Skill Pillars - what you need to get good at art

Summary

In this video, the creator outlines a 10,000-hour journey to enhance foundational art skills, or 'skill pillars,' essential for all artists. These include composition, value, color, form and perspective, and technical ability with tools. The focus is on mastering broad, versatile skills for efficient learning, drawing parallels to the Pareto Principle for maximum impact. The creator also emphasizes the interrelation of these skills and the importance of understanding them for artistic development.

Takeaways

• 🎨 **Skill Pillars**: The video discusses the concept of 'skill pillars', which are fundamental skills necessary for drawing and painting.
• 📚 **Simplification**: The creator advocates for simplifying the learning process by focusing on a few key areas to study.
• 🔗 **Grouping**: It's suggested to group related skills together to make learning more efficient and interconnected.
• 🚀 **Efficiency**: The approach emphasizes finding skills that offer the best return on investment in terms of effort and time.
• 🏋️‍♂️ **Broad Skills**: The video stresses the importance of mastering broad skills that apply to all artists, regardless of their specific field.
• 🌟 **Composition**: The first skill pillar is composition, which includes techniques like the rule of thirds and using light and shadow to guide the eye.
• 🌑 **Value**: Value is the second pillar and is crucial for creating realistic and solid forms in art, as it's how we perceive the world visually.
• 🌈 **Colour**: Colour is the third pillar and involves understanding not just colours themselves but also colour harmonies and their psychological effects.
• 📏 **Form & Perspective**: The fourth pillar focuses on creating believable 3D forms and understanding anatomy, which is essential for depth and realism.
• 🛠️ **Technical Ability with Tools**: The final pillar is about mastering the tools of the trade, whether it's traditional media or digital tools.
• 📈 **Pareto Principle**: The video references the Pareto Principle (80/20 rule) to suggest focusing on the core 20% of skills that lead to 80% of proficiency.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the video?

The main focus of the video is to discuss the fundamental skills, or 'skill pillars', required for drawing and painting, with the aim of enhancing these skills over a 10,000-hour time frame.

What are the three concepts the speaker wants the audience to consider before watching the video?

The three concepts are Simplification, Grouping, and Efficiency. Simplification refers to studying as few things as possible, Grouping is about combining these few things into related items, and Efficiency is about finding the best return for the least effort.

Why does the speaker emphasize the importance of understanding value in art?

Understanding value is crucial because it's how we perceive the world and how our brain interprets visual information. It allows artists to create realistic and solid representations in space.

What is the significance of the Pareto Principle in the context of this video?

The Pareto Principle, or 80/20 rule, is mentioned to emphasize focusing on the core 20% of skills that will lead to 80% of the desired outcomes in drawing and painting, aiming for efficient learning.

What are the five skill pillars identified in the video?

The five skill pillars are Composition, Value, Colour, Form & Perspective, and Technical Ability with Tools.

How does the speaker suggest approaching the skill of Colour?

The speaker suggests mastering values first before delving into colour, as understanding value is fundamental to appreciating colour. Colour includes colour harmonies, light, and cultural awareness.

What resources does the speaker recommend for studying Composition?

The speaker recommends 'Framed Ink' by Marcos Mateu-Mestre and landscape books by Mitchell Albala for studying Composition.

How does the speaker relate the skill of Form & Perspective to other skill pillars?

The speaker relates Form & Perspective to other skill pillars by stating that it overlaps with value and is always being worked on regardless of which pillar is being drilled.

What does the speaker suggest for mastering Technical Ability with Tools?

The speaker suggests freely experimenting and finding good combinations of paper and mark-making tools, as well as mastering the use of different art software.

Why is it important to establish a baseline in the speaker's 10,000-hour learning experiment?

Establishing a baseline is important to measure progress and validate the effectiveness of the learning method over the 10,000-hour period.

What does the speaker mean by 'drilling' in the context of learning these skill pillars?

‘Drilling’ refers to the focused and deliberate practice of each skill pillar to internalize and master the concepts discussed in the video.