Today we’d like to introduce you to Douglas Earls
Hi Douglas, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
For the largest part of my life I never did any sort of art. Instead I focused on school and career. I got a bachelor’s degree and then a master’s degree in religion but after a number of years decided to step away from that. My family and I went through some very hard times during that time in my life and I turned to art as a form of therapy. I spent a lot of time in those adult coloring books, just coloring and filling in the lines. Someone challenged me to try drawing on my own and I did, and turned out I really loved it. When I first tried painting I fell in love with it immediately. I found that I could do portraits pretty well and that I had a lot of fun mixing colors. So I began practicing and working hard to become a better artist because I began dreaming of making art for the rest of my life. A year and a half ago I made the decision to try going full-time with my art.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The decision to go full-time has been difficult, but I have to say that it’s been fairly smooth simply because I have a lot of family support. My family is very close and they believe in my dream and they believe in my ability. So they are working hard with me to help make it reality. I’m very grateful and thankful for that. But it has been a hard road because the economy is rough. Financially, it has been a struggle. But I believe that is to be expected with any new artist.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Most of my work has been specializing in portraits. I do portraits of people and of pets. I paint people’s loved ones. I’ve painted grandmothers, grandfathers, husbands and wives, children. Sometimes I paint portraits of individuals who are a bit more furry! I paint a lot of dogs and cats. But, our pets are also our family. So I believe it’s safe to say that I specialize in painting family! But I also do a lot of my own work. I enjoy painting wildlife, particularly songbirds. And also enjoy painting abstracted realism. A lot of what I’m known for have been these abstracted blob pieces that I paint. My favorite work, however, is my figurative work. I like to lay geometrical patterns over figures as I paint. I would say that some of my most popular pieces have been a series of striped female figures that have painted. I really enjoy keeping a high, vibrant amount of color in my paintings and I believe that sets me apart. The combination and extreme contrast between colors in my paintings, the sometimes geometrical, and sometimes wildly abstract shapes that are in my pieces are their defining characteristics.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I have to remain humble when I consider the word success, because I still feel like I have a long way to go before I reach that place. But I believe if there’s one thing that’s going to help me reach that place it’s going to be work ethic. I have to put the time in at the easel. I have to spend a lot of time painting, even if I’m not getting paid for it in the moment. I need to continue creating and making new paintings. I have to continue honing my craft. And when I’m not sitting in my easel I need to make sure I’m making the effort to network and maintain a social media presence. I also think it’s important to remain positive and try to uplift others around me. I think it’s important as an artist to express myself in my craft, and remember that it’s a privilege to be able to express my emotion in this tangible way. I have the opportunity to have others experience their emotions through the work that I create, and that’s wonderful.
Pricing:
- My portrait commissions are priced based on the size
- There is a simple cost per square inch for my commissions
- My original pieces are largely based on size but also very depending on the amount of work that I’ve put into them
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.douglasearlsart.com
- Instagram: @douglasearlsart
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1Dt47MTyiR/
