Creating dynamic art: First vital steps

Creating dynamic art is not a mysterious process.

It is a process that takes practice – every time you do art – to become embedded in your mind.

But, you will be richly rewarded for the time you spend doing it.

Step 1 — find (or think of) a scene that interests you, that you feel has the potential to become exciting art.

What I don’t mean by this step is spending hours going through your vast trove of photos looking for the perfect photograph to use. I wasted a lot of time doing that in my beginning years.

Instead, just look for something in a photograph that interests you. Then...

Step 2 – look at that scene and engage your imagination. Imagine what you could add or change to make it more exciting.

Remember: seldom does Mother Nature create a composition that only needs to be copied. If she did everyone would be an artist.

In my example above there are two problems I see that need to be addressed.

1. Is the boat interesting enough to be the star of a piece of art? If it isn't, how do you make it more interesting?

2. How can you somehow connect the two separated, but important, elements of this photograph – the boat tied to its little knot of earth and the background hills?

This is where creating dynamic art needs your imagination.

Finding a way to overcome both those potential problems. And that begins with putting your thinking cap on and asking "What if....?" 

For creating dynamic art, ask yourself: "What if I..."

It's hard to reliably go from an idea in your mind to a finished piece of art. The picture in your mind always looks perfect.

You only learn about its hidden problems after you begin to draw or paint it.

In order to test whether your idea will work you need to get out your pencils or charcoal or whatever your preferred medium is and…

…sketch it.

In this sketch I've started the process by asking myself what I could add or change that would fit with my subject.

One thing I could do is make the boat a sailboat.

The mast by overlapping the background helps connect the foreground and the background. I could also enlarge the spit of land just beyond my star so part of it seems to join part of the boat.

I could also create a little story and balance the composition by placing a couple other sailboats out in the water.

Then, because the first idea is seldom the best one, I could try enlarging the boat a bit and adding a person getting it ready to sail.

Instead of only the little knot of earth the boat is tied to, what if I created more of a shoreline?

These first two ideas seem only okay.

What I'm really looking for is an idea that genuinely begins to excite me.

So I ask myself what else I could change or add that would fit this subject.

What if I create a different story and combine a family with the boat?

What did I do in this idea to help connect the foreground and background?

What ideas of your own spring to mind from these sketches?

Now not everyone is like me and likes having people in their pictures.

So, what else could you do to keep this scene more purely a landscape?
What if you added a mountain in the background?

What if you made the knot of earth in the foreground bigger? What if you added a tree?

What if you imagined the tree in fall colors and had those colors reflect in the water?

Or what if you only used this boat as a jumping off point to a completely different idea?

That’s where growing your imagination pays off.

You begin to create more and better art from ideas that really excite you. Then you learn to create a better and better design or composition of your ideas. That truly puts you on the road to creating dynamic art.

Does the thought of putting more of your imagination in your work intrigue you? Does learning to design your art to make it more exciting interest you? If you would like to delve a little deeper into growing your skills in these areas, and the other fundamentals of good art, sign up for my FREE seven-lesson Draw With Artist Eyes mini course below.

Click the link below and let’s get started.