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Interview With Justin Clayton

Sunday, February 24th, 2008 by Alyice

Clayton. Justin’s been featured in Food & Wine Magazine, The Artist’s Magazine, and several other publications based on his ability to sell his artwork over the Internet via his website and eBay auctions. But as admirable as that is, I was more intrigued by the fact that he’s so graciously humble. While he loves being able to work as an artist full time, his greatest satisfaction comes from producing art that gives pleasure to others. Take a peek into Justin’s world and discover why he feels it’s important to do what you love every single day.

Justin Clayton, Artist

Meet Justin

Justin Clayton Artist

Buy Justin’s Art

How did you get started with the Painting A Day movement?
A few years back I had an art teacher who taught me two things: get rid of my TV and paint every day. Even though I understood his point and don’t watch much TV anyway, I couldn’t bear to throw it out. However, I did manage to paint every day. This was my first introduction to daily painting.

At that time many of my daily paintings were business card size, even smaller than the ones I paint today. Many of these paintings were studies of other artists I admired like John Singer Sargent and William Nicolson. I remember feeling like it was quite a commitment to paint something everyday, but I soon saw the benefits. I realized that to be a proficient painter I would need to paint regularly.

A couple of years later I came across Duane Keiser and his “painting a day” project. He brilliantly combined the practice of painting daily with a simple way to promote and sell online. I was very inspired by what Duane was doing and this was about the time that I decided to start my Daily Paintings website. I’ve been painting these regularly for over two years now.

Do you allot a specific time each day or do you simply set aside x number of hours to complete your task?
I usually spend about 3 hours on my daily paintings. I generally like to complete a painting in one block of time as opposed to splitting it up throughout the day; however, I do take a break or two within that three hour block. When doing the kind of painting that I do, painting from life, it’s good to go away from the painting for a bit and then come back to it with a fresh eye. It’s amazing to me how when I come back from a break I can instantly see the things I need to fix in the painting.

What have been the personal rewards?
It has been tremendously rewarding in terms of learning the craft. In my opinion, it also keeps the artists’ muscles fit. This kind of painting is similar to other occupations… like writing poetry or dancing, the more you do it, the easier it becomes.

The technical aspect of painting, like mixing colors and measurement, become easier, too, which means I can focus on the mood of the painting or any other aspect that interests me about the subject. It makes the painting process much more fun when the technical part of the craft has lessened. Painting is still difficult but it’s just nice to focus on the “good stuff” like composition and rendering the light.

What has been the professional benefits of committing to a painting a day?
When I started, over two years ago, I had no idea where it would go. A few months into it I was starting to get a lot of emails from people all over the world. I was surprised by how kind they were. I was caught off guard a bit by how much people were affected by my paintings. I make a great effort to paint subjects that interest me and to paint them, from my perspective, in a beautiful way. So, to have other people comment so positively on how they enjoy seeing my work has been one of the greatest rewards.

Another great benefit from doing this has been the fact that I’ve been able to sell my work regularly. It certainly helps, if you want to be a full time artist, to sell artwork regularly. Setting up a website and selling these daily paintings has helped me achieve that.

If there was anything you’d do different, now that you’ve been doing the Painting A Day movement for 2 years now, what would it be?
Start earlier! It’s been rewarding in all ways for me. I don’t get paid as much as I did in my office job sitting behind a desk but it definitely pays in satisfaction. I’ve wondered in the past what it might be like to be a flower delivery person because if you think about it, probably most everyone is glad to see them when they arrive at the door. I think in a way I’ve felt like this the last few years when people get my paintings in the mail. They often write and say how much they like the painting and that makes me feel good. In these instances I wonder why I didn’t start sooner.

Visit Justin at JustinsPaintings.com

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Practice Makes Perfect

Saturday, February 23rd, 2008 by Alyice

To be quite truthful, I know that practice makes perfect because I’ve seen the improvement in my own writing as I’ve taken the time each day to hone my skills as a writer. And I know that the more I practice, the better I’ll get. So I get that in order to improve in both photography and art, I must do something to improve those skills every single day—read a tutorial, practice a method, watch a professional in action, something. But I must shamefully admit, before God and you, that I have not made the time to learn, to practice, to improve.

