Thursday, May 25, 2017

DPW Spotlight Interview: Oleksii Movchun

Each week we will spotlight a different DPW artist who will give away one of their best paintings.

To enter to win Oleksii's painting, "Vitamins" go to Daily Paintworks and click on the link at the top of the page announcing their interview.

From Oleksii's DPW Gallery:

I am Oleksii Movchun. I live and work in Ukraine. I have been into drawing since early childhood, when I could hardly remember myself. At the age of two, I produced my first significant and ambitious works - the walls of my room painted with a marker. Unfortunately, at that time critics didn't give me much credit for my creation. It was not until I tried myself in the sphere of architecture (I got my degree in architecture), was I able to find my true vocation - art. In recent years, I have been mainly engaged into painting, namely into writing portraits. Life, nature, a wealth of colors around us, the uniqueness of each person are the things I find particularly inspirational. I believe artist should portray subjects (people) as they perceive them. They must "fall in love" with what they see and make the audience "fall in love" with the created image.

Tell us a bit about how you first started painting.

At the age of two, I produced my first significant and ambitious works - the walls of my room painted with a marker. Unfortunately, at that time critics didn't give me much credit for my creation.

Did you have any stops and starts in your painting career?

There was once a period when I didn’t touch a paint brush at all. Having graduated from the university, I started working as an architect. Only after being at that job for five years did I realise that I should change something about it and follow my true calling – painting. Three years ago, that moment came – an office was replaced with a cosy studio, and I could fully immerse myself into painting. You can’t escape from yourself.

Vitamins

Enter to win by clicking on the link at the top of the DPW home page announcing Oleksii's interview.

What mediums and genres have you experimented with?

I like to work with both a paint brush and a palette knife. I have experimented with various genres, but I finally ended up painting portraits and still lifes - genres I derive most pleasure from.

Which ones have "stuck" and which ones have fallen away?

Being honest, I didn’t quite enjoy working in the sphere of abstract painting. In my opinion, an artist should be versatile, which means being conversant with many techniques. Having said that,  it is delving deeper into one sphere that will lead him or her to success and self-fulfillment.

Would You Like Some Tea?
(click to view)

Which ones are you looking forward to exploring?

An uncharted area for me at present is landscape. Painter’s cases are biding their time.

Who or what inspires you most?

Nature is what inspires me, in all its manifestations and beauty. No sunrise is the same, no two landscapes are alike.

Pomegranate
(click to view)

What does procrastination look like for you?

Procrastination for me has to do with the lack of a genuine interest and absorption in the process. Thus, there is always a temptation to put off something I don’t take pleasure in to a later time. Conversely, passion for painting prevents me from this, and I eagerly engage myself into the world of art.

What techniques work to ensure that you make time for your art?

I can’t say that I have some special techniques. Carving out time for my art – it all comes naturally, without extra efforts. Once I embark on a new painting, it’s hard for me to stop. Again, love of art is what drives me and combats any indolence.

Sliced Orange
(click to view)

How do you generally arrive at ideas for your paintings?

Staying mentally awake, conscious and observant, perceptive and open to anything – my formula to generate new ideas. Everything I come across in the daily life, every feeling and emotion, every thought that springs to my mind may be then expanded, developed, and translated into canvas.

How do you keep art "fresh?" What techniques have helped you avoid burnout and keep your work vibrant and engaging?

I believe that if you set yourself off on a quest for a relentless exploration and self-development, “freshness” in your art is inevitable. If you grow as a personality and a professional, you are always born anew, get inspired, and this pushes your works to a new level.

Silver Fish
(click to view)

What do you feel you are learning about right now as an artist?

I am now learning not just to copy the reality, but rather to convey my impressions and emotions.

What makes you happiest about your art?

It’s extremely rewarding and satisfying to see my own progress, set goals and pull them off. But I must say that the feeling of complacency is short-term and fleeting, as accomplishments shed light on new unexplored areas – and it happens again and again. :)

Thanks, Oleksii!

