whats your name?
 Brittney West

 

how old are you? 23
years of life

Why did you start drawing?

At age 8, I was sent to therapy after my mother passed away and it was suggested I try art therapy in particular to express my feelings. Ever since then I have been hooked on creating art.

How long have you been a artist?
 I've been making art since I could hold crayons, been intrigued by it since age 8 in art therapy, but didn't really become serious about it until Senior year of High School.

What is you fav style of art?
Expressionism.

What is your fav thing to paint and or to paint on?
My favorite subject to paint is the human figure and my favorite thing to paint on is raw canvas and butcher paper.

did you or have you gone to school for art or art related subjects? If yes where at? I studied art at Lane Community College and trasnferred to the University of Oregon where I am completing my Bachelor of Arts degree this Winter.

who was your fav artist in the past?
My favorite artist was and is Egon Schiele and Jenny Saville.

what made you start drawing and painting?
 I grew up admiring my grandma's skills in painting, drawing and just being artistically creative in many different art fields, as well as grew up admiring all the drawings my step dad did.

do you paint for a living.
I am a part-time artist doing commissioned work and also work part-time at a healthy local restaurant to pay for schooling--also to pay for food for this starving artist ;-)

Then what do you do to pay your bills?
 While in school it is too difficult to find the time to paint/draw full-time so that is not my main source of income currently.

Is there any thing you want to tell young artists who are just learning to paint or draw?
The greatest advice I have is to accept where you are at, to not compare yourself to other artists because you are exactly where you need to be skill-wise. It takes a lot of time to get where you want to be but don't let that discourage you. Be ok with making "crappy art"--it's all part of the process and no matter how skilled your art becomes or how established you become as an artist, you will always occasionally make "failures". Be patient, learn from these "failures" and love the process. Also, I highly suggest researching tons of artists, go to as many galleries and exhibits as you can and study the art up-close, ask lots of questions and research how your favorite artists made/make their art (technically and conceptually).