When Painting Is a Habit

Baja
Acrylic on Canvas Panel
16 x 20 in/ 76.2 x 61 cm
Copyright Byrne Smith  2015

Not to make a distinction among the different types of painters today, as we are all worthy of respect, I would rather focus on our similarities.

Among the different types of painters today, I am unscientifically putting them in one of four categories. Again, all worthy of respect and in no particular order:

- Art Student, and by that I mean one who is actually enrolled in a school with an actual art curriculum or a "recognized" academy of art or some such.

- Art Teacher; one who teaches art or painting in one of the above-mentioned settings.

- Professional, and by that I mean one who is able to make a living entirely by the sale or other commercialization of his or her paintings.

- The Rest of Us Painters, and by that I mean all the rest of us painters.

As I said, what makes us similar? I believe we aspire to paint, or we practice painting diligently, or we paint on-again-off-again, or we join a painting club or league or society (or not), or we paint for the pure creative pleasure of it.

Whatever it is, the most important similarity in my opinion is that, for us, painting has become and is a habit we have no choice but to pursue. We must paint habitually, although the type, the style, the place, and the frequency varies as widely as the human experience.

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