© 2017 Sophie Marine

Thursday, May 18, 2017

DPW Spotlight Interview: Jane Frederick

Each week we will spotlight a different DPW artist who will give away one of their best paintings.

To enter to win Jane's painting, "Coneflowers" go to Daily Paintworks and click on the link at the top of the page announcing their interview.

From Jane's DPW Gallery:

Art was originally a form of therapy for me. I began making art to escape the crazy life of a stressed out advertising sales rep. Painting allowed me to go to my "happy place" and lose track of my worries and responsibilities for a while. As I progressed in painting, I found it infinitely challenging. No matter the current skill level, there is always so much more to learn. Although I have no formal art training, I have taken numerous workshops from artists including: Qiang Huang, Nancy Tankersley, Stephanie Birdsall, John Cosby, Randall Sexton, Chuck Rawle, Charles GruppĂ©, Derek Penix, Denise Mahlke, Joshua Been, Ron Rencher, and a slew of others. I’m very much looking forward to a workshop with Carol Marine later this year.

Tell us a bit about how you first started painting.

I was always interested in art but didn’t get serious until a friend bought me an oil painting lesson (although at the time I was more interested in watercolors). By the time I took the class, I had enough money invested in supplies that I felt I had to continue, at least until I used up those supplies. It just mushroomed from there.

Did you have any stops and starts in your painting career?

Not really, once I joined DPW in late 2011, I have been painting pretty steadily.  DPW was really the turning point for me. As paintings started selling it encouraged me to paint even more. While I’d like to say I paint every day, I’m afraid that would be stretching the truth, but I do paint a lot.

Coneflowers
(click to view)

Enter to win by clicking on the link at the top of the DPW home page announcing Jane's interview.

What mediums and genres have you experimented with?

I’ve always wanted to be a realistic or impressionistic painter. I’ve tried watercolor, pastels (both oil and soft), acrylics, colored pencils, and oils.

Which ones have “stuck” and which ones have fallen away?

I really love to work in oils best, but I still like to keep my hand in soft pastels as well. I mostly use watercolors for my travel journal.

Enchanted Rocks
(click to view)

Which ones are you looking forward to exploring?

I’m not really thinking about expanding my media right now, I’m more focused on mastering oils and to a lesser extent pastels.

Who or what inspires you most?

Nature inspires me and I am always striving to interpret it on the canvas. As far as inspirational artists, I’ve been inspired by so many. The crop of current artists working is amazing. I’m a big fan of Qiang Huang, Joshua Been, Haidee Jo Summers, John Cosby, Stephanie Birdsall, Carol Marine and way too many others to mention... Vincent Van Gogh is also one of my heroes, he painted constantly through all his adversities.

Grackle Stare
(click to view)

What does procrastination look like for you?

When I find myself piddling around the studio doing unnecessary busy work, I know it’s time to buckle down and paint something.

What techniques work to ensure that you make time for your art?

When I figure it out I’ll let you know. Time is always my biggest battle. I’ve got so many varied interests and I seem to have a problem saying “No” so I’m always busy.

Butterfly
(click to view)

How do you generally arrive at ideas for your paintings?

I keep a camera in my lap when we travel (if I’m not doing the driving) so I’m shooting photos of anything that looks interesting. I go out on plein air paint outs with other artists and take lots of photos. I’m always trying to find interesting things to paint in everyday scenes no matter where I am.
How do you keep art fresh? What techniques have helped you avoid burnout and keep your work vibrant and engaging?

I try new subjects and attend as many workshops as I can. I follow a lot of artist blogs, and read as much as I can about techniques and new approaches. I never seem to get tired of painting, so I don’t think burnout is a problem for me. I feel that the pursuit of art is an endless one. I will never be as good as I want to be, it is always a challenge and I thrive on challenge.

Duck Dating
(click to view)

What do you feel you are learning about right now as an artist?

I feel that I’m still exploring everything, but if I can glean one new concept out of each workshop I take, I feel I’m succeeding. Right now I’m trying really hard now to work on lost and found edges and abstracting the background.  So many people say they can’t even draw a stick figure, it’s not true. Anyone can become an artist. Like anything else, to get good at art or anything else, you must practice, practice, practice.

