How to Improve as an Artist: 15 Tips That Changed My Paintings Forever

If you're looking for ways to improve your art, develop your own art style or become a better painter, these are the lessons that helped me the most. I'm completely self-taught, and I don't believe there's one perfect path to becoming an artist. These are simply the experiences that shaped my work over the years. Some came from realistic drawing, others from abstract painting, digital art, experimenting with mixed media, and honestly... making a lot of mistakes. Maybe one or two of these ideas will help you too.

1. Learn to truly observe

One of the biggest things that improved my art was drawing realistically. Not because I wanted to become a realism artist forever, but because realism teaches you how to see. For years I painted portraits, especially eyes. At first you simply paint an eye. Later you begin noticing tiny reflections, subtle color shifts inside the iris, the soft blue-grey limbal ring around it, warm shadows next to cool ones, and countless little details most people never consciously notice. Once your eyes learn to observe like that, you can apply those skills to absolutely anything. In my opinion, realistic drawing isn't about realism itself—it's about training your brain to see.

2. Paint abstract art

Abstract painting influenced my work far more than I realized at the time. When you stop worrying about painting objects correctly, you naturally start thinking about composition, balance, rhythm, texture and color harmony. I spent years experimenting without trying to make anything realistic, and looking back, those paintings became the foundation for every Candy Decay background I create today. I also discovered which colors I naturally gravitate toward. I never consciously decided that neon pink would become part of my artistic identity—it simply kept appearing until I realized it felt like home.

3. Focus on values more than colors

People often compliment my color choices and ask if I studied color theory. The truth is that I only know the basics. Most of what I know comes from painting hundreds of artworks over many years. One realization changed everything for me: I stopped worrying so much about which color something should be and started paying much more attention to how light or dark it should be. A tree doesn't have to be green. It can be purple with pink and blue highlights and still feel believable if the values are correct. Once I understood that, choosing colors became much more intuitive instead of stressful.

I also think this is one reason my paintings still feel believable despite using unrealistic colors. I spend a lot of time painting reflections, scratches, glossy highlights and tiny textures. Our brains associate those kinds of details with realism, so even impossible colors suddenly feel convincing because the light behaves realistically.

4. Digital art taught me to think differently

For quite a while I mainly illustrated guitar effect pedals digitally. They aren't exactly the most exciting subjects, which forced me to constantly ask myself, "How can I make this more satisfying to look at?" Digital painting taught me how to simplify shapes, exaggerate highlights, create cleaner shadows and build stronger compositions. Even today, although I mostly paint traditionally, I still think like a digital artist while I'm working. Many of the glossy highlights, lettering and graphic elements in my paintings come directly from that experience.

5. Don't be afraid to mix materials

One thing that helped me enormously was letting go of the idea that every painting has to stay within one medium. If acrylic markers don't give me enough depth, I'll add alcohol markers. If I want soft, glowing flames, I'll often use oil paint because it blends beautifully. If resin creates the finish I'm imagining, then resin becomes part of the artwork. I don't choose materials because I feel loyal to them. I choose them because they help me achieve the effect I have in mind. Every medium has strengths, and I love combining them.

6. Invest in materials that make you excited to create

Good materials won't magically make you a better artist, but they remove unnecessary frustration. More importantly, I recommend trying lots of different materials while you're still learning. Experiment with anything that interests you. Acrylic markers, alcohol markers, oil paints, colored pencils, ink, resin—every medium teaches you something new. Of course, limitations can also spark creativity, but personally I learned much more from having the freedom to explore than from restricting myself too early.

7. Study artists you admire

I honestly believe that copying artworks for practice is one of the fastest ways to improve—as long as you're doing it to learn, not to sell or pretend the work is yours. Every time you recreate another artist's painting, you begin asking better questions. Why do these colors work together? Why does this composition feel balanced? How did they make that object look glossy? Every artist I admired taught me something different, and over time all those influences blended together until they slowly became my own visual language.

8. Paint things that make you feel something

At some point I stopped trying to paint things that were simply "nice." Instead, I started asking myself one question whenever I finished a painting: Do I actually feel something when I look at it? It doesn't matter whether the emotion is joy, nostalgia, sadness, discomfort or wonder. If a painting creates emotion, people remember it. Technical skill is important, but emotion is what makes art stay with someone.

9. Combine things that don't belong together

Most of my ideas begin by combining completely unrelated objects. A pigeon eating pizza. A goldfish trapped inside an ice cube. Bones next to strawberries. A fish sitting in an ice cream sundae. Those combinations immediately create curiosity because our brains try to understand why these things exist together. I think curiosity is one of the strongest creative tools an artist can use.

10. Slow down

Many of my paintings are only 15 × 15 centimeters, but I often spend thirty minutes painting a single square centimeter. Tiny scratches, reflections, textures and hidden details may not be consciously noticed by every viewer, but together they create realism. Taking my time has probably improved my paintings more than any expensive art supply ever could.

11. Take breaks

My paintings are full of little challenges, and I know from experience that staring at them for hours eventually makes me blind to mistakes. Walking away for a while gives me fresh eyes. Almost every time I come back, I immediately notice things I completely overlooked before. Sometimes the best thing you can do for a painting is simply leave it alone for an hour.

12. Commit to a format

One surprisingly helpful decision was committing to a consistent format. Almost all of my originals are painted on 15 × 15 cm wooden panels with black edges. That might sound limiting, but it actually gives me more creative freedom. I no longer spend mental energy deciding on canvas sizes, surfaces or edge colors. Those decisions are already made, so all of my attention can go into the painting itself.

13. Build a visual library

Every object you paint teaches you something. Every strawberry, skull, fish, shiny candy wrapper, bee or flower becomes part of your visual memory. Over time your brain builds an enormous internal library of textures, reflections, shapes and lighting situations. Eventually you don't have to invent everything from scratch anymore because you've already studied so much of the world around you.

14. Finish lots of paintings

I think finishing artwork is one of the fastest ways to improve. Every completed painting teaches you something a sketch never can. You discover what worked, what didn't, what you'd change next time and what techniques are worth repeating. Quantity really does lead to quality because every finished piece becomes a lesson for the next one.

15. Stay curious

Finally, never lose your curiosity. Most of my paintings begin with one simple question: What if? What if a chicken rode a banana across the ocean while fishing for strawberries? What if bones floated through the sky? What if decay could somehow feel comforting? Those strange questions eventually became Candy Decay. I think protecting that curiosity has been one of the most valuable things I've ever done as an artist.

Final thoughts

Looking back, none of these things transformed my art overnight. They slowly stacked on top of one another over many years until they eventually became what people now recognize as my style. I still experiment, I still fail, and I still learn something from almost every painting I make.

If there's one thing I hope you take away from this article, it's this:

Your art style isn't something you suddenly discover. It's something you build, one painting at a time.

If you'd like to see these lessons in action, read Finding My Art Style: Candy Decay, or go behind the scenes of my materials in My Candy Decay Art Process.