I wouldn’t say that there was a singular moment when I suddenly realized that I was an artist. I’ve had a few moments where I noticed my perspective changed dramatically because of art.
After learning color theory, I saw the world differently. It was an ah-ha moment. I started seeing color harmony everywhere I went. I started consciously incorporating what I learned in my art.
Nowadays, I just naturally paint without consciously thinking about whether colors work together or clash. When painting with oils, I sometimes apply unmixed colors directly to the canvas before they are dulled down. I’ve also realized that our imaginations aren’t reliable when it comes to art. When we think we are imagining a neat looking car or even one of our own relatives, we are just imaging a blob of information that is incomplete or pieced together incorrectly. We’re not thinking about the curvatures of the back or the way the eyes sit in the socket. It’s hard to remember and piece this information altogether at once in one visual representation. This is why I sketch often, so I can memorize these forms. Drawing and art is about memorizing shapes, forms and colors—and how they fit together. I didn’t realize this until I really got into color theory and daily sketching.