Chat with a guy at the gallery made me rethink my whole workflow

Was at the local art walk last Friday and got to talking with this older digital painter who works in ads. He asked why I layer everything 50 times and said I should try blocking in shapes with just one brush from start to finish. That hit different cause I've been hiding behind 20 brush packs thinking I needed more tools instead of just getting better. Tried his method on a new piece Sunday and finished in 3 hours what usually takes me 8. Has anyone else had a stranger's offhand comment totally flip how you make art?

2 comments

2 Comments

parkerp8019d agoTop Commenter

Funny how a complete stranger can sometimes see right through your whole process. That comment about hiding behind brush packs really stuck with me because I've done the same thing - downloaded all these fancy texture brushes thinking they'd magically make my work better. But he was right, you know? Getting good with one tool beats being okay with twenty. I tried something similar last month after a guy at the hobby shop told me to stop using six different pencils for sketching and just learn to control one mechanical pencil. Took me a few days to adjust but now my line work actually has some character instead of just looking like different shades of technical precision.

taylor_young19d ago

Man, I read this thing once about how master painters in the Renaissance only used like three brushes their whole careers and it blew my mind. Makes you realize how much we overcomplicate things.