How do you make art look "polished"?

We are always our own worst critic. What ever you do, don't destroy any of your work because you think it is not good enough. Try matting and framing your art to see if that is what it needs.

The trick is knowing when to stop adding to it or making changes . Make some copies of your work and show them to your friends and family, ask them what they think. Make changes or enhancements to the copies until you make find some that you like. Keep your original until you decide how much further you want to embellish it.

By doing it on the computer you can make thousands of variations of your artwork if you wish.

There are free paint programs you can get on the Internet. When you get one scan your art work or take a picture of it with a digital camera and put it on your computer. Try cnet.com for some free paint programs.

Be warned though, some of them are only good for a trial period. read the fine print. Best of luck.

Your art might look more polished if it was matted and/or framed. The way some people do it at shows is that they have 5-20 matted and framed pieces and then they have a rack with matted pieces that cost less - or minus the frame. It can be expensive to have this done, but you can purchase precut mats (if your pieces are traditional sizes) and there are frames you can purchase at craft stores (like Michaels). You can get frames that come in 2 (of 4) pieces. Then you buy the other two of the other dimension; sorry this sounds more complicated than it is. So you would buy one pack of 18 inch and one pack of 24 inch. I would get one piece professionally (kinda-) done. They will talk to you about how the mat should appear, the various colors (that's another story) and then they can help you choose a frame too. This whole process is and education in itself, but well worth it. Tell them you are a (poor) art student and a private place might give you a discount. Then, once you get the hang of it, you'll be able to get your stuff via the internet, YARD SALES (take out the old crappy art) and other places.

If you get really serious you can have your pieces reproduced. Say you have a wonderful perfect piece (eh, hum) and you know you will not be able to reproduce it again. I'm not sure where you get THIS done, but any art store will help you. A process (or picture) will be done of it and then it will be reproduced en mass for you. You would sell the original for ooddles more.

Good luck. I would like to know more about your drawings- maybe email an attachment?

I paint models myself, so I can help you here, what you want to do is to put ink into the drawing, and wait for it to dry, buff the ink with a cloth and then spray the drawing with a varnish spray, it will look much better than just standard block colours, and will be somethig that will stand the test of time, as the varnish and the ink will not allow the paint to discolour for a long time when in the sun!

Good. If you make something look polished, it ends up looking too commercial, like one of a thousand replicas. Things that look polished end up looking generic. The "unfinished" look to your work is waht makes it unique, its what give the piece a soul. Just keep it up, and in time it will become more and more your own, and eventually it will be "polished" in your own style, and still look original, not like something manufactured.

according to who? If you think it is finished, that is all that matters. There will always be critics......Have your own style, don't copy anyone else's work I'll bet some of the past painters and sketchers thought the same thing, but a lot of people thought otherwise, and bought their work. Keep doing your won work. You will be fine

If it's panted on a wooden wall of Bord pant over your art with wood polish and your picture should be polished.

Try clear nail polish,and it will work as a protection coat on your picture!Good Luck,hollywood

no hand drawn work is finished until it is signed. Been Drawing since I could hold a pen. A true artist is reluctant to sign--but she is not a finished work until you do......

Frame it under glass. Or you can use a burnishing technique on the page itself...

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