What makes you happiest about your art?

I really love when I can see progress in my work. Especially on those rare occasions when I feel I really nailed a painting. It’s even better when someone else likes it and buys it.

Thanks, Jane!

© 2017 Sophie Marine

Thursday, May 11, 2017

DPW Spotlight Interview: Katia Kyte

Each week we will spotlight a different DPW artist who will give away one of their best paintings.

To enter to win Katia's painting, "Wooden Blocks" go to Daily Paintworks and click on the link at the top of the page announcing their interview.

From Katia's DPW Gallery:

I always wanted to be an artist. When I finally had an opportunity to paint full time, I found out that it wasn't easy. Painting can be joyful when it goes right and a great frustration when it doesn't. I learned that "for improving painting skills, it is far better to paint thirty one-hour paintings than one thirty-hour painting" (Craig Nelson).

I live in a small coastal town called Lincoln City in Oregon, USA with my daughter Sasha. Please contact me at kyteart@yahoo.com if you have any questions. If you would like to stay connected via Facebook, "like" my page called Katia Kyte Oil Painter. Thank you so much for your comments and support! (click to view gallery)

Tell us a bit about how you first started painting.

I grew up in Russia. As a middle schooler, I took art classes on composition, drawing, still life and art history. I remember when my friend and I first experimented with oils. It was at her house and we painted a landscape together. I still remember the scent of oils. We were both so proud of it and ended up repeating the same landscape on our own.

Did you have any stops and starts in your painting career?

I pursued different goals in my career. (Actually being an artist wasn't even an option.) After graduating high school, I went to a linguistic university and was seriously thinking about moving to Moscow to work as an interpreter for an embassy. It never happened. Instead, in 2008, I immigrated to the US - the land of unlimited possibilities - and started taking art classes as I always was interested in art.

Wooden Blocks
(click to view)

Enter to win by clicking on the link at the top of the DPW home page announcing Katia's interview.

What mediums and genres have you experimented with?

I tried acrylics, watercolor, and experimented with cold wax. For a while, I painted impressionistic landscapes with a palette knife.

Which ones have "stuck" and which ones have fallen away?

I've always loved oils. Its aroma, feel, colors - it all makes my heart sing. :) I'm staying faithful to this medium.

Rainbow Carrots
(click to view)

Which ones are you looking forward to exploring?

There is so much to learn about oils. I probably won't live long enough to explore that medium fully. However, I'm looking forward to drawing more, especially human figure. I find drawing with ink very relaxing.

Who or what inspires you most?

I would say artworks of Konstantin Korovin and Sergei Bongart. If I need to be reminded of where I am going, I go to my Pinterest album with their paintings.

Azalea
(click to view)

What does procrastination look like for you?

Instead of painting, I might get obsessed with renovating my studio. Or decide to get a certain fabric for a still life I had in mind. I might spend my whole "painting time" searching for that fabric.

What techniques work to ensure that you make time for your art?

Usually, having a deadline works for me. I set a goal, for instance to paint thirty paintings in thirty days and post every day on my blog. If I have a show coming up, that definitely forces me to find time to paint.

Cherry Tomato and Peppers
(click to view)

How do you generally arrive at ideas for your paintings?

Some days, I decide to paint something red or I choose to finally paint that vase that I have bought months ago, so I make an arrangement around it. Also, plein air painting seems to give me plenty of ideas.

How do you keep art "fresh?" What techniques have helped you avoid burnout and keep your work vibrant and engaging?

I have a timer in my studio. Usually, I set it for an hour if I paint a 6"x6" still life (it doesn't include preparation and setting a still life). When it beeps, I'm not allowed to touch the painting. I usually don't look at it for a day or so. It helps me to avoid the urge to fix something in it.

Daffodils on Purple
(click to view)

What do you feel you are learning about right now as an artist?

