I draw and paint because I have to, it preserves my sanity, what little of it there is.

I draw figuratively, to understand things, and to become part of them, When I see an old drawing of mine, I can usually remember the moment I drew it with a “reality” worlds more real than any photograph. Kind of strange, really.

Can someone explain why my post was deleted please when this was posted in the oil forum and then got moved here? It was a thoughtful answer, relevant and non expletive or inflammatory according to forum guidelines, i don’t like wasting my time which this feels like. Thankyou.

Anyways here it is again thanks to search history

Its a damn good question. In 40 years i haven’t found the answer. The closest i got was when i did Large Format Photography with some grain and huge dynamic range in large prints. Kodachrome and Portra film have a very painterly quality. Some of those images are very human and emotive. Modern digital just leaves me cold. Wim Winders(art film director) spoke about this and attempted to make his films painterly,scenes that look like Still Lifes to a great degree of success.

And here is another posters comment(jknecht) below who seemingly wasted his time as it was deleted. Please whoever does the editing/moderating on these posts to be a bit more diligent. Its a very small community and we don’t need to upset anyone with blunders. Thankyou.

‘I really like the way Steve Huston explains it: we aren’t seeing exactly what the artist saw, we are seeing the way the artist interpreted what they saw.

That description is true whether the painting is abstract or hyperrealistic’.

I like the challenge. I like that it’s an escape, a place to go. When I’m painting I’m in that place. It’s like a trip to somewhere else. It’s fun to create. I like nice paintings and have the delusion that I can make them. It’s cheaper than buying them.

I paint and draw because I have always had the need to create. I love music and have a good knowledge of it… especially the history… but I have no musical ability. I am an unabashed bibliophile with a passion for reading and a rather extensive knowledge of literature and a solid writing ability… but I was more self-conscious of my creative writing efforts when I was younger and so I ultimately turned to painting and drawing. I have a passion for Art and Art History and have obsessively drawn and painted for the last 20+ years. I love drawing and painting… even though these can be incredibly challenging, time-consuming, and frustrating at times. I am a figurative artist. I have the ability to paint quite realistically… even moreso were I to focus in that direction again… but to me, Art involves artifice and invention. I look to the artful exaggeration or invention of line and form and color in the art of others… and in my own work.

Fame, fortune, and hot groupies, eh? How’s that working out for you?

I was always drawing as a kid. In class, the teacher would sometimes ask us, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” And the girls would say, teacher (brown noser), mommy or nurse (blech). Those were pretty much the only girl choices way back in the olden days. But still, I would say, “Artist.” La de dah. But what I thought I meant was that there couldn’t possibly be anything more fun than drawing pictures all day long. So if there really was a job like that out in the grownup world, that’s the one I wanted.

But after I grew up, went to art school, and found oil paint, I immediately tossed aside drawing. Fickle! But I realized instead of drawing/sketching, I could just visualize what I wanted, then “draw” with paint right onto the canvas, and then fill it in like a coloring book. Yep, that’s how I paint. I’m not too interested in using other materials or mediums, although I’ll dabble about…sometimes. I suppose oils immediately hit the right spot with me and so I remain loyal. Or stuck, depending on how you look at any longtime love.

So, the point-the reason-the purpose of all this stuff is to keep getting things out of me and onto a surface. It’s always figuratively-based in some way because I need to “see” what was in there in order to investigate or explore even more. Not because I’m a very fascinating or interesting specimen of humanity, but because when I understand me, I understand YOU.

And believe me…that does NOT always make for a pretty picture.

No offense.