Over the course of this self-study – and ideally beyond – I hope to push myself outside of my comfort zone and into areas of artistic practice and expression that have hitherto felt daunting or unattainable. I want to be able to apply the expectations I place on my students to myself with regards to my own practice as an artist. I want to generate work, A LOT of work and be open to and OK with the fact that much of it won’t be good, or polished or finished. I want to work fast and with less control.

Over the course of my artistic life my work has taken many forms:

High school was primarily graphic design and digital art with an almost exclusive focus on 2D techniques.

College was primarily filmmaking however there was period of discovery that involved experimenting with a wide range of traditional 2D and 3D art media and technique including my first real work with wood. I also dabbled in illustration and worked for the first time with relief printmaking and scratchboard.

Between undergrad and grad school I worked in the film industry while teaching myself to paint in my own time.

During grad school I discovered a real love for working with wood, printmaking in all of its forms and painting. I also developed a real distaste for digital media – not the tools but their use to create end products – and desire to work hands-on with tools and materials.

Since grad school I have worked at EI and taught and worked with in my own practice all forms of both 2D and 3D materials. I primarily work with acrylics – when painting – and scratchboard – I’m currently in the middle of writing and illustrating a graphic novel.

Every year a significant number of my upper level students oil paint. My wife and closest colleague is an accomplished oil painter. Virtually every close artistic acquaintance of mine works with oils. Outside of the realm of illustration – I am a voracious consumer of comic books, graphic novels and illustrated children’s books – most of my art crushes are on oil painters.

I have only ever done one oil painting, isn’t it time I start playing around with this material?

 How do I make myself generate the necessary focus, effort, willingness to experiment, allow for discomfort and uncertainty, dedicate the time, open up to artistic freedom… in ways that are outside of my normal practices and habits? How do I do this within and around the constraints of my professional and family responsibilities? How do I make direct connections between my own artistic practice and my teaching practice that are beneficial to my students? How do I take from my artistic influences without lapsing into creating pastiches of their work?

I hope to learn what I am capable of as an artist. I hope to wrestle control from my ADHD and create an environment/practice for myself that involves focused learning and practice as an artist. Finally, I hope to translate that experience into a methodology that will benefit my students, many of whom struggle with the same obstacles in their own artistic lives.