Paintings & Small Painting Project —

My interest in painting came about approximately two years ago (2016) in an artist supply store, where I caught the very distinct scent of oil paints. It took me only a few seconds to mentally travel back in time to when I was a little boy playing in my grandparents basement in Pennsylvania with my brother. In the far corner of their basement, my grandfather, who I was extremely close to and has since passed away, had a work bench where he would occasionally tinker with oil paints. He was always interested in artistic and mechanical things, as well as being a crossword aficionado, and was quite an intelligent person.

I was intrigued by how the smell of oil paints immediately reminded me of that particular place and time, and happy that it reminded me of my grandfather. I decided I wanted to give oil painting a shot. It felt like something I could attempt with relatively little expectation of actually being good at, and could serve as an outlet of creativity other than my music making.

The first handful of paintings below are the ones that I don’t feel embarrassed by, or may feel quite proud of as seeing that I have no artistic training whatsoever.

At the beginning of 2019, I purchased a book that advocates the art movement of small painting. The idea is that you paint often, and with a canvas size of about 12” x 12” or less, allowing said paintings to take only an hour or two. This ultimately gives the artist a chance to practice technique, color mixing, value awareness, etc. without the pressure of screwing up a large painting. In addition, small painting allows the artist to paint often, possibly daily.

I plan to start small painting in an attempt to practice and ultimately get better at oil painting. As I paint, I will post my paintings on this page, in addition to my blog, which will be a way for me to share my experience with small painting, and allow me to journal my progress.

The book, Daily Painting: Paint Small and Often to Become a More Creative, Productive, and Successful Artist, by Carol Marine, is chock full tips for beginner painters like me. Marine also suggests selling your small paintings online as a way to gather feedback about your work, and serve as a way to feel good about your art making. It can also be a cool way to make some money to buy more art supplies.

That being said, feel free to check this page often to see where my painting adventure takes me, and to possibly purchase my art if you see something you like.