When I’m stuck on a face, I often set aside my brushes and fingerpaint. This keeps me unattached to my character rather than getting into my head and “thinking” the eyes and features should look a certain way or be a certain shape. Yet even after lots of layers, the eyes can still look too perfect and painted on. That’s when I make a mess.... Continue reading

When I’m at a creative block, there’s no way I can be loose in my art. A few days ago I was painting and I started to feel like I’d never get my painting right. I just couldn’t loosen up and let go. Everything looked too rigid and tight. Everything felt like a struggle. That’s when I take a step away and start to play.... Continue reading

Whenever I’m struggling to be loose in my art, I have to take a step away. I often look back at my past paintings and discover little things I love: a stripe of fluorescent pink oil paintstick beside a fingerprint of pyrrole red, a splash of pink ink in the corner, or a rainbow of water soluble oil pastels. Then I repeat those elements in... Continue reading

I’ve always loved art and have been creative. But I stopped painting and creating for years after college. I didn’t want to do anything creative if I couldn’t do it for a living. It was just too painful. So I hopped from job to job to job until I was fired from my favorite job as a landscaper in 2008. I started painting again to... Continue reading

Whenever I reach a creative block I need to take a step away, but that’s so often easier said than done. If I try and push to finish a painting or any creative project, I get so wrapped up in where I think it should go, so focused on the future and intense about the doing, that the painting just ends up in a big,... Continue reading

Do you struggle to be loose in your art? I do (all the time). I take photos of my process to remind myself there’s always an ugly stage. But recently I’ve also liked taking photos at stages of a painting where I’m happy with it, but still feel it’s not finished. That reminds me that it’s okay to let go and paint over something I... Continue reading

A few years ago I wrote a 300 page manuscript about enchanted fairytales. I wasn’t painting at the time. In fact, I hadn’t painted in years. All of my artwork from college had ended up in the basement. I didn’t see any point in painting anymore if I couldn’t do it full-time. I locked away that part of myself. Yet my creativity bubbled inside. So... Continue reading

I used to be afraid to cover up my art. I didn’t want to ruin a painting. I feared I wouldn’t be able to create anything better. Having photos of my art in progress helps me understand what works and what doesn’t, where I’ve gone too far and how I got to a finished painting I love. It reminds me there’s always an ugly stage.... Continue reading

Do you ever find it hard to paint eyes and faces? I do (all the time). One of the hardest things for me to learn as an artist was that I always get stuck. I got so frustrated with getting stuck, I began photographing my paintings at early stages in progress. That’s when it finally clicked. I realized every painting has an ugly stage. Every... Continue reading