126 http://www.InternationalArtist.com
"In the process of becoming a
professional painter, I have spent
countless hours and tens of
thousands of dollars gathering
and organizing knowledge to
help me personally grow as
an artist. I have searched out
key discoveries from a wide
variety of sources including
apprenticeships with several
world-class contemporary
artists, a personal library of
over 100 contemporary and
out-of-print historical textbooks
on painting, and my own
personal discoveries in color
harmony. I have found that
if you want to learn to paint
well, there are at least 700 key
discoveries you need to know
about and become proficient
in. I have now structured these
key discoveries into the Virtual
Art Academy® programs of
self-study courses to provide a
quality alternative to expensive
art schools and professional
artist workshops for those
who want to make a serious
study of painting. Hopefully
by sharing this knowledge
more widely we can bring
more beauty into this world."Master the principles of
painting that took Barry John
Raybould from raw beginner
to prize-winning professional
in only five years. Barry's
work is proof that mastering
these key discoveries really
works, it worked for him and
it can work for you too.DISCOVERING ART
S
pace division in a painting is more
interesting when you create two shapes
that interlock, as in a puzzle or jigsaw puzzle.
Here you can see the negative sky shape
formed by the top frame of the painting and
the silhouette of the buildings. The sky inserts
itself into the shape of the group of houses and
at the same time the roof lines of the houses
cut into the blue shape of the sky.
When designing your painting, you must
not just think about drawing the objects in the
scene and making them look real. You have to
visualize the scene almost as if it were a quilt of
abstract shapes. Design those shapes to make
them interesting. I call this concept abstractrealism. Thinking this way elevates your
painting from an illustration to art.To learn more:
» Go to the International Artist website http://www.internationalartist.com and click on Virtual Art Academy®.
» You will learn much more about this concept of abstract realism in our comprehensive four-year
Virtual Art Academy® Apprentice Program.The Making of an Artist
Part 84 Key Discovery: Interlocking Shapes
Telluride History, oil on board, 20 x 24" (51x 61 cm)
First Prize and Artists’ Choice Award at Telluride Plein Air Festival