Human effort to imitate, supplement, alter, or counteract the work of nature.
Art, for the non-artist, is an artifact of one sort or another crafted by an artist, and the word is a noun.
Art, for the artist, is the process of taking an idea or perception and creating a 2d or 3d representation, or artifact, and the word is a verb.
A scheme; a plan: “began searching for an agency to handle a new restaurant concept”
Read ALL of the lectures from the old CA Academy in the following link, and anything else you may find useful there. A lot of this info overlaps with what has been written lower on this page:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=64&sort=title&order=asc&daysprune=-1
Also read this little collection of frequent mistakes for artists to know what to avoid early on:
There have been a fair-share of artists who have stumbled blindly onto their talents, but not everyone is gifted with such understanding. If you truly wish to begin the trials of becoming a successful artist, to yourself or others, you must put focus on your efforts. While the principles of art may seem basic at first, but they can become very technical when involving things such as; perspective, lighting, saturation and etc.
“One must not lose desires. They are mighty stimulants to creativeness, to love, and to long life.” - Alexander A. Bogomoletz
Diving into a canvas without the knowledge of artistic fundamentals often results in a train wreck. There is evidence of artists ignoring basic principles and becoming stuck with their self created faults till the end of their days. Can you get away without the basics? Sure. Will it look pretty? Slim chance.
Marks that vary in size, shape, texture, directions, and curvature which guides the eye into visualizing form. The line is the most basic element of art, but one of the most effective.
One of the most complicated elements of art. Color is separated into 4 principles; Hue, Intensity, Temperature , Value
Hue is the measure of the base primary color(red, blue, yellow(green on computers))
Intensity is the measure of the purity and strength(aka the saturation) of a color.
Temperature is the measure of the “cool” or “warm” feeling of a color.
Value is the measure of a color’s lightness or darkness. (view light for more information )
Shapes are composed of closed forms. ( I.E.: Squares, Ovals, Triangles )
Similar to shape, but most be expressed with weight or depth.
The absence or expression of space between, around, or within forms
The visual representation of patterns that have a surface quality. Textures may be applied to a canvas either by tactile or suggested means.
Know what it takes to get into the industry and stay on top of it. Helpful links:
If you are not creating tangible tests and demonstrations of your creativity, you have accomplished nothing. No baker imagines a cake and tells everyone that it’s delicious, no carpenter thinks up a chair and exclaims how sturdy it is. Likewise, a million failures make one a better artist than one who wastes his life planning one success.
It doesn’t matter how you do it or how good the product, so long as you get out there and draw the best you can!
Even the most experienced artists can be blind to their own faults, and this is naturally where a good critique comes in handy. Communities, schools and friends can be excellent sources of critique for your work, pointing out things often overlooked from the subjective standpoint of a creator. Getting objective opinions of your work is also a MUST if you are ever looking to show or sell your work to the public.
* Color For a Detailed study of how color works, visit: http://science.howstuffworks.com/light.htm