Art Tips: Quantity Over Quality

One of the most pivotal moments in my artistic development was when I took a 10-day painting workshop/retreat with artist Scott Christensen (in 2008). I traveled to his home in Idaho, where a group of us would meet at his studio every morning to take in lectures, demos, and of course, paint the beautiful Teton valley scenery together. I chose to study with Scott because of his awesome ability to capture the grandness of nature - his paintings are both natural and realistic, but also with the added personal and mature touch of design that brought his own voice to the composition, lighting and color. I wanted my own art to have all that.

I had been plein air painting for a few years by that point, typically working in oils, on the standard 8x10” or 9x12” canvas panels. It would take me a couple of hours to complete one painting, and I was met with failure more often than not. Anyone who has painted outdoors traditionally knows it’s not just about whether you can capture the scene in front of you; it’s equally about condensing your process, as well as constantly battling your medium! Scott was great at meeting every student where they were at, and giving bespoke advice.

The advice he gave me? He told me to break up my 9x12” panel into four, and raise the quantity of work. This, he said, will engage you more deeply with painting, because you suddenly are trying to solve visual problems many more times, hence giving you the experience that will ultimately be the thing that raises the bar of quality. So I did what any good student does: I listened.

By the end of that 10-day workshop, I had done a good twenty or so tiny paintings. But more than that, due to the small size, I was finding subject matter literally everywhere. Things I would have previously not deemed ‘worthy’ of a couple hours of my time suddenly became available. I painted a garbage can, a driveway … I painted an old shed just to try to capture the reflective nature of its tin roof.

Working small helped me see that visual information is equally in the small things as it is in the grand. Raising the quantity (and reducing the size) of my work helped me learn how to make the most out of brushstrokes, which is a skill that sits at the forefront of my work today. And because of all the reps, my visual memory exponentially increased, allowing me to illustrate without reference far more than I’d ever thought possible.

So if you feel you’re in a rut artistically, perhaps Scott’s advice is what you need, too!

*A page from Small World, a book compiling my traditional plein air art from 2010–2015.*

What I’m Working On: A Little Bit of Everything!

These days I feel like I’m constantly pushing things through a funnel. New classes, YouTube videos, live critique sessions, a new book, and new illustrations, (not to mention my own children), are all clawing for attention, and there simply isn’t enough time in the day to get to them all (OK, that doesn’t include my physical children, who hold the trump card here.) So, what am I working on? Well… a little bit of everything!

It’s getting pushed through that funnel. To quote Gord Downie,

An inch an hour, two feet a day.

~ An Inch An Hour (The Tragically Hip)

While it feels slow on my end, I’m hoping it doesn’t feel (too) slow on yours, and that there is enough fresh material from me at a relatively decent pace to keep everyone engaged and learning. Every now and then something finished pops out of that funnel, and I’m always excited to share it!

The Art Industry: Lightbox Expo 2025

While I couldn’t be at Lightbox this year, I heard it was a good show, with some reporting it was the show’s best year yet. That’s great news! I don’t know if this is actually relevant or not, but I gauge the health of the industry based on shows like Lightbox, because it is quite literally the industry coming together under one roof. You can sense the level of engagement and enthusiasm of the industry as a whole, as well as any hardships that are happening.I’m aware that studio-hiring is at a low right now. Because of that, more and more artists are looking into avenues to generate income from their work independently. My advice for those seeking it is - get out to shows like Lightbox, and see what the successful artists there are doing at their booth.

What kind of work are they doing? How high is the quality? How are they presenting it? What are their prices? What is unique about it? Does their in-person presence differ from their online presence? Ultimately the question has always been the same: what can you do that few others are doing?

Worth Checking Out: The Twilight Zone

I don’t know if I would call myself an ‘old soul,’ but I do tend to find more comfort & enjoyment in things of the past when it comes to entertainment. Not that I don’t watch, listen to, or play anything modern, but I really enjoy the flavor that comes with older stuff. In that vein, I started a marathon of The Twilight Zone(I catch episodes while on the stationary bike). This beast of a show began in 1959, and ran for five seasons for a total of 156 episodes! It has since become a mold for countless productions, up to and including today’s popular satire Black Mirror.

The Twilight Zone’s origin story is interesting. Creator Rod Serling was something of an activist, and would pitch his ideas to TV networks, only to be met with rejection due to the ‘overly serious’ subject matter. So he embedded his progressive ideas in a sci-fi show, where under the surface he could comment on things political and social. And it worked! Through the odd lens of The Twilight Zone, many of his ideas really land and still feel relevant, not to mention narratively engaging.