Materials
At this stage in my art career, my main focus is working in oil on canvas. I often stretch my own canvas and have enjoyed experimenting with paintings in unusual sizes and formats. I am drawn to the fluid quality of the oil paints as well as their longer drying time, which allows me to blend layers of color to achieve vivid detail and emulate strong light within a scene. I have also created oil paintings on paper, resulting in a smoother finished surface than paintings on canvas.

While oils are my favorite medium, I do not shy away from other materials. Some of my favorite pieces are works I have done with acrylic paints or printmaking techniques such as monoprint. In addition, I studied illustration as well as painting and often work in Prismacolor marker, colored pencil, pastel, ink, or a combination of these. Children’s book illustration is close to my heart, and I try to balance my work in fine art between painting and illustration.


Procedure
When painting, I work in layers, starting with a thin underpainting. With my paintbrush, I sketch vague outlines, often reworking the shapes for a better composition. I block in background and shapes with transparent colors, often in the brightest or deepest shade that will show in that particular area when the painting is finished. (For example, if painting a tree trunk, I will underpaint the entire trunk with the darkest value to be found anywhere on the tree trunk, where it is most in shadow.) I then work in progressively thicker and light-colored layers, adding details such as texture, reflective color, and highlights. Finally, voila! A painting!


Inspiration
For me, the most fun part of creating a painting is capturing forever a moment or a mood with which I can’t bear to part. I try to keep a camera or sketchbook with me at all times, and I train myself to be more than just a casual observer. Many times during my travels, I have set out with the specific purpose of finding something to translate into a work of art, and rarely have I been disappointed. Other times, I have been driving down the road without even a thought to my artwork and have been surprised by a patch of trees in fog, a man selling fruit, or rays of sun shining through storm clouds over the ocean, and I have pulled over or turned the car around because I knew that was a scene I wanted to paint.

Sometimes I stumble across such beauty in everyday life that I simply can’t let it go to waste—there is some inner desire for me to share with others my interpretations of the sights and moments and memories that I find intriguing or satisfying. Though I may rework a photo or enhance a sketch, there is always some tangible observation or vision that first suggests itself as a subject. It is ultimately the combination of reality and imagination that makes each painting a success and that helps me appreciate both the beauty of the world God created and the potential with which He has gifted each of us.