Windy Painting

Like most Americans my age, my love of Art started when I was a child watching episodes of “The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross”, the art in comic books like Batman and X-Men and from cartoons. I didn't paint when I was younger but I did draw a lot. I was never happy with any of my works when I was young so I never really showed them to anybody. When I was a Freshman in High School I took a drafting class, and began to do all kinds of technical drawings. At the time, I stopped with the more creative drawings that I was doing and focused on the technical side. I took several more drafting classes while I was in high school. By the time, I graduated high school I was wanting to go into Architecture. Alas it never came to be, after witnessing a motorcycle accident I decided my life needed to take a different direction. Soon afterwards I stopped drawing all together. In my twenties, I started drawing again and painting as well. I started painting in Bob Ross’s style. Quick mountain scenes with happy little bushes and big brave trees. I only painted scenes like this for some time. But as a lifelong lover of art, all art I wanted to express different emotions with my works. While I am still adept at technical drawing, I wanted to express myself in a different way. Since I have no formal training in anything besides technical drafting, I have had to look for sources for different types of painting and drawing techniques. This was somewhat of a challenge. While there is an overabundance of information available, it is difficult to find relative information on specific questions. Thankfully, a couple of years ago I found a mentor in the local art community, Kay Gray. Kay has taught me a lot and given me the confidence to express what I really want to express how I want to express it. Only in the past couple of years have I started to venture into new mediums. When I started painting I would only use oil on canvas. I have started using other mediums on different surfaces. Acrylic, caulks and watercolors on paper, canvas, wood and other materials. While these are very traditional materials I feel as they hold a more refined sense of style. I am also venturing into photography. I am still finding my artist expression. Which techniques and mediums best express my outlook on how I see the world are yet to be seen.