How Attention to Detail Elevates the Quality of Artwork

Introduction

Details are hard. Like really hard. You get this grandiose vision in your head of a neatly and delicately designed art piece in your head, only for it to come out like an emoji Icon. While some people easily dive into the little things, I tend to get lost in the bigger picture.

In this article I want to help others in the same boat and to provide a free resource to help grow your skills. Let's dig into the nitty gritty so to speak!

Attention to Details in Art

I love watching Wes Anderson Movies. I Particularly why I enjoy them so much is the attention to detail he gives EVERYTHING. From the pan of the camera down streets and moving scenes to the still shots of a solitary room. Wes has found a way to bring so much interest and intrigue to every scene because he has great attention to detail.

As artists or art viewers, we love to dig into the fine points of our subject matter. For instance, Why does this warrior have 5 swords hooked to his back? Or, how come the car has so many soda bottles in the back seat? Visual complexity is enriching and gives us extra layers in telling the story of our pieces and our characters.

Benefits of Focusing on Details

In my personal experience as we begin to add extra layers to our avatars and environments we also strengthen our creative muscles. If you know how to draw an elf female you will begin to replicate it and you'll have a strong ability to solidify it on paper. Now as you draw your 7th or 8th figure you can start to vary and create a series of wildly different characters. Maybe one worships an old forgotten god. Another could have an obsession with tattoos to show her devotion to the forest.

With each piece and layer you supply to your art it will bring yourself and your viewers deeper into the evocation of emotion you wish to achieve. Our worlds need to feel alive and full of interesting quirks that each one of us embodies in our own ways.

Challenges In the Process

Digging in can be easy for some and less so for others. I find the process can make my head spin and make me get side tracked a bit. Some advice that I can offer when you sit down and begin would be these few pointers:

• It helps to give your character or scene a theme. Figure out the genre and time period.

• Pick a focus point and grow it, just like weeds can do. It all begins from one point and will spread from there. Like Poison Ivy. God I hate poison Ivy.

• Add a bunch of one thing. For environments, use plants; for characters, use clothing details or jewelry.

• Try different patterns or rendering styles. If you're not good at drawing chains, add a bunch to your scene to create an interesting story.

While not a complete list this is just some things to jog your brain and help you if you get a little stuck in the thicket of planning or thinking.

Practice Exercise: Free Worksheet

Now to put theory into practice. Since I focus and specialize in characters and creatures I have decided to create something to help others in need. Please enjoy a free practice worksheet created to give you a quick and easy way to get to flex your creative muscles.

Download Here

This worksheet provides you with a base character for you to try your hand at different styles/techniques as well as some prompts down below to get the creative juices flowing. To give an example of how I have personally used this to my advantage please see the images below!

Clicking the download link above will take you to a downloadable PDF that you can not only print out but also import into your favorite drawing program. There is also another avatar of my favorite little helper Atlas (He asked me to include him).

Conclusion

To summarize; Details can be tough but also very captivating. I hope you can use this tool to help you in your personal journey to grow your detailing and creative process!

Did I miss something? Did you need a different generic avatar? Do you have other practice topics you want covered? Let me know in the comments below and I can do my best to include them.

Thank you for your time and I will catch you in the next post. Happy drawing!