How to Balance Vision and Skill

Our artistic engagement comes through vision. Unique to each of us, we resonant with our vision. We use art to give it expression. For that we need skills. We need to communicate the vision. A few artists have gone down in history as seeming to have very little interference between vision and skill. But for most of us it is a balance. Spend too much time on developing skills, the vision can dry up. To hungry to give expression to vision without the necessary skills, and we lack the ability to give it form. In this video I show a range of images and their engagement with vision and skill.
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[@noemicortes2153]

I haven’t had the “ courage “ to take the step to follow your advices, but I have to say that every time I see your videos I get more inspired from you.!

[@jonathano.7109]

Loved your comment about post-skill. I've always been quite shy telling people I paint as a hobby. Now I can proudly tell them I'm a post-skill artist!

[@sylvainst-pierre8725]

Uummm...these really cool and inspiring. I am looking at paintings differently now. Tks for puting these videos together sir.

[@martimajor4766]

I love how you are teaching me the deep thinking needed to be an artist. So unique.

[@williamgorden6390]

Thank you, Ian. As it often happens, this lesson was exactly what I needed to see today. I've been painting for years but have just lately progressed past a very stale period where my skill (or want of it) did not match my vision. In other words, I knew what I wanted but in the end fell short. My recent progression is not an increase of skill but a shift of focus. By thinking only of the "big picture" and disregarding my skill level I'm getting much closer to my desired results. I enjoy your videos -- they've helped me a lot!

[@TOPFIVEFIT]

Just today I received my copy of Creative Authenticity, and I can't wait to get into it. I've searched for true self-expression through many avenues - martial arts, music, writing, and now oil painting - and I'm hoping this will be the connection to self I've been looking for. Thank you for all your hard work.

[@josephineherrera8508]

Ian, you are an amazing teacher. Take it from me, I taught geology for 30 odd years. I have always done some form of art, but I picked up art seriously about five years ago. Your instruction has enhanced my appreciation and skill of my media (watercolors and pastels) immensely. Thank you.

[@raj61091]

you are truly a great teacher

[@nz1268]

Ian, Just a note to share and thank you for your videos and insight. This early afternoon I found myself looking out my front window to a simple view across the street. I caught myself noticing how the shadows lay across an alley, and looking for lines of direction to see where my focal point could be. I also noticed the colors of the shadows, and lights and darks, how they actually had a lot of purples and blues in them. So, thank you so much for your excellent videos and for sharing your knowledge.

[@sarahhill1492]

Ian thank you for these succinct and thoughtful videos. Its not common to find KZbin lessons so carefully conceived. Ive just ordered your book.

[@mariarowden3751]

Love your videos. Always something to think about or learn. Thank you

[@annrainboth3481]

I love this video. I learned a lot. I tend to overvalue skill. But, actually, vision is so important.... I tend to think that when I'm skilled enough I'll bring in the vision but the vision can happen now and should happen now so it can also be developed.

[@DB0702]

Hi Ian, just a thought, they painted in so much minute details, may be because lack of photography? In that sense I admire them, enormously, how much we can learn about that time/life from these incredible details! Thank you for your videos. I just started painting in watercolor during pandemic, self learning. And your videos are very educational.

[@davidalpizar410]

Best art teacher and painter 100 % everyday all day

[@robinedmundson5854]

Thanks so much for this! I've been thinking a lot about authenticity/voice/style and am seeing a big shift in approach. For so long the goal was to paint the thing like so-and-so paints it, but now I feel like I want to paint that thing the way *I* paint it. So my task is to figure out how I paint things.

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Hi Robin, you bring up such a great point. In different stages of becoming a painter, or any kind of artist, there's the basic skill stage, and as you say, looking to others as the holy grail. And then you get to what you are feeling now, if that is not the goal anymore, hmmm..... well then where do I look. It's exciting. Not as straight forward as learning the basic rules of perspective say, but exciting. Good luck and best wishes.

[@janemorrow6672]

Yes! I love this comment!

[@aletha16]

Painting like so-in-so is natural and admirable. It's taking so-in-so as a teacher. My first teacher was Edgar Degas. I copied Degas. I looked at everything by him that I could find in books. And yet you notice what you notice. The "Degas" in my head is not exactly the same as the man himself. And my pantheon of heroes expanded considerably in all sorts of directions. The artists you admire teach you important things about how to see. At some point, though, you realize that you know how to do certain things (those skills acquired) and "you're all dressed up and want somewhere to go," so you begin taking yourself seriously. And then everything changes. So you feel a readiness for the next phase. Bon courage!

[@2gooddrifters]

I love your videos. They've helped me so much both with my skills and to realise the way I paint is ok and I don't have to try and paint in a way that I don't want to.