I'm learning to let go and just paint. Being as patient and supportive as I can towards myself and my art.

What makes you happiest about your art?

That I am free to paint whatever I want.

Thanks, Katia!

© 2017 Sophie Marine

Thursday, May 4, 2017

DPW Spotlight Interview: Andrew Daniel


Each week we will spotlight a different DPW artist who will give away one of their best paintings.


To enter to win Andrew's painting, "Chicken Head #8" go to Daily Paintworks and click on the link at the top of the page announcing their interview.

From Andrew's DPW Gallery:


We are often too busy and preoccupied to tune into nature. Also, we are so used to seeing our
environment that we grow numb to it's appearance. I am numb to it as well. It isn't until I have gone through the ritual of pulling out my painting equipment, prepping my surface, deciding on my compositional approach, quieting my mind and settling into the process of actively reproducing the object of my gaze, that I start to see it better. All I can offer the viewer is a record of what I saw during the process, along with my best attempt to use paint in a way that is dynamic and interesting according to my personal tastes." - Andrew Daniel

Andrew Daniel lives with his wife and daughter, in the small coastal Northern California town of Arcata. He has been painting as a professional artist since 1992. He received his Bachelor degree in Fine Art with a painting emphasis from Humboldt State University California. (click to view gallery)

Tell us a bit about how you first started painting.

Well... That question takes me back to my first years of community college in Maine. Initially, I had wanted to be a photographer, loved the darkroom process and walking around seeing things in a creative way. Then, I started looking at the printmaking department, thinking I wanted to have more creative control to work with symbols. Finally, painting made more sense because I didn't have the patience to run prints with any kind of accuracy, wanted a medium that was maximally creative and minimally rote process. The professors were probably a big factor too. I had a tendency to be too heady, over intellectualizing, weaving concepts in my mind that didn't really come across in the work. Painting helped to ground me.

Did you have any stops and starts in your painting career?

I often can't tell whether I'm stopping or starting. It does seem to be a momentum thing. Just keep moving, making adjustments in career and craft. I have a tendency to switch styles a lot, right when I am finding some success. I start thinking, "Is this the kind of work that I want to do for the rest of my career?" Then I'm off on another road. I think I'm finally figuring out my direction now. Landscapes... gonna double down on landscapes, see if I can just maintain that focus for three years. No divergent ideas. At least that is the point I am at in my decision making cycle.

Chicken Head #8
(click to view)

Enter to win by clicking on the link at the top of the DPW home page announcing Andrew's interview.

What mediums and genres have you experimented with?

Besides the aforementioned, I really felt a calling to figurative sculpture. That is super fun. It makes sense on a body level vs. an analytical level, shaping things out of your hands! I've done acrylics for a few years, watercolor... Lately, I am mainly an oily dude. Though Casein paints have been a fun distraction and I think I'll still use them for quick small sketches. They are really fun!

Which ones have "stuck" and which ones have fallen away?

Oil appeals to me because the paint stroke is so immediate, it feels tangible, substantial. Also the colors can be so subtlety shifted, and lately I'm really enjoying playing with blending and blurring strokes. The brush stroke that oil has can be so subtly manipulated. Acrylics felt clumsy by comparison, I feel like I'm painting with the end of a stick I found on the ground. Watercolor does not provide the room for indecision and reworking that I like. I like to take a painting on a journey, with watercolor I feel like I have to stop working before I've walked a block to keep it "fresh". Casein paint is my favorite alternate medium, because it is really user friendly, I taught six painters in a workshop recently and they all had great results, from beginning painters to more advanced. You can just keep layering, that helps a lot. I highly recommend it to people who don't know how to paint.

Mattole River Bend
(click to view)

Which ones are you looking forward to exploring?

I am sick of exploring mediums actually. A couple years ago, I had told myself that it was time to stop buying new art supplies, either they sit around unused and taunting you for being impulsive at the store or they take you off on huge tangents! Casein gobbled up my time for five months but now I'm back to oils, the prodigal son returns again.

Who or what inspires you most?

