About Art Class

• Art Was an Olympic Event: Between 1912 and 1948, the Olympic Games awarded medals for sporting-inspired art in architecture, music, painting, sculpture, and literature.

• The Mona Lisa Has a Mailbox: Due to the high volume of love letters, poems, and flowers she receives, the Mona Lisa has her own dedicated mailbox in the Louvre Museum.

• Art Can Be Toxic: Historically, many artists used dangerous materials, such as "mummy brown" (made from ground-up Egyptian mummies) or arsenic green.

• Paintings Can Hang Upside Down: Piet Mondrian's abstract masterpiece New York City I hung upside down in a museum for 77 years before the mistake was noticed.

• Art is on the Moon: In 1971, Apollo 15 astronauts placed a tiny sculpture named Fallen Astronaut on the moon to honor astronauts and cosmonauts who died in the space race.

• Practice with Purpose: Instead of aimless sketching, set specific goals for each session, such as practicing perspective, shading, or anatomy.

• Use Basic Shapes: Break complex subjects down into simple shapes like spheres, cylinders, and boxes to ensure correct proportions.

• Improve Line Quality: Draw with your whole arm (shoulder/elbow) instead of just your wrist for more confident, fluid lines.

• Study Composition and Lighting: Understand how to arrange elements and use light/shadows to create depth and atmosphere.

• Utilize References: Observe your subject closely; sketching from life or using photo references helps improve accuracy.

• Step Back Often: Regularly step back or zoom out from your artwork to view the piece as a whole and catch errors.

• Avoid Overworking: Know when to stop. When your gut tells you it's done, it probably is.

• Flip Your Canvas: Use a mirror for traditional art or the horizontal flip tool for digital art to spot compositional errors.

• Keep a Sketchbook: Draw consistently to build muscle memory and document your artistic journey. 

Check below for tutorials!