[@filipemecenas]

Cool , last weekend i have try watercolor Sun light , It got to Muddy , this separation of colors could have saved from muddyness

[@joaneklein4280]

Terrific!

[@sandralewis9125]

Great again Ian 😊

[@janeiwan3809]

Another very helpful video. Thanks, Ian.

[@gmpoe]

Ian, your contributions have been true eye openers for me. I find your method of pointing out exactly what you mean with the „little red boxes“ extremely helpful, especially when it comes to composition. Thank you so much for making all your instruction units freely available to a grateful community. I look forward to putting all this wisdom into practice :-)

[@artclass3008]

Great sir..thank you...

[@raniaselim1761]

Thank you 🌹

[@amel2784]

Don't you think that it's the existence of the camera and it's influence that has made the difference for the modern-day viewer, as to whether they want to see a lot of detail or prefer abstracted shapes, as well as the hurried pace of life?

[@d00dl3SEd]

Thank you Ian. I love all of your videos. Been watching a few every week and have really seen an improvement of my work. :)

[@Paula-wo6qm]

Thank you so much fot all youb teacht me !

[@AriaMaryam]

Thanks for this video

[@issiedorenbush875]

I’m a senior that starter watercolour painting a couple of years ago. I find you presentations very inspiring. Thank you from Toronto.

[@fatoomgierdien2181]

Another great lesson. Thank You.

[@jrlakin370]

Fantastic video

[@vyvyienewalser6798]

You are just incredible.So useful.Thank you so much for always sharing and teaching.It is very much appreciated by all.

[@giovannisiano574]

A great topic indeed. Wonderful that you brought it up! An eternal dilemma...pushing toward the skill or the vision or both...?!

[@KathyBrooksArt]

Wow, this was just fascinating. Vision + skill. Never really thought of that, very interesting presentation. Thanks for laying all that out, it will be something I will draw upon, when I paint now. Thanks!

[@Thesureleague]

Thank you so much

[@philomenacesta563]

Thank you do much

[@billrogers5219]

I loved your choice of examples; really great. I've noticed that when I copy paintings by Cezanne, Picasso or van Gogh, that they are a lot more fun to look at than my own paintings. It's obvious, but the skill in putting down paint and reproducing what I see is the same whether I'm copying something great or doing my own landscape or still life. To me that means that I've pushed the skill to a good enough level that what's limiting is the vision. Not that my technical level is anything beyond barely adequate, just that it's clear that what I need to pay more attention to is the vision and the basics of composition and shapes. Your video made that really clear. Thank you.

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Hi Bill, well you summarized that well. I think we've all seen paintings that are fairly crudely painted (as in the skill level) but just grab us visually. As you say, vision. And I find we don't have a lot of control over vision. Build sound structures, keep working (I'm talking to myself here not you) and when that thing (vision) happens you are in the right place at the right time with your chops up. Glad you enjoyed the video.Best, Ian.

[@juliapace2845]

enjoyed

[@michaelteel7957]

I've really enjoyed these short videos. I purchased your book on composition probably 10 years ago and love it.

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Thanks for letting me know you are enjoying the videos. I appreciate it. All the best.

[@cecileegeorgeson_artist]

Yes I think I am getting this

[@gaylemartin6498]

Thank you, Ian, for another very informative video. Be safe out there!

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Always nice to hear from you Gayle. All the best. Glad you liked the video.

[@mbegonasastre6938]

Thank you

[@karenspurrell3485]

HI Ian, another great video, I'm working on those big shapes in my art and I can now see what you have been talking about. Its helping to move my art along and I don't feel so stuck. Your book as well is very helpful ! Thank you for all the great lessons.

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Hi Karen, I'm glad you are finding them helpful. Thanks for letting me know. Best, Ian

[@pastels46]

Looking forward to next week. Thank you again for your wonderfully clear presentation

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Thanks Esther. I appreciate your letting me know you are enjoying the videos. Best wishes.

[@mannymanny159]

Hello Ian, I'm really enjoying your classes. I wonder if you can go talk about toning the background of a canvas before painting. Reasons for doing it, or not doing it, and the benefits to each. Also, how if one should decide to use a toned background, how to choose the best colour for the composition. Thanks

[@dihan7574]

Thank you your videos are very helpful

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Hi Di, glad you are enjoying them.

[@queerissimo]

Hi Ian. What's that fairfield porter painting you showed called? love it!

[@orlane219]

Thank you for this new video. Your examples speak so well and show clearly that the skill is one thing, very important but the vision, the unique vision of the artist is that what makes the chef-d'oeuvre. We need the skills but we have to search in ourselves, to try hard to find the unicité of our vision. Easier to say than to do. Thanks to you to give us the inspiration and the will to try to do it.

