My Process of making Art

I always find it interesting to see what goes into a piece of art. Sometimes we assume that what is on the canvas was an easy process, no stress; the artist knew exactly what they wanted and were able to effectively convey it. 

I'd like to meet that person.

As for me, there is a bit of a process that has developed since I began painting eight years ago. My process begins with finding the right image. I am currently interested in scenes set at night, and after living in Europe for a year, have a lot of inspiration photos from which I want to work from. When I find the right image, I begin my preliminary sketches, which are usually no bigger than 8"x10", with acrylic paint. I usually paint my final piece in oil paint, but for the sake of time and money, I do my sketches in acrylic (because it's cheaper and dries faster!) When I studied at the Accademia di Belle Arte in Italy, they called them “bozzetti”, which means sketches. With the first one, I look at the original image, the photo, and paint from that to get the idea down. Once the first one is complete, I lose the original image, and then work from my first sketch on two to four more sketches, experimenting with different colors and applications of paint, as well as eliminating information. I have had the tendency to include too much detail in my work, so currdently I am working on minimizing the amount of information going in to just the important stuff. 

This is my first sketch from a photo I took down in Napoli, Italy. I painted this first one from the photo, and then worked from that sketch on the next two. You can see the process of elimination, and by the final sketch, quite a bit has been eliminated.

first sketch

second sketch

final sketch

Once I have found a composition I am happy with, I begin work on the actual canvas. I start out with an under painting, where I paint the entire canvas one color and sketch out the general shapes with that paint. This allows me to be able to visualize the composition, as well as getting me started. I don’t really like painting directly on a plain white canvas—so doing my under painting helps me move past the feeling of messing it up. I like building up my paintings in layers, so when I actually start putting color on, I try and do it in vague shapes, and as I build up the layers, it gets more detailed.

My process really developed last year when I was going to art school in Italy. Before, I jumped straight onto the canvas without doing any sketches, and problem solved along the way. It wasn’t until last year did I discover the effectiveness of doing preliminary sketches before starting the final painting. It allows me to work out the kinks, experiment and make mistakes—and sometimes those mistakes turn out to be something I actually like.  

the underpainting, painted in burnt umber

blocking in the colors

the final piece