Specialization

I have gotten to a point where I consider myself to be a specialist at certain aspects of my art practice. But what does that actually mean?

Specialization is the process of concentrating on and becoming an expert in a particular subject or skill.

While I don’t have any kind of formal certificate or fancy letters after my name, and I can’t go to art school, I CAN focus my attention on very specific art studies.

I’ve put countless hours of my time and energy into a few areas that really light me up. Focusing on informal studies that speak to my heart allows me to develop new skills while boosting my confidence in my talents.

Colours and Vibrancy

Colour is something that I talked about often, and it’s an integral part of my artistic style.

I have studied acrylic paint for a decade. I’ve tried about 10 different brands and experienced all the different forms that it comes in, whether student grade, artist grade or professional grade. If I come across a supply I don’t love, I always gift it to artists who can benefit from it.

I used to have to use my colour picker on gimp to recognize which base colours I needed to work from. In the last six months, I haven’t felt the need to do that. Now, I can look at a photo and know instinctively what the base colours are and how to mix them into more colors that I can see. By mixing my own hues and values, I create greater harmony in my compositions.

As a result of that experience, the ways that work with colour now are really intuitive and organic.

Shifting Perspective

I like perspective and challenging the mind when you look at my art. I want you to have to stop and think for a second. Perhaps that’s why I appreciate the looming foregrounds and vague backgrounds of a Kootenay landscape.

Before, I used to try to copy my reference photos as closely as I could, or I would play with the composition of the photo itself to match what I wanted the painting to look like. 

Now, I’m able to make the composition more pleasing on the canvas itself.

Lately, I’ve been playing with painting on a round or circular canvas. And this is tricky when using a rectangular reference photo.

I’ve chosen not to crop or alter these reference photos because I can already see the painting in my mind. I’ll keep the photo up on my monitor to confirm depth for the perspective or shapes of the elements, but otherwise, I don't need to look at the photo. 

I just let myself be free with it and I make the art that I want to see. So far, I’ve had a few failures, and that means I get to try again later.

Celebrating my Unique Experience

I think every artist ends up specializing at some point in their career. It’s natural for us to gravitate towards the things that we feel at ease with, that make us feel confident and at home within our process.

My techniques are now developed enough that I'm making the art I feel instead of the view I saw. I'm growing in my ability to express myself. This is super exciting to someone who feels so intensely.

I think my own unique perspective of the world brings a lot to the table. I like that feeling that we’re small in comparison to the beauty that’s out there.

That realization is often what I’m hoping to achieve. I want people to feel like the little tiny ants living in a big world that we are. I think this is also why I paint within a cat’s eye or snail’s eye view often.

It’s a unique thing to alter perspective in that way, and it takes a certain amount of practice, skill level and confidence to be able to do what I do. 

That’s why I believe myself to be a specialist!