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Hi Hannah, I think really a lot depends where you are along the path. You can say skill vs vision, but ultimately we need, and you put it well when you say search in ourselves, to know when you need to improve skills, and wait a bit on the vision part, and when we are clearly ready and need to get on with it. Anyway, glad you found the video gave you something to think about . Best wishes.

[@orlane219]

Thank you Ian for your answer. Stay well.

[@bearbait7405]

Thank you.

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

And again you're welcome!

[@KaiL806]

Search Results Web results Thanks, Ian. Richard Diebenkorn is my favourite artist too, so that's why I am learning painting and printmaking.

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

I find Diebenkorn interesting. To me he had 4 major themes, the figurative, Ocean Park, Berkley and the NM series. Each distinct. Each so self-contained.

[@aletha16]

Regarding Matisse and fauvisme, he did a kind of rough manner painting early in his career that I think is so fruitful and very open to exploration. By the 20s he had abandoned it in favor of high key linear images. But I have often thought of Matisse's early work as sort of like an abandoned scientific experiment -- as a direction that one might take. Depending upon the traveler, you'll discover different things if you take that road that Matisse quit. I want to travel it myself, and it's often in the back of my mind. It has to do with a darker palette than I'm using at present, also a linear relationship to things. Many great artists have more ideas than they know what to do with and offer paths that enterprising future others might take. For that matter what would it be like, if someone having a suitable temperament, decided to take Durer seriously in contemporary painting and reinvestigated his ways of looking at the world? There are so many visual ideas and possibilities. Critics touting "post-skill" are just doing rubbish thinking. That label demonstrates a great lack of imagination. However, one doesn't need infinite skill either. The 19th c examples you show here demonstrate the perils of skill for its own sake, skills without imagination. An artist can be always building skill at any point in his career, and skill building even for professionals keeps the child inside busy. But as a practical matter, using the skill you have to do what you can do now is what paints the picture. That, and figuring out what skills one needs to fill in the blanks for elements that are a little beyond one's reach. Hope I'm not commenting too much or too long. I'm not a student. Been painting a long time. But your video talks are so marvelous and very thought provoking. Makes one want to comment!

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Lots of interesting ideas here Aletha. I agree with you about "post-skill" and early Matisse before Fauvism was fantastic. I love it. All the best.

[@elaineb2453]

Hi Ian, I really find this helpful and would like to see more - taking a photo and thumbnailing it prepainting. I try and guess how you will change it as the video plays. I rarely get it right! Thanks for sharing.

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Hi Elaine, thanks so much for your feedback. I did another photo to drawing this week. Out Tuesday. All the best, Ian.

[@buff2dacore]

Ian, I'm sure your tutorials are presented in a sequence...for a reason. Do you have a list of the presentations in chronicle order ? I would love to know that. THANKS, Al

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

HI Al, I think you can do a search by date. Maybe top right of KZbin so all the videos are presented by date. Or by playlist. But I never really conceived of them as sequential. Best wishes.

[@stevesidare2493]

I think skill should enable the vision to be expressed. The higher the skill, easier the desired expression.

[@robbedontuesday]

Let us differenciate "skills" from "virtuosism", like any musician who resigns virtuosism to make their skills determine the exact point to achieve balance.

[@paintlady2268]

If the only way I could express myself through the medium of paint was with the great skill exhibited in those Great Paintings of the World, I would have never picked up a brush! Skill, yes. Vision and engagement of feeling, a resounding no. Many photographs depict more life and trigger an emotional response than these paintings. With the exception of the artist's sink. There was obviously some interpretation of how that scene felt to the artist, especially in the colors used to render the sink itself. But that's simply my opinion.

[@IanRobertsMasteringComposition]

Back in the 19th century, up until about 1880 maybe, no one considered painting very seriously unless they intended to learn that degree of skill. It was sort of the membership card you needed just to get into the club. Obviously that is gone now. And we can find simpler ways to express ourselves artistically. What I found interesting is how this exhibit pulled together so many dull paintings and called them the "world's greatest". There were paintings, say by Gerome that were pretty astonishingly good done in the same period but they weren't included in the exhibit. Best wishes.

[@Aceofcups111]

What’s your thought on hyper realism ? It’s quite popular these days.

[@lindastevenson6642]

they safe

[@staciecampbell5078]

Why such disdain for high skill? Sometimes the vision of an artist is crisp and clear and can only be realized with attention to realistic detail. The idea that “real art” must need interpretation is ridiculous. Art is what the artist puts on the canvas and sometimes the intent is not up to the viewer.

[@georgeedward1226]

I think without the vision, the skill is irrelevant. Sort of like a skilled musician who can zip up and down the scales on a guitar effortlessly but can't compose a simple three chord tune people can hum along to.