featuring Matt Smith

In every painting Matt does, he runs any gathered information through the foundational principles of art first: drawing, value, design, color. In Matt’s experience, the need to focus on and understand these principles never ends. If anything, the learning goes deeper and deeper as you develop as an artist.

When you are looking for big simple shapes, strong value contrasts, and elements that create a strong design, you need to amplify your understanding of the foundational “basics” to pull it off. You are never beyond the basics. In fact, you should always break your subject down to the foundational principles and build up from there. We often get in trouble when we disregard these “basic” principles. If you don’t build the foundation, no amount of fancy color, texture, or brushwork will fix the problem. This is why Matt breaks it down to these principles every time he paints: drawing, value, design, color.

Every large factor of a painting can be tucked away into one of the four foundational principles. To Matt, the order of the principles is essential. Sometimes, one painting might be more about drawing or color, while one needs to be about the arrangement of elements. But again, they are all intertwined and are equally important and supportive of one another. It is vital to understand them and apply them to what you are observing. Make a note of the order of principles and put it near your easel (we also have free downloadable below you can print, cut, and tape): drawing, value, design, color.  Color comes in last because it is one of the fundamentals you can eliminate and still have a great painting (such as black and white paintings). Color is the most emotional of the basics and can be powerful. Like color, you have to analyze each principle on an individual basis.

Matt Smith is here and ready to teach you today! To learn from Matt Smith, discover his video download series, FREE webinar, or his mentoring course that has open enrollment three times a year. Find out more by clicking below:

To listen more on Foundational Principles, join Gabor and Matt on the Paint and Clay podcast here.