By the time I was eleven it was obvious that I was destined for a life of creative expression – and so it has been. I was fortunate to have creative parents and access to artist materials. I always earned As in art-classes and on academic school assignments that required a visual solution. For three years I taught myself to paint portraits in a coat closet that was just big enough to place a card-table inside. I stood or sat in the hall doing all kinds of experiments with different types of paint. I have painted murals, houses, canvases, skin, and square 32 pixel icons. In each case the purpose was essentially the same; create an image that will make positive and memorable impression on the viewer. That challenge presents itself every time one stares a blank surface and tries to visualize what the final painting might look like.

Time has no relevance when I am engaged in a painting. I become so focused in the act, that all other concerns melt away in the excitement of the creative process. Painting is soul-food. Like other pursuits it is also a personal journey to discover the unknown self. There are no rules, no one to say how it must be done. It might be considered a self-challenging exercise to capture the essence of a particular subject or setting. While engaged in the act of painting, the mind runs on with thoughts such as; Can I create this special effect? I wonder if I can capture the light at sunset as it blasts the clouds with intense color? Is this the best color? and endlessly on it goes. The painting process requires constant evaluation and re-evaluation to discriminate between what is more desirable over that which is not. In the end, the quality of a representational painting will be proportionate to the amount of energy put into it, even though there are some exceptions.

One can paint quick, loose, gestural, spontaneous, expressionistic, or impressionistic pieces, but they usually lack enough complexity or craft to generate lasting interest. Many modern abstract paintings look like they were quick and easy, but that is the artist’s magic, making an illusion that does not reveal the development of concept, tools, techniques and time required to produce the painting.

In an effort to sell art many artists develop a “style” that narrows the amount of fun they have. To me that is like doing the same painting over repeatedly. Jackson Pollack did lots of great drippy paintings, but his excitement and achievement peaked with the first one. The subject of each painting deserves its own solution relative to the point it is going to express. That is what is so wonderful about the variety of ways to portray the same thing, and why each serious painter produces a unique result compared with another. I feel drawn to discover the ideal ways to illustrate a subject that makes it individual. Some times I succeed more than others, but my objective remains to use methods, materials, colors and scale in ways that support my concept. The first step in painting is to decide what the point is. Painting is not just the exercise of making a pretty picture or imitating a photograph. It has everything to do with forming your own expression.

Why doesn’t one just sit down and paint? Some artists do, particularly when interested in process-painting, where one reacts to the first set of marks, then the second set, continuing on with the objective of improving the piece with each successive alteration of the surface until it becomes visually/mentally engaging. With this method the end result is not projected, but arrived at through trial, error and adjustment. I seem to play a mental game about each painting or image I create before picking up a brush or cutting the canvas. It is a conversation between my creative energy and my self-consciousness to find something special or unusual to bring to the subject I wish to paint. I have a tendency to imagine something that doesn’t exist that might be a combination of things related to the subject.

In this Circus Poster I tried to capture the essence of the circus in a simple and sensational fashion, based on my one and only visit to Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey’s presentation at Madison Square Garden, plus all the television and movie portrayals of the ilk I’ve seen over thirty years. Once I had the concept of making one animal of many, the hard work began. I had to decide what basic animal would be dominant, how many different animals would play a role, and then create a way to put them all together so it did not look like a cut and paste job. Once the under drawing was complete, painting was geared to bring drama and a carnival of color to it. I didn’t spend enough time to plan the background, which isn’t very plausible, but suggestive of the familiar. Painting is very much a product of mind. The way you think about the process will determine the kind of results you get.

With enough practice one can become a proficient painter. Working with watercolor, oils, or acrylics, requires different sensitivities and techniques. Each presents a unique challenge and explains why many professional painters specialize in one medium. Watercolor is a one-shot opportunity, where the colors are not usually reworked, and the most glorious results are achieved by putting the paint down deliberately and only once in a given area, like calligraphy.

I prefer acrylics because they are quick to work with and easier to ship than oils. Acrylics are very durable and malleable in the painting process. I have a tendency to paint safely, to insure a calculated result delivered on deadline, usually working from dark-to-light building up color, saturation and value. I try to use bolder, more expressive strokes for energy in the under-painting stages and tighten control when rendering specific finished elements. I like to work on large canvases [see sports poster examples] around 24x36 rather than smaller ones. Larger paintings seem more commanding and visually impressive and they can be easier to paint depending on one’s objective, but they take longer. I have invested two hundred hours in a single piece and some have taken a year to complete between other jobs.

Right now I am creating a series of cloud skyscapes on 8x10 panels, which are intended to drive simple designs that can be executed swiftly. Each time I finish one, I learn about the dos and don’ts and become better at producing pieces at this scale.  Looking closely at the texture in this closeup, it appears like another universe.

I cannot imagine going back to a time when we did not have computers and graphics software to make images, yet I prefer traditional methods of painting because results are immediate, direct and natural. Normal accidents are constantly happening when using a certain type of brush, with a certain amount of paint, with a certain amount of thinner, applied to particular surface, with a variety of motions. There are many other possibilities, like applying paint with different tools, or mixed media, which yield immediate results software cannot begin to imitate. There are many happy accidents in traditional painting that make it exciting to me.

I get a special sense of satisfaction when I finish a painting. Like writing a song, there was nothing there to begin with, and now there is a sensory experience to be shared. If other people enjoy my creations, that’s icing on the cake. Like a game of pool, painting is always a new experience and I love doing it.

If you want to learn to paint, I suggest making lots of paintings. You do not have to enroll in art school. It is okay to fail, or produce an unexpected result. Keep at it and after awhile you will build skills and more impressive paintings. I also suggest following your inner compass when painting for yourself. Your personal experiences, preferences in color and subject material will ad up to be your style of painting. Imitating other artists’ works can be a great learning experience if that is desired. Lots of people will offer their opinion about your painting, even if you didn’t ask for it, but the only opinion that really matters is yours.