It hasn’t been easy to find the time between my home business and my duties as both a wife and mother to tackle this new venture. In fact, putting off my training has become such second nature to me for so many years that even though I vowed this would be the year I made an effort to at least try I am now two months into the year and I can honestly say that I’ve only put about 16 hours into learning and practicing.

Shelley Grund, Artist

Meet Shelley

Shelley Grund, Artist

Buy Shelley’s Art

But that’s all about to change thanks to an interview I did with artist and gallery owner Shelley Grund. In 2005 Shelley decided to paint one small painting a day—something she could tackle in under an hour and complete in one day—in order to improve her skills and create better art. Well, it paid off in more ways than she ever imagined.

Not only did she create better art, but she learned to create intuitively. In other words, she stopped worrying about how something was going to look, if she was using the right colors, or if she had the technique down correctly and just began to enjoy the process of painting. And before she knew it, she had a better understanding of how her paints worked together, which brushes worked better for a particular technique or area of the painting, and how far she could push her raw materials.

But what stood out the most during her interview was her closing statement, “You are no longer a student learning how to use the materials, you are a ‘master’ painter creating something with the materials.”

And isn’t that what all artists strive to be—a master of their craft? Whether it’s writing, photography, painting, sculpting, or even crocheting, the only way to be good at what we do is to get to a point where we aren’t always second-guessing why we’re doing what we are doing and begin to simply do it because it feels right. And that’s really where I’d like to be one day—at a place where I can confidently say, “this feels right” and have the outcome turn out just as good as it felt during the creative process.

I can’t promise a piece of art a day or even a photograph a day, but I can at least promise that I’ll spend 30 minutes to an hour every day devoted to learning and improving upon my craft—whether it be reading a how-to book, watching a video tutorial, or actually putting something into practice. After all, if I continue with the excuses of time being against me, I’ll forever live with the “what ifs” and dreams of “what could have been” and I am so not a “what if” girl!

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Interview With Shelley Grund

Friday, February 22nd, 2008 by Alyice

Today I had the honor of interviewing Shelley Grund, artist and gallery owner. Shelley opened her gallery in October of 2007, complete with a studio and retail area for local artists. Shelley’s blog caught my attention when I discovered that every year she dedicates late winter/early spring to the Painting A Day Movement in which she only allows herself one hour to complete a painting. Won’t you join me as we discover the significance of painting something—anything—every single day?

Shelley Grund, Artist

Meet Shelley

Shelley Grund, Artist

Buy Shelley’s Art

How did you get started with the Painting A Day movement?
In 2005 I discovered Duane Keiser and decided to dedicate time to painting small paintings once a day.

What have been the personal rewards when it comes to one painting a day?
By painting something in only one hour once a day I improved my painting skills. Improvement in your art can only come by doing it. These little exercises really help an artist to learn the “shorthand” of painting. Slowly it is less a matter of thinking what it is your painting but more intuitively creating.

You mention that painting a day becomes an exercise, do you look for new techniques to practice each day or week? Or do you simply do your paintings intuitively and what’s the benefit of the method you choose?
By doing the paintings everyday you get to know your materials so well that it becomes second nature. This includes mixing colors, seeing values, reaching for the right shape/size brush. The subject matter can be the same or different from one time to the next (for instance I’ve painted eggs several times). I’m not necessarily looking for something new to do or some new technique. I find the subject guides me. And the world is unlimited in subject matter. Once you no longer have to think about the materials you can concentrate on what you want to say with the painting. You can experiment with your materials, push them a little every time you work with them, learning their limits and discovering new ways to use them. Generally the creation process becomes part of you, the artist, rather than just technique. You are no longer a student learning how to use the materials, you are a “master” painter creating something with the materials.

What has been the professional benefits of committing to a painting a day?
Besides improving my overall ability and thus creating better art, those little exercises have allowed the public the opportunity to purchase a piece of art at a reasonable price. I post my paintings on my website and I have sold most of my painting a days to visitors to my website.

If there was anything you’d do different, now that you¹ve been doing the Painting A Day for awhile, what would it be?
Do it more often! It takes a lot of discipline to dedicate yourself to a “painting a day”. The benefits out-weight the inconvenience. I’ve become aware of the passage of time and regret that I haven’t painted more.

Visit her at ShelleyGrund.com

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