A while ago on Cara app I was asked to tell a story behind my painting style and this is what I wrote there.
I took this picture of me in the beginning of 2023. In 2022 I thought I had finally found an art style to call my own.
One night I was watching TV and doodling at the same time with no plan. Suddenly I had this weird genie character looking at me from my sketchbook page and I immediately thought I wanted to paint him. I hadn't painted much with acrylics before but I thought acrylics would be a good medium for the style I was aiming at.
With my weird and whimsical paintings for the first time I didn't look at any references (which I usually did when I drew) only inside my mind. This might make people ask what's going on in my brain.. 🤣 I also didn't care what people might think of them or what color combinations look good. I just enjoyed the process! 🤩
Since 2022 I've learned a lot about acrylics and how they work on canvas. I've learned about not worrying what the end result of an art piece might look like (which hasn't been easy).
My paintings are quite small and when the years have passed and my skills have developed I've started to work a lot more with small details. In the past, I would have reproached myself for not being able to paint realistic enough. I might also have taken more inspiration from some similar artwork or used other reference images. I'm actually quite proud that with these surreal paintings I've been able not to think about realism and I’ve made them using only my own imagination as a reference. I think I can honestly say this art style is my own. I haven't tried to mimic anyone else's style.
My favorite method of making these paintings is still kind of intuitive. A picture comes to my mind and I make a super quick sketch of it. Then I transfer that onto canvas. The image always changes a little while being painted and that's part of the process too. I've also made some commission paintings with subjects someone has asked me to paint. I've worked with commissions in the same manner, only having some things to begin the process with.
Cosmos Genie, 2022 (my first painting of the Whimsical Wonderland series)
Music In Me, 2025 (my latest painting of the Whimsical Wonderland series)
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