Light! Glorious natural sunlight shining on glowing spring leaves! The way the coastal atmosphere of Northern California obscures items in the distance to make mysterious somber silhouettes. The melancholy expression a model's face shifts into when they have been posing for hours... No NO! Stop that, you are doing landscapes! It's important to stay focused!

Abby at the Pool
(click to view)


What does procrastination look like for you?

Obsession with side projects. Designing businesses I'll never get around to running, binge watching every episode of Cheers, which was like seventy of them, I think. Stupid games on my phone. I love to research things, that can really pull me down the rabbit hole. It seems like things that take about fifteen minutes are the worst, because I always think I can afford another fifteen, until my whole painting time has been used up. Maybe what is a more productive question might be how do I get out of a creative slump. It almost always starts with calling up friends and painting with them. Setting up next to them in their studio, or out in nature or sharing a model. The camaraderie is so helpful to get past a block.  Eventually, I get sick of the various constraints that go with painting with others, then I'm ready to work alone again.

What techniques work to ensure that you make time for your art?

Painting at the same time every day really helps, for me it is in the morning for 3 hours or so, then life catches up with me until my family goes to bed, then I try to get some more in.

Cosmic Pigeons
(click to view)

How do you generally arrive at ideas for your paintings?

I hoard images, taking photos constantly, or finding fun ones on the SKTCHY app or on the wetcanvas.com image library. I go out and paint nature or meet with friends like I mentioned earlier, I've got at least fifty unfinished pieces, the ones that inspire me get the extra treatment to be completed. I just hooked up a big flat screen to to my laptop so I can rework my plein air paintings in the studio. It really makes it so much more easy and fun!

How do you keep art "fresh?" What techniques have helped you avoid burnout and keep your work vibrant and engaging?

I try to challenge myself a lot. Give myself parameters for a series. By repainting the same subject over and over, I have to push myself to try new things to stay engaged. I often deliberately start paintings that are so technically confusing that I'll have to learn something in order to finish them. I think I use a scientific mind process at times, coming up with goals, researching how others accomplish them, trying it, analyzing my result, adjusting my approach, trying to fail forward and learn from my mistakes. Meanwhile, I try to listen to my intuition to help guide me through what the art needs...

Pink and Black
(click to view)

What do you feel you are learning about right now as an artist?

I kinda stumbled across a few things recently that are really interesting to me. One is forcing myself to take a lot of time with my thin underpainting. I realized that I like the luminosity of thin paint and the amount of control that is possible, so I'm trying to drag out that stage, using Gamblin Solvent Free fluid. I have also been really interested in wet on wet layers that utilize blurriness to unify things. Another thing came from my time with Caseins, I used to use really textural strokes on my last layer to build depth and atmosphere. Imagine a lock of hair painted with a splayed out brush that has thicker paint. It grabs the eye as if light is reflecting of it. Finally, the big thing I'm excited to get into is larger multi session landscapes. My favorite paintings I've done from the past involved visiting the same location six times to apply more layers. That is really a lovely way to paint, because that certain day at that certain time is so familiar it starts to feel like a home away from home. So I really want to push myself bigger.

What makes you happiest about your art?

I guess the happiest I get with art is when I have been working on a larger work, revisiting the same beautiful spot in nature and I'm learning what it is like to be there every day, the same way the plants or the critters are, that spot becomes my neighborhood, and I get to know how the sun angle influences the scene during that time of day, the pond starts out placid and reflective, then an hour later the wind picks up and creates shimmers on the surface, at the beginning of the session the reeds on the left side really light up from the sun and by the end the effect has moved the dramatic light to the right. Meanwhile, I'm getting to know the dog walkers and the bird watchers and the photographers that show up every day. A community is building around this place and time. Brotherly love is in the air. And, I'm collaborating with nature, the place is beautiful, the changes are inspiring, and as my piece evolves and reflects the beauty that I see around me I get that warm feeling in my chest, like I'm at home in nature, and I see God in everything.

Thanks, Andrew!

© 2017 Sophie Marine