1. Why do you do what you do?

This might not be the answer you’re looking for, but I create art because I know it’s a gift from God. The amount of teaching I’ve had some would consider slim, while most of my extreme attention to detail comes from times I painted by myself in the quiet of my room, without any human instruction, but with something divine. That’s where I find peace and purpose.

2. Who do you do your work for?

Ultimately, I do it for the Lord, but I also love doing the work for others. Whether they pay for the art or I have the pleasure of donating my time and work, seeing the people around me blessed by something I’ve made is an unmistakable joy and satisfaction.

3. Why have you selected the particular materials you work with?

The main materials I work with are pencil, pastel, and oil paints. They are traditional and each one I learned how to control their different nuances. Between the milky paints, the soft powder of the pastel, and the hardness of the graphite pencil, I’ve learned to control them. They all have a different method, and give a different feel and mood to the art. Recently, I’ve been practicing with digital art. While it’s strange to feel so distant from the work, digital painting gives a control while fighting the uncontrollable application. I look forward to knowing that medium more. It has a whole new feel to itself from the other mediums.

4. How would you hope that people would respond to your work?

Usually, if they smile and have a sense of peace from my traditional work, and laugh or connect with my illustrations, then I know I’ve done well. The worst response, however, is no response; something I’ve occasionally encountered when someone didn’t connect with my work. But honestly, I don’t expect everyone to.

5. What does it feel like when you’re working?  What is the process like?

The feelings can differ greatly. Sometimes I’ve taken on projects that have been more frustrating than pleasing. I guess when I create art that doesn’t feel forced or unnatural, that is where I get this feeling of being somewhere distant and quiet in an unreachable place. Somewhere no one else can be, but I can only reach while working on my art.

Because I work with a variety of mediums (the main being pencil, pastel, oil paints, and currently some digital, while the sub-mediums are ink and colored pencil), the start to finish process for each medium will range widely for me. Pencil and pastel are mediums I work closely with and am never afraid to get my hands dirty. I use my fingers, my God-given blending tools for there is nothing more like them, to smooth and gradate between colors and graphite. Oil paints I tend to keep my hands away from for the sake of some of the heavy medals located in some, but the smell whisks me away to another place. With the paints, I go back and forth between wet brush and dry brush. This allows me to blend without over diluting the paint.

6. How important is the final product? Are you ever completely satisfied with it?

The final product is very important, unless you’re experimenting for the sake of fun, leaving a less seriousness about the work’s completion. But mostly for me, it depends on the subject matter. Some I’ll be satisfied and know that I am finished right away, while other paintings have had elements that had never seemed right. And if an element of the painting is off, I do whatever it takes to make it “right.” It’s not about overworking the painting, it’s about giving peace to the eyes of the viewers. If something looks “off,” there is no question about it. I fix it.

I think I’m satisfied with paintings in the moment, but as I advance and move forward there are times I go back to my older paintings. I see details (or lack of) that I hadn’t noticed before but bothers me now. That’s where I learn from the past and move forward. I don’t fix previously finished work for the sake of making them “perfect.”

7. What would you say are the personal benefits of being an artist? What do you gain from your work?

In terms of the “personal benefits” of being an artist, there is never a lack of creativity in my life. Whether it’s how I want to present a dinner or baked desert, a wrapped gift, or the stationary design line I’m developing, ways to be creative are all around and I can see when there’s a moment for it.

What I gain from my work is an experience. A layering puzzle piece that teaches me what to think and how to really look, giving me a feeling like a beautiful waltz through an adventure around the world. From all the different colors to layers of details, shapes, composition, a new subject is like a challenge and an experience. That is where the art comes from, not necessarily from the completed product.

8. Are there disadvantages [to being an artist]?

No matter where I am, I constantly think about creating. What are my next projects? How do I want to present my completed work? What do I need to do to complete the current work? Those type of thoughts are always with me, even when I’m away from the art and the work.

I feel a slight pressure to be creative. In this day, there’s so many different ways for individuals to show how they’re creative that you wouldn’t want to be deemed as “boring” or “average”  by not grasping these new avenues of technology and internet.

Lastly, would be that there is such a saturation of artists out there, that in order to be noticed, make a difference, or to put cheerios on the table, you need to be unique, vibrant, and noticeable. There’s such a need to have work that stands out, or else just drown in the sea of aspiring artists that never aspire to anything but a mere hobbyist. That is a direction I feel like I’m constantly trying to run away from, but it can definitely be exhausting and only few will have the strength to last.