I start a painting when I have the urge to paint. I rarely have a plan or specific vision - just the desire to create something. Feeling this desire is the start of my process.
When I first started painting, I was obsessed with portraiture. I wanted to recreate my favourite movie characters as perfectly as I could. This became a very frustrating and unproductive process because I was never be happy with what I created. I was too focused on getting the perfect sketch, the perfect proportions, and the perfect colour matches. It wasn’t until I dumped this intention to create “perfection” that I truly started to enjoy painting.
Since this time, I’ve adopted a process that’s given me an entirely new and healthy relationship to art. This process gives me complete freedom to create and paint for the sake of creating and painting. It allows me to follow my creative instincts without getting caught up on the accuracy or exactness of my subject matter.
My process involves three features: 1) Inspiration, 2) Trust, and 3) Flexibility.
Inspiration can come from anywhere. For me, it mainly comes from seeing the work of other artists. But it also comes from observing and learning about the world. When I see something that inspires me, I develop a very strong urge to paint.
Trust is the next component. I’ve learned to trust my instincts and person style. I trust that my desire to create will lead me to where I want to go with my artwork.
This notion of trusting myself is especially important during times of uncertainly. When I have no idea where a painting is going, I act 100% on instinct. I roll with whatever it is I’m doing until something starts to take shape. When I’m happy with a vision or direction that’s starting to take form, I trust that I’ll continue to make the choices that will get my painting where it needs to go.
Flexibility is the last piece of the puzzle. For me, being flexible means being comfortable with an ever-changing vision. I’ll often change the entire direction of a painting 2-3 times before it’s in the final form.
With all these features at play, my paintings usually go through an evolution. In many cases, you can see that evolution on the canvas. My work is highly textured from all the layers that show my previous attempts. If you look closely, you can even follow the transformation a piece has taken!
For me, the best part about being an artist is that there are no rules. There’s no objective measure of success, quality, or excellence to artwork. There’s just the measure of whether or not you honored your genuine artistic desire to create something.