If you are an artist, especially a painter, you’ve likely heard this or something very similar.

“It takes miles of canvas to learn to paint”

And I completely agree. Learning to paint can be absolutely dreadful. It can physically hurt to be so bad at something that others make look easy. And to make it worse, no book, youtube video, or any amount of money can magically solve the mystery of painting.

You know, those days where it’s much more fun to buy art supplies than to actually use them...if you know, you know, lol

Of course, a good instructor and learning from others can be necessary, but the most important thing is for you to paint. To paint, paint, paint, paint, paint. And I don’t mean dozens, I mean hundreds.

After I finally had a decent handle of the basics, I completely fell in love with working on location. I already loved being outside, and sense I was starting to actually kind of enjoy painting, it was a perfect match.

When plein air painting, you find out quickly that you can spend all day searching for the right composition in the landscape, only to lose the sunlight and run out of time. I learned to work quickly, and not waste too much time searching for the ideal scene to paint.

This is a great way to learn, and to work through those necessary miles of canvas that everyone needs to get through. Not being picky, and just painting.

But at some point, a shift naturally begins to take place. You begin to desire more than “just getting through lots of paintings”. You begin to want to say something more in your work, not vocally, but visually. You want to pursue something more than “just another painting”.

This shift can be difficult.

After art school, and then a few years studying with an oil painter, and then a handful of more years painting, I took the leap and pursued painting full time.

I’m absolutely spoiled and blessed to get to spend my time scrubbing a brush around on a canvas, and make money doing it. It’s nuts…

And while over the past several years I’ve been becoming much more intentional with my paintings, I can still feel that tendency arise, telling me to “just get another one done”.

BUT NO, DANGIT! I DON’T WANT JUST ANOTHER PAINTING!!!!

Looking back five years from now, I’ve made incredible progress, and in five more years I want to say the same thing. I know one thing for sure, it won’t come from painting just to paint.

There’s no guide to transitioning from student to professional. And if your experience is anything like mine, you just wing it and see where it takes you. It’s hard for me to turn down an opportunity, and I’ll try just about anything. It’s gotten me to where I am today, closing in on three years painting full time. Spoiled I tell you, spoiled.

But I am far from satisfied and hope that I am just at the beginning of a long and fruitful pursuit of painting. I believe that real growth comes from real intention. It’s hard to accidentally become great at anything. So with this being said, more so than ever, I’m pushing myself to be intentional with the work that I am creating. To (mostly) pass up on the urge to “just paint another'' and lean in to the push for a deeper, more fulfilling understanding of the visual language that I am so fascinated with.

And I’m not looking to leave my mark in history or aiming to be the best of the best, but I do want to pursue being the absolute best that I can possibly be.

The next time you have a chance to visit a museum, while looking at a painting, ask yourself if you think the artist was “just painting to paint”, or were they seeking something higher…

I’m certain they were aiming higher than “just another painting”

Maybe these words mean nothing to you, but it’s what I needed to hear…

I hope you are all doing well in this new year, and are able to find time to pursue those things that linger in your thoughts, asking for more of your time.

Sincerely,

Turner

About Me

Growing up in a small town in Texas, I wasn’t exposed to the world of fine art until college, where an interest in photography led me to a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2011. After college I continued developing as an artist with a two year apprenticeship with an oil painter in Boise, Idaho. Soon after studying I fell in love with plein air painting and have now painted from coast to coast in the US and have made a few international excursions as well. My work can be found in private collections across the county as well as in Canada and Europe. My family and I now live and work out of the beautiful Bitterroot Valley in Montana.