and MICHELE ILLING

time-read
7 mins  |
March 2022
Hands
Artists & Illustrators

Hands

LAURA SMITH continues her new four-part series, which encourages you to draw elements of old master paintings, and this month’s focus is on capturing hands

time-read
7 mins  |
March 2022
Vincent van Gogh
Artists & Illustrators

Vincent van Gogh

To celebrate The Courtauld’s forthcoming landmark display of the troubled Dutch master’s self-portraits, STEVE PILL looks at the stories behind 10 of the most dramatic works on display

time-read
6 mins  |
March 2022
BRING THE drama
Artists & Illustrators

BRING THE drama

Join international watercolour maestro ALVARO CASTAGNET in London’s West End to paint a dramatic street scene

time-read
7 mins  |
March 2022
Serena Rowe
Artists & Illustrators

Serena Rowe

The Scottish painter tells STEVE PILL why time is precious, why emotional responses to colour are useful, and how she finds focus every day with the help of her studio wall

time-read
8 mins  |
March 2022
Bill Jacklin
Artists & Illustrators

Bill Jacklin

Chatting over Zoom as he recovers from appendicitis, the Royal Academician tells STEVE PILL about classic scrapes in New York and his recent experiments with illustration

time-read
8 mins  |
March 2022