Art Tips

When I work with students who are more advanced in their learning (that is, they have a grasp over the fundamentals and can apply them consistently), the area of art that becomes available to develop is the concept of Lost & Found. This falls into the category of style, personal aesthetics and taste - which places it beyond the realm of art fundamentals.

The beauty of Lost & Found is that it’s scalable. For example, you may have a rendered character (found) at the forefront of your piece, with a background merely implied with broad color swatches (lost). A smaller example: ambient occlusion can merge - or lose - different objects together in a single dark value. For example, where hair in shadow meets clothing in shadow - the individual silhouettes of those things will likely be lost, awash in darkness.

You can zoom in even further than that. The other day I was working with a student who’s a big fan of Eliza Ivanova (I am too, btw!) We were analyzing some of her work through the lens of Lost & Found. There was one drawing where a graceful contour defined the head’s profile from the cranium to the brow. Then the line stopped, disappeared … and picked up again at the philtrum (underneath the nose.) What was left in the blank spot? Rhythm. The spirit of the line was there, but the line itself was invisible. It made for such a satisfying passage in that small area of the drawing. It’s art magic.

The driving question behind the Lost & Found decision is: What does the viewer need to know about any given area? Those are the things you need to be explicit about in your drawing. Remember that if you tell the viewer a lot about something, they can be relied upon to ‘solve’ other things.

What I’m Working On

I launched a community over at MarcoBucciArtStore.com! It’s something I’ve been meaning to do for a while. I also will be the first to admit that I’m not a great forum-poster. I never have been. That seems like a shot in the foot, when it comes to a community that I’m putting my name on and trying to build. However, what I can do reliably is live critiques and lessons! So, twice per month, the community students will gather virtually (through an unlisted livestream on my YouTube channel), and we’ll all learn together! We’ve done a few trial sessions, and it’s been a really great time!

The Art Industry

In my last newsletter I talked about being invited to speak at an art college. Well, that happened last week, and it went really well! In pre-production, we were anticipating a deluge of AI questions. But you know what? I didn’t get a single question about that. What students chose to mostly focus on was strategies to build their portfolios - which I was so relieved to hear, and help answer!

Also, there is a point where the viewer simply gets confused if you show too many skills. A portfolio is kind of like an album (do bands still make albums?) It should bring the viewer through your work through a focused lens, and they should be able to grasp who you are as an artist by the end. It’s not just a smattering of stuff you’ve done. It’s a story, a narrative, and a sales pitch, too. Remember that most of the time you won’t be physically there when someone is looking at your portfolio, so that story needs to be clear!

Worth Checking Out: PINBALL MACHINES

If you follow me on any social media, then you already know this about me: I love pinball. My love for pinball even predates my love for art. I’ve loved it since I was a kid, and I love it even more today. To me, pinball is the ultimate arts & crafts project. It combines illustration, sculpture, game design, lighting, wood and metalworking, electronics and computing, and then drives it all via the player’s own physical input. And all of it is happening for real, in front of you - a living, mechanical organism. Pinball had its epic heyday(s), and still thrives, today, albeit as a pretty niche hobby. So my recommendation is that you find some pinball machines at your local barcade, and give them a go. I almost guarantee you’ll enjoy it!

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P.S. Remember that Power of Reflected Light on Skin Colors reel/shorts I made before? I got a bunch of questions and answered them in this NEW VIDEO: